All dollars not created equal?

All dollars not created equal?

From Kompas

On Jan. 13 I went to Bank Central Dagang's Kedoya branch in West Jakarta to exchange US$250. The bank's rate was Rp 8,050 to the dollar. But the teller would not exchange my money at the prevailing rate because the banknotes were issued in 1990, 1991 and 1993.

BCD applied the rate only to banknotes issued since 1996. When I asked the woman teller if banknotes issued before 1996 were not legal tender, she said they were but had a lower value, according to the policy of the bank's head office. The lower rate on the day would be Rp 7,800, Rp 250 less.

I canceled the transaction and went to a money changer on Jl. Pintu Besar. My banknotes were accepted and I received Rp 8,100 per dollar, Rp 50 higher than the rate at BCD for new banknotes.

Is there a government regulation that in dollar transactions the date of issue affects the rate of exchange? If it is so, the government should inform the public to pay attention to the year of issue when purchasing dollars to guard against suffering losses later on. Note that when people buy dollars from banks or money changers the year of issue of the banknotes is never called into question.

GOENAWAN

Jakarta