FILTHY FIAT FRAGILE IMPERMANENCE

Specimen FF-B04548016G · Series 2006 · New York · B

I buried money in case my house burned down.
Nature created a generative art project.

Time + water + dirt is the generative algorithm.
The damage on each bill is its metadata of traits.
The serial number is the code of authenticity.
#14
Epic · rank 14 of 50

The damage is the metadata. Every note is scored on ruin and scarcity, then ranked. This one is the only whole note the New York bank put in the ground.

See the Bill Registry →
See the collection Check your own dollar
Front of specimen FF-B04548016G, a Series 2006 $1 bill from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, serial B04548016G, tea-stained by soil and water, black mold clustered over the lower serial and its edges torn ragged after two years underground
Reverse of specimen FF-B04548016G: the Great Seal of the United States, the pyramid still crisp in green while black mold climbs over the eagle from the bottom edge
rarity score FILTH INDEX 74 Every note is scored on ruin + scarcity. This one ranks #14 of 50. RANK #14 · EPIC
authenticity SERIAL B04548016G The serial is the code of authenticity. This one survived the ground, and you can look it up.
region seal NEW YORK · B District 2 The only whole note from New York in the collection. It rode 2,566 miles to San Francisco before it went under.
trait STAINING 65% Overall darkening: the whole note tea-stained by soil and water underground.
anatomy THE GREAT SEAL 1782 The unfinished pyramid and the all-seeing eye, “Annuit Cœptis.” On this note it came through almost clean.
trait MATERIAL LOSS 24% The edges eaten away. Nature redrew the borders of the note.
trait BLACK MOLD 15% A living bloom that climbed in from one end, over the serial on the front and the eagle on the back.
FF-B04548016G · $1 FRN · Series 2006 · 75% cotton / 25% linen

The short version

Two years underground.
Then the bank called it a biohazard.

01 · THE BURIAL

A prepper box in my parents' backyard

Inside: 200 one-dollar bills, silver bars, a gold coin, .38 rounds, family photos, paper 3D glasses. Sealed. Buried. Forgotten on purpose.

02 · THE REFUSAL

Unspendable. Unexchangeable.

Two years of water, dirt, mold and iron turned the cash into a brick of decayed paper. My bank refused it as a biohazard. The Treasury exchange bag never came.

03 · THE SURGERY

An x-acto blade and a discovery

Separating the brick bill by bill, I found nature had generated an art collection. Every note uniquely rewritten by rust, mold, water and loss.

Read the full story

Watch · behind the scenes

Between Two Bills.

The surgery, up close. Separating the brick one decayed bill at a time.

Behind-the-scenes film of Coldie separating the brick of buried, moldy dollar bills with an x-acto blade
Play the film

Three ways to collect

One project. Three kinds of collector.

The buried bills are the source. They live as graded currency, as physical art, and as tokenized works on-chain. Choose your door.

FOR THE CURRENCY COLLECTOR

The Bills

All 50 notes, PMG-graded and forensically measured. Real serials, districts and certification numbers. Filter by district, trait and series.

Enter the archive → FOR THE ART COLLECTOR

Physical Art

The Warren Buffett portrait that sold at Christie's, the Filthy Fiat Flag, and signed prints made from the bills.

Enter the physical wing → FOR THE DIGITAL COLLECTOR

Digital Art

Bitcoin Ordinals and Ethereum works that reference the bills on-chain, from the 2023 generative series to today.

Enter the digital wing →

Or verify a specimen · learn the story of the dollar · visit the shop

Try it with the dollar in your pocket

Every dollar tells you where it was born.

Find the round Federal Reserve seal left of Washington's portrait. Type its letter, or your whole serial number.

Twelve Federal Reserve districts, A through L.
Your bill carries one of them. This tool tells you which, right here in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Full guide: what every mark on your dollar means →

Below the banking hall

Every claim on this floor is provable downstairs.

The marble is upstairs. The proof is in the basement: a forensic terminal holding the record for every note, straight off the mainframe these bills came from.

> Enter the registry 50 specimens on file · every serial verifiable