European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 2, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 16 the stars and stripes Money matters saturday sunday january 1/2,1994 Dollar watch shown below Are the highest Dollar Exchange rates for the week of . 27-31 compared with Dollar rates for the same period one year and five years  Mark one Dollar would buy you 167 1.58 to 1988 1993 1992 military Changa rate British Pound one Pound would Cost you in 1.78 1.53 155 1993 1992 1988 belgian franc one Dollar would buy you 35.46 2 a 37.73 1992 1.85 1993dutch Guilder one Dollar would buy you 2.02 1.76 1992 French franc one Dollar would buy you 580 5.51 611 1988 1992 greek drachma one Dollar would buy you 238.32 20823 148.25 1988 1993 italian lira. One Dollar would buy you 1,683 m75 1,320 1988 1993 Spanish peseta one Dollar would buy you140.34 114.85�?T 115.00 1993 1992 1988 turkish Ira one Dollar would buy you 14,278 8,550 1993 1992 1,813 1988 a Swiss Hying the Good life world Bank report says Washington a people in Switzerland have the highest average income a $36,230 in 1992 of any country in the world and their life expectancy of 78 years is also close110 the top the world Bank reports. Babies born in Japan can expect to live to 79, but japanese incomes Are in third place the equivalent in yen of an average $28,220. 1 americans lag behind. Their average income of $23,120 was in eighth place behind Luxembourg Japan and four nordic countries a Sweden Denmark Norway and Iceland. . Life expectancy is a respectable 76 years but people in 18 other countries live longer. The figures appear in the world Bank Atlas 1994, published thursday. The Bank calculates income averages by dividing a country a population into the value of its total production. That gives production per citizen including babies and pensioners which the Bank considers roughly equal to income per citizen. The United nations criticizes this method As ignoring what the income can actually buy in the country where it is earned. By the . System of a purchasing Power parities a the United state nordic countries Post fiscal strength by the associated press the 10 nations with the highest average earnings per capita according to the world Bank. A 1, Switzerland a $36,2302. Luxembourg a $35,260 3. Japan a $28,220 4. Sweden a $26,780 5. Denmark a $25,930 6. Norway a $25,.800 7. Iceland�?$23,670 8. United states a $23,120 9. Germany a $23,030 10. Finland $22,980 comes in first with an average income of $21,449 and Switzerland second with the equivalent of $20,874. The . Figures Are for 1990. The Atlas also contains a variety of hard to find information. In Case you care to know How much of Senegal is covered by Forest its 31 percent nearly one acre out of every three. Which country had the most inflation Over the years 1985-1992? Nicaragua. Prices there Rose an average of More than 25 times each year. In All 15 republics of the former soviet Union production and incomes dropped in 1992, the Atlas says. But it warns that the figures Are preliminary. Many african countries and some in latin America show declines since 1985 Congo Ivory coast Guyana an amp Haiti among others. In some african lands according to earlier editions of the Atlas the declines Date to the 1960s when the countries gained Independence from colonial Rule. Prospects were poor in Africa. A baby born in Guinea Bissau is expected to live Only to age 39. The average resident of Mozambique earned Only $60 in 1992, when an Accord was signed to end the country a 16-year civil War. Some latin countries have been making a comeback the average Argentine earned $6,050 in 1992, up from $3,970 the year before. Mexicans also had a considerable increase from $3,080 to $3,470. Washington apr say you left $1,000 in the cookie Jar and your Kitchen Burns to cinders. Should you just kiss those Cash ashes goodbye not necessarily says Vicki Singleton. Singleton solves Jigsaw puzzles piecing together bits of mutilated Money to verify claims for currency often damaged beyond recognition. Shers one of 20 Treasury department experts who decide whether the ashes and paper fragments sent to the departs ment really were Money a and How much. Confirmed losses Are replaced free. A a. A a a a. A a it a very tedious a said Singleton a 12-year Veteran As she sifted gingerly through the charred contents of three burned Coffee cans and a Small Metal Box. Singleton said it would take about two months to or Ivy the owners claim that the containers had been filled with $33,000 when his House was destroyed in a fire in Oakland calif., in 1991. Last year the department redeemed about $600 million involving some 29,000 claims. A a there a no limit How much people can Send in for redemption a said Grade Scruggs acting manager of the examining and redemption Branch in the departments Bureau of engraving and printing. But at least 51 percent of the a mutilated Bill must be recovered or in the Case of fire enough of the note or a sufficient amount of recognizable Ash to determine the currency a denomination and authenticity. Scruggs said there is a four to six month backlog on claims Down from a 13-month logjam that occurred following hurricanes Andrew and Kiniki and the 199l Oakland fire. The process is very Low tech. A we use everything from knitting Needles to tweezers to scalpels to adhesive tape a and a lot of Elbow a Scruggs said a amps sometimes Money has to be boiled Sev Verona stalling one of 20 Treasury department experts who determine whether ashes and paper fragments really were Money examines charred Bills. Eral times before the Bills can be peeled apart she added displaying an Ordinary Kitchen pot on a two Burner hot plate. The largest claim Ever was $2.5 million paid to the owner of an armoured car de-st/5 pm by a 1978 explosion in new York. Scruggs said the largest amount redeemed in 1993 was $328,740 that had been buried in a Metal Box in the basement of a Home in Hillsboro Texas that flooded. The owner apparently thinking much less was involved had submitted a claim for just $10,000. A whatever we find we pay it a Scruggs said. Retired baseball Star Reggie Jackson had a a a substantial amount of Cash stored in a Wall Safe in his Oakland Home when it was destroyed by the 1991 fire Scruggs said. Jackson sent the Safe to the redemption Branch where it was pried open and the contents verified. The most common causes of damage Are fire and moisture particularly to Money that a been buried said Paul Frey. Chief of the Bureau s office of currency standards. A currency will not hold up in the ground or in Damp places a he said. Scruggs emphasized claimants must be Able to prove their losses a which has driven some people to disgusting ends. Take the Case of an Iowa Farmer who filed a claim some years ago for $600, explaining his cow had eaten his Wallet. When the redemption Branch said it would be unable to pay the claim without proof of loss the Farmer had the cow slaughtered submitted a portion of the stomach containing the still undigested Cash a and received his Treasury Check. Mutilated currency on the other hand should be sent by registered mail return receipt requested to the department of the Treasury Bureau of engraving and printing office of currency standards . Box 37048, Washington . 20013