What exactly is negotiable currency? It’s a transferable document that promises a certain amount of money – cash, cashier’s checks, money orders, etc. English majors may note that the word currency also means intellectual expression. In any case, why did D.B. Cooper ask for $200,000 in negotiable currency?
Like too many details in this case, we really don’t know what he asked for. Cockpit transcripts have Flight 305 co-pilot Bill reporting that the highjacker wanted “negotiable American currency.” The original notes Cooper dictated to stewardess Flo indicate he asked for “negotiable currency.” If so, what exactly is non-negotiable currency? It can include checks that must be paid into a bank account (such as a paycheck direct deposit receipt that has no value), or U.S. Government savings bonds. In 1971, direct deposit paychecks were not in widespread use, although entities such as Air America (covertly owned and operated by the CIA) deposited their overseas contractors’ checks in American banks. Clearly it seems obvious that non-negotiable instruments would never be offered as ransom payment. To further confuse the issue, stewardess Tina later reported in a subsequent interview he wanted “circulated U. S. currency.”
Circulated (used) money seems to make the most sense, although I am curious why he didn’t ask for unmarked bills. The serial numbers of all the ransom bills had been previously recorded, but Cooper had no way of knowing that (or did he? More on that for another day.) Oddly, “marked bills” in those days, much as we heard in old gangster movies, literally had an ink mark on them for easy identification.
IF he requested American money, this could be a huge tell. Why would a U.S airline operating in the state of Washington supply anything other than the almighty dollar? They wouldn’t. Could this be a slip that Cooper was a foreigner? Or perhaps a U.S. citizen that had recently been living overseas (such as in the military) and often had to deal with foreign exchange? The word “negotiable” also gets our attention: did Cooper in the past have an occasion to be paid in such a way that the instrument was unable to be honored?
Although there is no mention of what denomination bills he wanted, Flo later recalled that he did ask for $20s but she forgot to write it down. Cooper coincidentally received his loot as 10,000 $20 bills ($20 in 1971 would be more than $100 today). Since he did not balk excessively at receiving a bank bag instead of the knapsack he requested, I wonder if he would have calmly accepted a much smaller package of $100 banknotes.
Now that this isn’t settled, I feel sure we can negotiate our theories and hopefully one of them gains currency.
Pat
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