To make it clear, people have a window to exchange the notes. No one loses money if they exchange the notes within that window. The reason behind this maneuver is to PREVENT people from hoarding cash tax-free.
For the normal person having a reasonable amount of money, there is no problem provided you act within the window. It becomes their discretion to redeem after that period of time.
If you suddenly walked in with notes that were 30 years old and they were part of some estate, that would generally be honored. The issue is to PREVENT people from using cash to avoid taxes. If you have a million dollar equivalent, then you have a lot of explaining to do to prove you paid the tax.
This is why the notes are not used internationally other than dollars because people do not know when they expire or how to exchange them. Moving to electronic currency will certainly really screw-up the entire world economy where a lot of places do not have communications. In Kiev, dollars are king and most people deal in cash because they do not trust the state.
It is now ILLEGAL to pay a hotel bill in France in cash for example with more than 1,000 euros.
