A worldwide financial panic fueled by tight credit and the collapse of the real estate boom spread from country to country. Meanwhile, the president promised to veto any legislation he considered inflationary and damaging to the economy.

That’s the way things were 170 years ago for the fledgling Republic of Texas.

“It was eerily similar to today,” said Merrill Lynch vice president James Bevill, who is president of the Texas Numismatic Association.

Money printed by Texas while it was an independent country will be on display in Houston starting Friday at the association’s winter coin and currency show. Read Full Story

The future of Scottish bank-notes could be in doubt following proposed new measures to protect customers from failing financial institutions, it was claimed last night. Clydesdale Bank, one of three banks allowed to print Scottish banknotes, has admitted it would have to consider whether to continue issuing notes north of the Border if the Treasury proposals get the go-ahead.

Alex Salmond, the First Minister, has also voiced fears over the move, claiming the changes posed the “biggest threat” to Scottish notes in more than 160 years. Under current laws, Clydesdale Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of Scotland have to lodge funds with the Bank of England to cover the value of their notes, but only for three days of the week – the other four days they can be invested elsewhere, gaining millions of pounds in interest. Read Full Story

By KEVIN G. HALL for McClatchy Newspapers

DANDONG, China | The currency changer, brazenly plying his illegal trade in the Bank of China lobby, pulled out a thick wad of cash from around the world and carefully removed a bill. The 2003 series U.S. $100 bill was a fake, but not just any fake. It was a “supernote,” a counterfeit so perfect it’s an international whodunit.

It had come from a North Korean businessman, the changer said, getting angry looks from his confederates. He stank of alcohol, but his story was plausible. The impoverished hermit nation sat just across the Yalu River from Dandong.

The Bush administration and members of Congress two years ago loudly accused North Korean leaders of being behind the counterfeiting of U.S. currency, but a 10-month McClatchy Newspapers investigation raises questions about those charges.

As the currency changer told a reporter, “The ones from Europe are much better.” Read Full Story

DES Browne yesterday rejected attempts to get Scottish banknotes designated legal tender in England. The Liberal Democrats had appealed to the Scottish Secretary to change the law and reclassify Scottish notes, which are currently not officially legal tender anywhere in the United Kingdom.

They are accepted generally as payment but do not have the legal backing that Bank of England ones enjoy. The term legal tender is only used in contract law and provides protection in limited cases where debtors have paid debts using “legal tender”.

In every other way, the legal tender of a banknote does not affect its use. But the Lib Dems say there have been instances when traders in England have refused Scottish notes, claiming they were not “legal tender” and this could not happen if the notes were given the same legal backing as Bank of England ones. Read Full Story