Will you take a cheque?

Here's an interesting one. Italian police report that they found some U.S. government bonds found in the false bottom of a suitcase. The suitcase belonged to two Japanese travelers who were about to cross into Switzerland. (link):

The bonds, with a face value of more than $134 billion, are probably forgeries, Colonel Rodolfo Mecarelli of the Guardia di Finanza in Como, Italy, said today. If the notes are genuine, the pair would be the U.S. government’s fourth-biggest creditor, ahead of the U.K. with $128 billion of U.S. debt and just behind Russia, which is owed $138 billion.

That's a heck of a surprise on your credit card bill.