While walking in a park, one morning, I found a Hundred Rupee note on one of the park benches. I picked it up, noted the number and took it home.

In the afternoon the plumber called on me to collect his bill. As I had no other moey at home, I settled his account with the Hundred Rupee note that I had found.

Later I came to know that the plumber paid the note to his milkman to settle his monthly account , who paid it to his tailor for the garments he had made.

The tailor in turn used the money to buy an old sewing machine, from a woman who lives in my neighbourhood. This woman incidentally, had borrowed Hundred Rupees from me sometime back to buy some household appliance. She, remembering that she owed me a Hundred Rupees, came and paid the debt.

I recognized the note as the one that I had found on the park bench, and on careful examination, I discovered that the note was counterfeit.

How much was lost in the whole transaction and by whom ?

(In reply to re: Around The World by Ravi Raja)

This chain could go on indefinately without anyone losing or gaining.

I think that the only person who would lose out, is the person who gets caught out when the next person won't accept the note. As long as each person can find someone else to 'sell' the note onto, they will be even.

For the time that the person is in posession of the note, they are 100 rupees down, because the actual note is worthless. But as soon as they exchange the note for 100 rupees worth of something, they get back the rupees that they lost.

Posted by Helen on 2003-03-21 04:45:50