Cell phones minutes and cigarettes as currency

Miscellaneous General
1

I think maybe a year or two ago I hazily remember skimming an article that spoke of an African government/currency that was ineffectual, and the citizens spontaneously used cell phone min. as currency. Does anyone have any info on this?

Also, is there any articles about the “prison marketplace” where cigarettes have been spontaneously used as currency?

2

I think I saw this link probably posted in this forum.

http://www.nextnature.net/?p=2234

3

Thanks, I don’t know why but stuff like this just amazes me.

4

I just came across this in my search, interesting funny but true article:

http://www.cracked.com/article_16709_7-bizarre-things-1-bodily-fluid-people-use-as-money.html

5

Pretty good ! The one currency I found puzzling is big stones. It doesn’t seem to actually be currency but something they buy as status symbols.

6

I read about them before, maybe in the Guiness book. If I remember correctly, they seldom get moved around. They sit in a type of bank I think. It may very well be some type of status symbol, or it could be an odd form of fiat currency. I’ll put it on my long list of things to read on wikipedia.