People inside Iraq had nothing to worry about. Banks there exchanged new notes for the old.
But there has been pandemonium in neighboring Jordan, where an estimated one million now-worthless 25-dinar notes are held by exporters who sold Iraq food and medicine; by refugees who sold their cars and homes in Kuwait for Iraqi dinars two years ago - and by untold thousands of speculators.
To make sure they couldn't get into Iraq to exchange their banknotes, Iraq sealed its border for six days and reportedly posted Republican Guards across the 400-mile frontier to keep out smugglers.