Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak's Custom $2 Bills Video Resurfaces, Here's The Truth Behind Viral Rumour
According to the viral rumour, Wozniak prints his own $2 bills and uses them as legal tender. However, the claim is misleading.
A rumour about Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak has been frequently circulating on social media for the past few years. It claims that he carries his own "unique" customised currency.
According to the viral rumour, Wozniak prints his own $2 bills and uses them as legal tender. However, the claim is misleading because it's illegal to print your own currency in the United States. But it is true that Wozniak uses $2 bills in a unique and surprising way that has caught public attention.
It turns out that he buys uncut sheets of $2 bills from the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing. He then works with a print shop to bind them into pads. Wozniak uses these pads to prank friends, interviewers and the public.
To be clear, he does not print the bills himself, which would be illegal. Wozniak has explained that while such acts could lead to arrest, he cannot be convicted because he follows the rules carefully.
"You can get arrested for them, but you cannot get convicted because you're in the right," Wozniak clarified about the rumour in one such interview in 2011 during his appearance on The Engadget Show.
ALSO READ
Is Parachute Really 100% Coconut Oil? Market Analyst Ambareesh Baliga Responds To Viral Video
In the interview, Wozniak explained that he worked with a printer in his hometown of Los Gatos, California, to create the pads. He said he supplied the materials from a higher-quality printer and had the sheets perforated so each bill could be torn off easily, like old Green Stamps.
"Basically, I got a printer in my hometown of Los Gatos, California, to make these pads for me and I got him the supplies from a higher quality printer and they're perforated so you can tear them off like Green Stamps. I don't know if it's the right President, the serial numbers are very suspicious, but you can still smell the ink, so don't touch it because it's a little wet," he told host Joshua Topolsky on the show.
According to him, the pads meet US government specifications, making them legal tender. “I’ve been spending them,” he said.
Watch video here:
In a separate post on his official website, Wozniak explained that he buys sheets of $2 bills, folds them in his pocket and sometimes uses them to pay for items, all for comedic effect.
"It's just for comedy, as the $2 bills cost nearly $3 each when purchased on sheets. They cost even more at coin stores,” he was quoted as saying by the Snopes.com website.
