I remember a thread a while ago, it may have even been on a script review thread, it was about how much space a million dollars took up, anyway, this email I got sent today reminded me of it. It is pretty cool.



A billion dollars...

A hundred billion dollars...

Eight hundred billion dollars...

One TRILLION dollars...

What does that look like? I mean, these various numbers are tossed around like so many doggie treats, so I thought I ' d take Google Sketchup out for a test drive and try to get a sense of what exactly a trillion dollars looks like.

We ' ll start with a $100 dollar bill. Currently the largest U.S. denomination in general circulation. Most everyone has seen them, slighty fewer have owned them. Guaranteed to make friends wherever they go.











A packet of one hundred $100 bills is less than 1/2" thick and contains $10,000. Fits in your pocket easily and is more than enough for week or two of shamefully decadent fun.








Believe it or not, this next little pile is $1 million dollars (100 packets of $10,000). You could stuff that into a grocery bag and walk around with it.










While a measly $1 million looked a little unimpressive, $100 million is a little more respectable. It fits neatly on a standard pallet..










And $1 BILLION dollars... now we ' re really getting somewhere...










Next we ' ll look at ONE TRILLION dollars. This is that number we ' ve been hearing so much about. What is a trillion dollars? Well, it ' s a million million. It ' s a thousand billion. It ' s a one followed by 12 zeros.

You ready for this?

It ' s pretty surprising.

Go ahead...

Scroll down...

Ladies and gentlemen... I give you $1 trillion dollars..








(And notice those pallets are double stacked.)

So the next time you hear someone toss around the phrase "trillion dollars"... that ' s what they ' re talking about.

Guess I'll have to build a bigger house when one of my scripts takes off...

Thanks for that info GM, very well done.

Stevie, I already own 2 warehouses bought especially for when my next script gets sold...

Quoted from Tommyp Thanks for that info GM, very well done. Stevie, I already own 2 warehouses bought especially for when my next script gets sold...

I bought a warehouse for when my book(s) get printed, but it'll probably just wind up full of unsold books. . . .

Wow!  A trillion dollars takes up a lot of space.  Dick Cheney could make a hunting blind from all that. . . .

Yeah, top info, Gary. But not as interesting as your future wife in a Gunner's shirt.
Man, that was a shit hot retort.

Thank God for credit cards, I would hate to log around that much cash...no, actually, that would be pretty cool.

Quoted from stevie Yeah, top info, Gary. But not as interesting as your future wife in a Gunner's shirt. Man, that was a shit hot retort.

haha, one day I will post the pics.


Oh, I forgot, I live in Australia, it seems I am not allowed to view, publish or discuss female flesh online anymore.

Quoted from GM Giles Ladies and gentlemen... I give you $1 trillion dollars..

Please? I'm going to store all my money is a huge tower with a giant dollar sign. And it's going to be converted to nondescript gold coins so I can swim through it.

Quoted from Murphy I remember a thread a while ago, it may have even been on a script review thread, it was about how much space a million dollars took up...

That was me talking about that -- annoyed at scripts where people carry around millions of dollars in a briefcase.

I cannot speak to the rest of the images, but the "million dollars" one is wrong.

That picture is very similar to what $100,000 would look like -- a bundle of 10 of the strapped bills in the image above it.

That is not even close to 100 bundles.  That would be a stack up about the guys knees.

Take 10 of those bundles in the "million dollar" image, and that is what $1,000,000 would look like.  And it would not fit in a briefcase.  A briefcase holds $400,000, tops.

Just sayin.

So you would need 2,500,000 briefcases to pack 1 trillion. And let's say a nice looking briefcase costs around 400 a piece, then you'd have to spend 1 billion on briefcases - okay you would still have 999 billion left, so I'd say it's a good deal.

You'd still have plenty of money left to buy quite a few islands http://www.privateislandsonline.com/.

Damn, islands are kinda cheap. I could almost buy one - almost.

Quoted from bert That is not even close to 100 bundles.  That would be a stack up about the guys knees.

I don't know.  If the graphic represents 10 stacks, each 10 bundles high, it would only be about 5" tall (approx 1/2" per bundle).

Quoted from theMADhatter Please? I'm going to store all my money is a huge tower with a giant dollar sign. And it's going to be converted to nondescript gold coins so I can swim through it.

Now that takes me back...

Quoted from Shelton I don't know.

You would dare disagree???

Actually, it is kind of hard to tell what they are going for with that image, as far as depth of the stack.

For the record, $100,000 is approxmately the size of a hardback novel.  This is a fact.  So a million dollars is about 10 hardback novels.

Just for those who are interested in being accurate with cash in their stories, though not everyone is.  I will readily admit not everyone is as hung up about this as I am.

Well, if you consider the dimensions of the stack, it's 2 bills wide by 5 bills long by 10 stacks high. A bill is 2.61 inches by 6.14 inches and .0043 inches thick.

That would make the 100 bundle stack 4.3 inches tall by 12.28 inches wide by 13.05 inches long. That image seems fairly accurate for those dimensions and while that would not fit into a standard briefcase, it would certainly fit in a grocery bag or an average duffel bag or quite neatly into any carry on luggage.

We have too many nerds on this board.

Takes one to know one.

Actual photo of $1m

Quoted from Shelton Actual photo of $1m

Mike, Did you pull your cash out from your mattress especially to take that picture?

Quoted from Murphy Mike, Did you pull your cash out from your mattress especially to take that picture?

Some of it.  The rest of it had a little too much dust on it.

Quoted from Shelton Some of it.  The rest of it had a little too much dust on it.

Thus making it too thick for accurate portrayal.  :)

That trillion dollars is a really, really big stack of . . . well . . . paper.

How many trees where killed to make that stack of trillion bills?

Yeah I like to hugs tree from time to time- so sue me.

Panda bears are kind of cute too.  

Pandas don't live in trees, Glenn, they live in Zoos (and if what I've been told is correct, then they won't live long there either).

Aaaaand money isn't made of paper.

It was in the movie Inside Man. It MUST be true.