Shrunken Bill

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LOL here's a new one I've never seen before listed on ebay.

The seller is selling a $10 Journey, shrunken to half its size after it "fell" in anhydrous ammonia.

# 250250348085

I wonder if the starting price include both notes 

Wow, That is a weird looking note!

That is very odd as everything looks proportionate. I would caution newbie collectors that there is no value to this note because it was altered as such but it does make an interesting novelty note.

Since the owner described how he produced, we might see a few more of these pop up. 

Jason

I've seen a 1954 $1 bill in F-VF condition that was shrunk to the size of a Shinplaster and it looked very convincing indeed, almost unbelievable in fact. The owner would never reveal to me the scientific basis of the shrinking process though. However, shrunken human heads are well recorded so I suppose a shrunken bill shouldn't surprise us too much!

Many  years  ago  I  saw  a  US  bill  of similar size.  That  bill  had  a  "ruffled"  surface,  created  when  it  been  run  through a  machine  that  made  crepe  paper.   Can anyone tell  if  the  advertised  bill has  a  smooth  surface  or  a  ruffled  surface??    Bernard

The note is definitely ruffled.

I'm wondering about how this note could had "fell" into anhydrous ammonia... 

For those who don't know what is anhydrous ammonia, it's the pure gas ammonia which can be condensed into it's liquid form, but it' fairly cold:  -33°C at it's boiling point.  Not to be confused with the solution of ammonia sold in the commerce (which contains water).  It's not the kind of stuff you can get at the local hardware...

So  if you soak a note in liquid anhydrous ammonia and remove from it, the liquid will evaporate quickly.  The note isn't really "wetted" because there is no water present.  I think that this note cannot have fell accidentally, but soaked deliberately, maybe just to see what will happen when you soak a note into dry ammonia (by simple curiosity).  The shrinking could be caused by a chemical alteration of the paper by the pure ammonia.  If I had anhydrous ammonia on hand, I would try this experiment myself (and gladly post the results) .

Dammit, where's the Professor from Gilligan's Island when you need him??!