A video surfaced online this week of a British vinyl enthusiast playing a record using Britain’s new five-pound note. The sharp, durable quality of the polymer the notes are covered in means they can be used as crude turntable needles.
Never ones to be outdone by the Brits, whether in drinking, cricket, or… using our currency to play vinyl records, the folks at sublime Melbourne record shop Northside Records decided to put Australia’s own new fiver to the test.
It came out gangbusters. In fact, we may be a little biased here, but we reckon our five-dollar note actually sounds better than the Brits’, though granted much of the grain in the UK recording may be coming from the amp and contact mic used.
It’s just another great feature of our spiffy-looking new five-dollar notes, which also feature tactile markings that allow blind people to read the note. There’s also all sorts of cool design features, like a rolling colour effect that makes it look like the small bird is flapping its wings.
