The 5-dollar bill lasts less than the 1-dollar bill

6.6 years is the life of a one-dollar bill. The $5, only 4.7 —the shortest life of all, and not because it is the smallest. The $10, 5.3 years. The $20, 7.8. The $50, 12.2. The $100, 22.9 years. These are the current figures from the US Federal Reserve, which every few years publishes the average life of its banknotes in circulation.

The $5 wears out fast because it moves like loose change: tips, till change, vending machines, lockers. Bills that pass from hand to hand tear, stain and are pulled early. The $100, by contrast, sits in a drawer: at bars, in homes, at banks. The Fed retires around five billion notes a year and replaces them with fresh ones; the worn paper is shredded and ends up, depending on the branch, in compost, in insulation, or in concrete.

If you have a $100 bill in your wallet, statistically it will outlive your phone.