Million Dollar Display

Binion's offers a free photo op with what they claim is one-million dollars under a pyramid shaped plexiglass display:



There are 20, hundred dollar bills facing the front. I will assume there are another 20 in the back. This means $4,000 is actually shown, with the other $996,000 supposedly tucked in-between. Back in the day, it was 100, $10,000 bills. It was neat to see up close, and it was all visible:



Given the utility of the money that drove the owners to take down the original Million, I am suspicious that the display really contains $1 million in USD. What do you think is in the middle, sandwiched between the hundreds in the front and back?

Probably just slot tickets for $0.02 that were left on the floor over the years. Either that or cards picked up off the ground from porn slappers.

I believe its known as a Michigan bankroll. High denomination bills on the outside for their "flash" value and dollar bills on the inside. However, I see no reason for them to do this. The cost is the same. The insurance premiums are the same. The risk is the same. Why not have an honest amount of money there. They use that sum as part of their calculated reserves since it is indeed cash on hand. They probably pledge that money in overnight loans to other casinos from time to time. It doesn't cost them anything to display the full and correct amount.

Jimmy Hoffa's remains?

Quote: Ayecarumba

Given the utility of the money that drove the owners to take down the original Million, I am suspicious that the display really contains $1 million in USD.

People regularly sell $1000 bills for $2000 or more on e-bay. There is a $10,000 banknotes on sale now for $89,000 (no takers), but they are worth several times their face value. So the original display was worth far more than $1 million. Jay Parrino, who bought the display would only say that he paid less than $10 million.

The new display is 79,100 banknotes:
$270,000 in $100 banknotes weighing 6 pounds
$688,000 in $20 banknotes weighing 76 pounds
$42,000 in $1 banknotes weighing 92 pounds

So the whole display with acrylic container is over 200 pounds (174 pounds in banknotes), making it difficult to run away with, but still easily handled to put it into storage.

The loss of roughly $1000/week in interest is reasonably paid back in customer interest in the display.

Note: If as a cost cutting measure all of the internal banknotes were replaced with $1 bills, it would still be $83,060 in cash. But I don't think they would stuff it with newspaper as that wouldn't look correct.

A stack of 100 bills is just about 1/2" high. 7/16" if you squash it down hard. Let's just assume 1/2". Each would contain $10,000. It takes 100 bundles to make $1,000,000. So $1,000,000 in $100 bills would be 100*0.5 = 50". You could fit that into two large shoeboxes. Clearly some of the bills in the display are not $100 bills.

Eyeballing that picture, I would say if you stacked up all the bills in the pyramid it would be 45' = 540" high. There would be 540*2*100=108,000 bills in a 540" stack. I assume the visitor can see $100 bills on the back side, accounting for 40 visible $100 bills = $4,000. That leaves $996,000 and 107,960 bills. That would make the average non-visible bill $9.23.

Quote: Wizard

A stack of 100 bills is just about 1/2" high. 7/16" if you squash it down hard. Let's just assume 1/2". Each would contain $10,000. It takes 100 bundles to make $1,000,000. So $1,000,000 in $100 bills would be 100*0.5 = 50". You could fit that into two large shoeboxes. Clearly some of the bills in the display are not $100 bills.

Eyeballing that picture, I would say if you stacked up all the bills in the pyramid it would be 45' = 540" high. There would be 540*2*100=108,000 bills in a 540" stack. I assume the visitor can see $100 bills on the back side, accounting for 40 visible $100 bills = $4,000. That leaves $996,000 and 107,960 bills. That would make the average non-visible bill $9.23.

do you always win the charity gumball count where you have to estimate the number of gumballs in a large jar?

Quote: Wizard

I assume the visitor can see $100 bills on the back side, accounting for 40 visible $100 bills = $4,000. That leaves $996,000 and 107,960 bills. That would make the average non-visible bill $9.23.

Pretty good guess for eyeball. Using the numbers published in the paper that would be 40 visible banknotes and 79,600 hidden bills with an average value of $12.60 .

Assuming that they put only the $1 bills on the bottom, that would be six rows of 7000 banknotes. Assuming 100 banknotes in 1/2" that is 35" which looks about correct.

If the top is two rows of $100 banknotes that is (1350 -18) per row or less than 7" in length. Also looks about correct.

My guess is levels 2,3 and 4 are all stuffed with $20 banknotes in between.

Quote: FleaStiff

They use that sum as part of their calculated reserves since it is indeed cash on hand.

Good point. So it's all real, just not all Benjamins.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Good point. So it's all real, just not all Benjamins.

Benjamins would be about 50" stack weighing 22 pounds. Assuming a briefcase could fit two rows, you could fit $1 million in a standard briefcase.

This display is 400" of banknotes.