On January 1, 2002, 12 European countries will begin switching from their existing currencies—the lira, franc, mark, and so on—to a new currency, the euro. After a grace period of six or eight weeks, all traditional currency will become worthless. According to the Chicago Tribune, two men in Berlin "plan to fill an empty swimming pool with nearly $45 million worth of deutsche marks, and invite people to dive in. The German government will use about 128 shredding machines to dispose of old banknotes. The state government of Hesse will burn its marks in a heating system, and organizers of the Cologne carnival want to use shredded notes as confetti…. The Austrians plan to turn their schillings into 560 tons of compost."

Likewise, there will come a day when all our money will become no more valuable than compost.