[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

On a lighter note, and I'm serious, the Panamanian public has not been educated on the new change. I can see the population refusing to accept these new bills thinking they are phony. I dread walking into a supermarket and trying to pass a new twenty off. But then I again, note to self, don't worry..use credit card. Don’t leave home without it.

[nopardons]

Use your credit card, if you are worried. Eventually, everyone, everywhere will get the hang of it all. LOL

[Starwind]

I can see the population refusing to accept these new bills thinking they are phony.

Actually that would be the same concern of the US Treasury. The US population can accept a new bill. But there are many countries (Oil producing countries) on whose acceptance of the dollar and US currency we don't want to jeopardize.

Hence why the old currency would continue to circulate internationally.

If not being able to exchange that old currency with the new US domestic currency (except at borders and banks) and that helps track drug profiteers, so be it. But if the exchange rate is not one to one, how does it get set and that would seem to lead to problems.

But US bills in commerce internationally, isolated from US commerce domestically except by customs exchange (ostensibly) will lead to each currency having a different value because they no longer flow freely among those two different markets.