Which is the safest currency to hold in the short term?

[HairyArsedBloke]

For an individual, the safest currency to hold short term is the one that enables you to buy things in the country where you live. Any additional currencies you hold are speculative.

That is only exchange rate risk. What about inflation? If local currency inflation is higher than foreign curreny inflation then the 'safer' one is the foreign one.

[gingerjedi]

During the German hyper inflation, a woman dragged a basket filled with money to buy a loaf of bread. She propped up the basket outside the shop and went in for a minute. Came out and saw her money thrown out and a thief had made off with the basket.

I keep hearing about this hyperinflation but I'm still waiting... I'd love to be able to waltz into my bank with a sack of cash and pay off the mortgage.