The global debate about cash is often framed as a crisis of decline: fewer people using notes and coins, shrinking acceptance at the point of sale, and the rapid spread of digital alternatives. This framing is arguably too narrow. The world is not moving simply from cash to digital. In most places, it is moving towards cash and digital together.

Four separate cash-related stories from four separate countries in the last month. One theme in common, however, which is the enduring personal attachment to banknotes – dare one say the emotional support – that currency involves. In other words, what unites them is the fact that emotion still prevails when it comes to a nation’s calling card, even in those countries which are supposedly doing away with cash, as is claimed to be the case in Denmark and the UK.

One of the main most visual environmental impacts of banknotes is not in their production but their destruction – with incineration and landfill still being all-too-frequent methods of removal. In last month’s Currency News™, we reported on the results of the 2025 Banknote Recycling Study, the latest biennial survey from Royal Dutch Kusters Engineering (Kusters), which explored how central banks are handling the disposal of unfit notes in particular, and progress made (or not) since the previous survey of 2023.

As part of his satirical take on wealth and power, Mark Twain reputedly coined the idiom, ‘Money Talks’. But, he asked, if it does, do we know what it’s saying?’ To which I would add, ‘… and in what language?’

Reconnaissance International, co-publishers of Currency News, have launched DataVault 2.0, which has been comprehensively overhauled with a wealth of new information and an intuitive interface, and is now offered with a range of flexible subscription options to suit all budgets and research needs.

This article provides further light on a topic addressed in Currency News™ last May, namely the development of the number of banknotes in circulation. The estimate then was like a first trial and resulted globally in 921 billion banknotes. It was based on data available at the time consisting mostly of end-2023 or 2024 figures.

Formerly known as Money Matters, this article is a continuation of the periodic series utilising information drawn from DataVault, the powerful online database which enables users to search, sort and aggregate data on all of the world’s banknotes and circulating coins.

On 8 March Switzerland is asking its citizens whether cash acceptance should be included in the constitution, something Slovakia introduced in December last year. On 1 January Australia introduced (limited) cash acceptance legislation and on 4 February the Netherlands passed its Cash Payments Act. It feels as if wherever you look action is being taken to safeguard cash.

The readers of this article are likely to agree that cash, whether banknotes or coins, is a wonderful thing. Although the siren call of convenience is luring people to digital alternatives, cash remains part of the fabric of our societal DNA.

This heading paraphrases words attributed to Mark Twain when his obituary was published while he was still alive. They seem strangely apt right now when it comes to cash.