25 Beautiful Banknotes That Make The U.S. Dollar Look Like Trash

~cash rules everything around me~

1. Argentina

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In 2016, Argentina introduced a 500-peso banknote for the first time; it features illustrations of jaguars, and earned the country a nomination for "Bank Note of the Year" from the International Bank Note Society (it's a whole thing).

2. Australia

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There was an uproar in 1963 when Australian Treasurer Harold Holt announced that, after ditching the pound, Australia's new currency would be called the "royal." People despised the idea, claiming it reflected Prime Minister Robert Menzies' antiquated "royalist sympathies." Things got so out of hand that Holt's wife even received death threats. Other names like "kwid" and "emu" were suggested, but eventually, the dollar came out on top.

3. Bahamas

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The front of the Bahamian $3 banknote shows a young Queen Elizabeth II, while the back (above) depicts a Family Island Regatta with classic Bahamian sailboats. Like the U.S., Bahamian dollars are all printed in the same size.

4. Bermuda

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In 2013, Bermuda phased out its old horizontal dollars for ones printed vertically with colorful maritime scenes.

5. Bhutan

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Bhutanese ngultrum sports whimsical designs, like the Nu.1 banknote (above) that features a government crest flanked by two dragons.

6. Brazil

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Brazilian real comes in different colors, including the blue R$100 banknote above, which depicts underwater plants, starfish, coral, and the head of República, a national symbol of the Federative Republic of Brazil.

7. Canada

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Along with a scene of children playing hockey, Canada's $5 bill has an excerpt from beloved French-Canadian writer Roch Carrier's classic children's book The Hockey Sweater, which reads: "The winters of my childhood were long, long seasons. We lived in three places — the school, the church, and the skating rink — but our life was on the skating rink."

8. Costa Rica

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A bull shark, starfish, and other sea life are featured on the back of Costa Rica's 2,000 colones banknote. The currency is named "colón" for Christopher Columbus, or "Cristóbal Colón" in Spanish.

9. Egypt

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The one-pound coin in Egypt (above) features Tutankhamun's iconic mask.

10. Fiji

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Since 2013, Fiji has circulated vibrant banknotes that no longer feature Queen Elizabeth II's face; instead, they spotlight the country's flora and fauna, like the five-dollar banknote (above) with Fiji’s native kulawai, a red-throated lorikeet.

11. Honduras

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The Honduran lempira is named after the 16th-century ruler of the indigenous Lenca people (above), who led the (unsuccessful) local resistance against the Spanish conquistadors.

12. Iceland

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Back in 1413, dried fish was used as currency in Iceland. Luckily, they now use the less-smelly krónur (which means "crowns").

13. India

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The Indian rupee is made with cotton and cotton rag, and features the face of Mahatma Gandhi.

14. Iran

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You'll see Sayyid Ruhollah Mūsavi Khomeini — a Shia Muslim religious leader, philosopher, revolutionary, and politician (known as Ayatollah Khomeini in the Western world) — on high-value Iranian rials.

15. Israel

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Israeli shekels bear the portraits of famous Hebrew poets, like the 200 bill (above) with Nathan Alterman and his poem "Eternal Meeting."

16. Japan

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The 5,000-yen banknote (above) contains a portrait of Higuchi Ichiyō, who's considered the most important female writer of her time. She died at 24, but her stories have had a lasting impact on Japanese literature — and currency.

17. Kazakhstan

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The 10,000-tenge banknote (above) in Kazakhstan features a mountain range behind one of the country's rarest mammals: the snow leopard.

18. Kuwait

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Kuwaiti dinar is considered the highest-value currency in the world, partially because of the country's extensive oil exports — Kuwait has almost 10% of the world's oil reserves.

19. Malaysia

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Malaysian ringgit showcases the country's national flower: hibiscus.

20. Maldives

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The earliest form of currency in the Maldives was cowry shells. As cool as that is, the country now circulates rufiyaa printed with nautical scenes.

21. New Zealand

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New Zealand's various dollar bills feature the country's native birds, like the hoiho (above), an adorable yellow-eyed penguin.

22. Nigeria

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In 1973, the naira replaced the Nigerian pound as the country's official currency (the British pound sterling was used when Nigeria was a British colony).

23. South Africa

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South African rand features Africa's "big five": lion, rhinoceros, leopard, buffalo, and elephant.

24. Suriname

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The Surinamese dollar has only been the country's official currency since 2004, when it replaced the guilder.

25. Switzerland

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The Swiss franc is the currency of both Switzerland and Lichtenstein, and the banknotes are all quadrilingual, displaying information in Switzerland's four national languages: French, German, Italian, and Romansh.