Iranian Currency Switches to Scientific Notation
The Islamic Republic of Iran announced this week what economists are calling the most mathematically honest currency reform in history: the rial will henceforth be denominated in scientific notation.
“A cup of tea should not cost one million four hundred thousand rials,” explained the Central Bank Governor at a press conference. “It should cost 1.4e6 rials. It is elegant. It reflects our civilization’s mastery of mathematics, which we invented, by the way.”
This allows the denomination's sequence of zeros to actually fit on the bill, and permits ordinary citizens to more succinctly communicate the cost of a cup of tea or coffee.