Here's what just happened over in North Korea:
TOKYO -- Chaos reportedly erupted in North Korea on Tuesday after the government of Kim Jong Il revalued the country's currency, sharply restricting the amount of old bills that could be traded for new and wiping out personal savings.
...
The revaluation replaces 1,000 won notes with 10 won notes, but strictly limits the amount of old currency that can be exchanged, news reports said.
100:1.
You had $100,000, you now have $1,000.
You had $100,000,000 (one hundred million), you now have one million.
Oh, and if you tried to cheat by taking it out of the system, only $40 of it is exchangeable - the rest is worth nothing.
Yes, this is North Korea, and Kim Jung-Il isn't exactly a nice guy.
Now let's ask the question nobody wants to ask:
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1685-North-Korea-and-Currency-Devaluations.html-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ouch! That had to hurt...