City officials in Paris, KY announced this week that strips of tasty, all-natural Mingua beef jerky can finally be used as currency at businesses within city limits. The move is one that residents of Paris have hoped would happen for months.

“I invested pretty heavily in Mingua beef jerky back during the recession, because I wanted something with a little more stability and flavor than the U.S. Dollar,” said Paris resident Pierre Dubois. “I’m glad city officials have finally come around on accepting it as legal tender, because it’s probably about as tender as it gets. And it makes my wallet smell great.”

While the transition to using the perfectly seasoned, hand-cut snack as currency is only now becoming official, many businesses around town have been accepting the jerky as payment for weeks.

“We accept any legitimate form of payment,” a Centerville Market clerk told us. “Whether that be cash, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or Mingua. You know, pretty much anything except American Express.”

Other stores told us they’ve seen an influx of counterfeit jerky.

“Yeah we get the scammers from time to time,” said Save-A-Lot cashier Claudette Fournier. “They’re easy to spot though. When you hold the jerky up to the light you can clearly tell it’s just some smashed up Slim Jims. Also, it doesn’t have the beautiful color and smoky aroma that the fine folks at Mingua have become so famous for.”

Many financial experts worry that introducing so much jerky into the market at once could lead to inflation, but culinary experts told us that’s just the sodium content.

“It’s a bull market,” financial planner and jerky enthusiast Antoine Dauterive told us. “You know, because of the logo.”