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No, I don't run in those circles This is interesting though.
Canadian $1,000 bill hunt: There are nearly a million left, most in the hands of criminal elites | National Post
I don't believe Canada has ever demonetized old money. Of course money has to be accepted by the other party to legally conclude a transaction. So for a practical matter old money is usually destroyed by the bank, or it becomes more valuable as a collectible than it's face value. I suspect that the Canadian 1- and 2-Dollar bills are retained as collectible by common people. The $1000 bills are simply collectibles among the criminal elite. They may use them to pay off IOU's but more probably as tokens of good will or rewards for a job well done.
So I suspect that the cotton currency of Canada will not be demonetized, but the banks will destroy all the notes in their possession.
The American $500, $1000, $5000, and $10000 banknotes were all issued between 1920 and before WWII. The banks began destroying all these notes in their possession after 1969 when the US government made a conscious decision never to produce them again. Of course in 1969 there was probably one to two c-notes circulating per capita. The foreign circulation was still relatively small.
The most famous collection of high value notes was 100, $10000 notes (or $1 million) on display in Binion's casino in Las Vegas. The daughter of the founder sold the notes for some unknown value but is assumed to be several million dollars.
The US held congressional reviews about re-introducing the US$500 banknote when the EMU said they would have a 500 Euro banknote. The German mark, Dutch guilder, Austrian schilling and Belgian franc did have banknotes worth between €247.89 to €511.29, but outside of these "Germanic" countries most banknotes were not worth that much. The Italians did introduce a 500,000 lira note in 1997, just before the money was fixed, but very few were ever printed.
The British are the world's most conservative country about large denominations for country's with a widely used currency. They demonetized all the banknotes above 5 pounds in WWII because of the fear of a counterfeiting operation by the Nazis called Operation Bernhard. They didn't re-introduce the 50 pound note until 1981 and even today it circulated in relatively small quantities. They were massively upset that the EMU decided to go ahead and produce the 500 Euro banknote and blatantly cater to dictators and drug smugglers.
France, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus, Estonia, and Greece had their biggest banknote in local currency worth €76.22, €63.49, €60.10, €34.17, €31.96 and €29.35. Now they routinely pull a €50 out of an ATM, and their countries are awash in high value notes fueling the criminal trade.
QUICK REVIEW OF DEMONETIZATION
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Demonetization is currently prohibited in the United States by the Coinage Act of 1965 and applies to all US coins and currency regardless of age.
Notes by the Bank of England that are withdrawn from circulation, have ceased to be legal tender, but remain redeemable at the Bank of England or by post.
Paper and polymer issues of New Zealand banknotes issued from 1967 onwards (and 1- and 2-dollar notes until 1993) are still legal tender, although 1- and 2-cent coins are no longer used in Australia and New Zealand.
The Italian Central Bank had stopped accepting the Lire in December 2011, while France allowed redeeming Francs until February 2012.
The Finnish population also had until the end of February 2012 to turn in their last Markkaa, and the
Greeks had until March 1 to convert their Drachmas for Euro’s.
The Dutch are able to keep Guilders in their wallets until 2032.
About half the Eurozone countries have set no time limit at all.
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I should note that USA issued 2,875,016 $1000 banknotes in 1928 and 1934. After 80 years an estimated 165,429 are still in circulation. It is believed that almost all of these notes are in the hands of collectors, and probably very few are held by criminals. They are still valid as currency, but generally sell for more than $1000 as collectibles. However, not for nearly enough to make up for 80 years of inflation.
The Canadian note was only discontinued ten years ago.
I agree with Netnasci about the use of debit cards in Canada.
I carry a CIBC debit card and use it for all my day to day purchases, and I can't remember that last time I wrote any one a cheque, for anything. I use electronic banking 100 percent of the time. I know that I have a cheque book around the house somewhere, but I can't remember where it is. All of my tenants pay their rent with electronic means, as that is specified in their leases. No NSF's no worries.
Per the use of a five dollar coin, in Canada. That has not been mentioned here, as far as I can recall.
One of the funnier things that I have seen lately, was a US tourist, trying to put a US one dollar bill in a Toronto Parking Authority parking meter. I pointed out that we don`t have paper one or two dollar bills. We have coins. He was mystified. I gave him a Loonie, as a present.
One of the funnier things that I have seen lately, was a US tourist, trying to put a US one dollar bill in a Toronto Parking Authority parking meter.
Loonie's were designed to have a width of 26.5 mm and its 11-sidedness to match the US Susan B. Anthony dollar. It has a thickness of 1.95 mm just slightly smaller than the latter's 2.0 mm.
The succeeding Sacagawea and Presidential dollars matched the loonie's overall hue.
Twenty Five years ago it was thought that it would be important that vending machines would be capable of taking both coins, but the difference in thickness would allow distinction in value (if necessary). Of course, the US public rejected the idea of giving up the dollar bill.
Someone pointed out earlier that changes in Canadian currency were all done without consulting the public. No government in the world has ever successfully put these questions to public vote. The public will ALWAYS reject any change. No public vote was held in any country that switched to the Euro (except Denmark). No country would have accepted the deal.
Loonie's were designed to have a width of 26.5 mm and its 11-sidedness to match the US Susan B. Anthony dollar. It has a thickness of 1.95 mm just slightly smaller than the latter's 2.0 mm.
The succeeding Sacagawea and Presidential dollars matched the loonie's overall hue.
Twenty Five years ago it was thought that it would be important that vending machines would be capable of taking both coins, but the difference in thickness would allow distinction in value (if necessary). Of course, the US public rejected the idea of giving up the dollar bill.
Someone pointed out earlier that changes in Canadian currency were all done without consulting the public. No government in the world has ever successfully put these questions to public vote. The public will ALWAYS reject any change. No public vote was held in any country that switched to the Euro (except Denmark). No country would have accepted the deal.
So the US government decision to not withdraw the one dollar note and force the use of the one dollar coin was made because of fear of the publics reaction?
There were a few complainers in Canada, but I think overtime we saw the move to a dollar and two dollar coin as a smart move...especially when using vending/ticket machines..
So the US government decision to not withdraw the one dollar note and force the use of the one dollar coin was made because of fear of the publics reaction?
There were a few complainers in Canada, but I think overtime we saw the move to a dollar and two dollar coin as a smart move...especially when using vending/ticket machines..
I know! And basically the CAD and USD $1 coins are almost identical in size. Loonies are fondly regarded by Canadians, and Americans hate the dollar coin.
Needless to say currency production is a big deal in USA. If Canada makes 600 million notes in a year, then USA makes over 8 billion per year. In December 1990 a newer facility opened in Fort Worth to support the older operation that had been in Washington DC since WWI.
In the last quarter (3 months) reported
1,027,200,000 banknotes were made in Fort Worth
537,600,000 banknotes were made in D.C.
428,800,000 banknotes were in the $1 denomination
So we can reasonably presume that the two locations exist largely because of the $1 bill.
Even Mexico does not make a banknote in a denomination of US$1 or less.
I sure wish America would dump their penny as it seems everytime i go there i get pockets full of pennies as everything you buy for some reason gives you 4 cents in change along with 4 one dollar bills.
I will just point this out.......The Canadian one thousand dollar bills ( we called them pinkies due to their odd shade of salmon coloured ink ) were a big hit with the drug dealers, as a briefcase full was worth a hell of a lot of money. A stack of one thousand dollar bills could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, never mind a briefcase full of them.
The USA government issued 2,875,016 $1000 banknotes in 1928 and 1934. After 80 years an estimated 165,429 are still in circulation. So it is not shocking that almost a million CAD$1000 bills are in circulation 13 years after they were no longer produced.
While it is unlikely that the Canadian government will demonetize their cotton banknotes, they may decide to pass a law that says no person is required to accept them as payment. Banks will still accept them for deposit into accounts. It will effectively eliminate counterfeiters that are still making small cotton bills . As for large banknotes, people will hurry to cash them in since the requirement to deposit them into accounts means that they will be required to reveal their identity.
At the end of 2012 USA was circulating 10.3 billion $1 notes, 7.4 billion $20 notes, and 8.6 billion $100 notes. With the new color c-notes about to be issued in a few weeks, within 3 or 4 years the c-notes in circulation will exceed the dollar bills. (A total of 6.7 billion notes are circulated in the less used $2, $5, $10, and $50 denomination).
With the Euro circulating a bill worth over US$630 and Switzerland circulating a bill worth over $1070 the US government will come under increasing pressure to circulate the $500 banknote again. If for no other reason than when it comes time to replace this banknote, there will be so many in circulation that it is becoming increasingly difficult.
Sweden is the only country that I know of that is decreasing circulation of its largest banknote (worth US$153). As Sweden is part of the European Union, but with no intention of joining the Euro Zone, it is trying to get people to go towards electronic currency as much as possible. In almost all bank branches you cannot get currency from a teller.
I carry a CIBC debit card and use it for all my day to day purchases, and I can't remember that last time I wrote any one a cheque, for anything. I use electronic banking 100 percent of the time. I know that I have a cheque book around the house somewhere, but I can't remember where it is. All of my tenants pay their rent with electronic means, as that is specified in their leases. No NSF's no worries.
With the United States circulation close to a trillion dollars in hard currency overseas for various uses, Canada is still hovering around $60 billion.
As people would value a reliable electronic and anonymous currency, Canada should make a concerted effort to go to electronic money. They could easily close their government deficit simply by circulating their money around the world.
I came across a 1979 Canadian quarter in my change a few days' ago.
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This is interesting though. 
