SEE THROUGH !!!! Canada's new money is see through / made of plastic

[M10000]

At a glance, I had a regular $20 and a new $20 in my hand and I thought there was something wrong with it


Nope. Its plastic

I dont like it. Now that is 'funny money'

[AshyPhoenix]

I love the new currency! The Queen sure looks pissed off on the $20s, though.

[Harke the Boeotarch]

I didn't see any plastic money in the UK last time I was there (was it two years ago?)...

[Stoffe]

I like the new bills. No worries now of the money getting ruined when wet (not that it was ever a problem).

[purina]

Will it melt in the dryer? From an iron?

- - - Updated - - -

Will it melt in the dryer? From an iron?

[Anders123]

Now Canadians can join us in making fun of Americans and their stupid paper money.

Welcome to the plastic currency master race.

[gsdx]

Will it melt in the dryer? From an iron?

No, it won't. It's made up of a polymer, not a plastic. It's only called 'plastic'.

Welcome to the plastic currency master race.

Guess where we get the polymer from? Yup. You guys.

[thatgirl]

They're too slippery and they stick together sometimes.

But they look nice. A bit gaudy but I still like the designs.

According to the news, ATMs across Canada are having issues with counting them. A mess.

[jensu846]

im from america, paper money. But will your new plastic money work in vending machines, or slot machines?? Would it stick together getting a withdrawl from an ATM? seems kinda weird to me. if you have a wad of bills, can you fold them and stick them in your pocket without having such a huge clump of plastic in your pants?

[voyager1994]

Is it counterfeit-proof this time? I recalled years ago that retailers in Toronto refused to accept $100 and to some extent $50 bills as payments particularly those that didn't have infrared scanners that detect counterfeit bills.

[Telstra]

We had plastic money for many years ago.
Plastic works just fine.

[gsdx]

im from america, paper money. But will your new plastic money work in vending machines, or slot machines?? Would it stick together getting a withdrawl from an ATM? seems kinda weird to me. if you have a wad of bills, can you fold them and stick them in your pocket without having such a huge clump of plastic in your pants?

Adjustments have to be made to equipment, but that's about it. It's thinner than paper money. It's not like a credit card or anything. And you can fold it, just like paper money. And it doesn't stick together.

[Telstra]

They're too slippery and they stick together sometimes.

But they look nice. A bit gaudy but I still like the designs.

According to the news, ATMs across Canada are having issues with counting them. A mess.

Not here, no issues.

[bankside]

I'm surprised there would be issues now, given that we've had the new 50 and 100 for over a year. Mind you those are less commonly stocked in bank machines.

It's an awful portrait of the queen. Or at least the engraving is… She looks like she went to the same spa as Freddie Krueger with all the overdone crosshatching on her face. And something about the colours seems wrong on all the new bills. The colour looks exaggerated and dull at the same time. I'm not sure it is the technology - maybe just the current design fashion.

Oh, and "polymer" is just a fancy word for "plastic."

Lastly I like that all our money has the same dimensions…most countries have different-sized notes for different denominations, and it makes it hard to "square up" when you're putting a bunch of notes in your wallet.

[frankfrank]

^ I don't see different SIZED currencies from the same country, as OFTEN as I see different-coloured currency for different denominations. I am still trying to figure out whether the United States is the ONLY nation in the world which doesn't use "obvious" different colours for different denominations? I'm certainly not aware of any others.

[bankside]

Euro,
HK,
Australia,
NZ,
UK,
all have different sized notes depending on their value….and that's just places where I've had the money in my pocket….drives me nuts. The Australian is better because it only differs in width. The height of the note is the same, and probably has the practical advantage of being able to see the edge of the note you want when they are all squared up. But it's still easier to keep the money tidy when it is uniform in size.

BTW hasn't US money become more colourful in the last few years? I remember wondering what it looked like and was surprised when I looked it up given its reputation as being uniformly dark green.

[tombastep]

They're too slippery and they stick together sometimes.

But they look nice. A bit gaudy but I still like the designs.

According to the news, ATMs across Canada are having issues with counting them. A mess.

Don't have anything against the plastic part of it, but I agree it does look a bit gaudy.

[gsdx]

Oh, and "polymer" is just a fancy word for "plastic."

Yes, but when most people think 'plastic', they think water bottles or credit cards as evidenced by Post #9.

It took us Canucks a while to get used to the Loonie and Toonie. We'll get used to this before long and wonder what all the fuss was about.

[windsors]

Here's my plastic

[BreakTheIce]

Every note where I live is plastic now.

[frankfrank]

Euro,
HK,
Australia,
NZ,
UK,
all have different sized notes

BTW hasn't US money become more colourful in the last few years? I remember wondering what it looked like and was surprised when I looked it up given its reputation as being uniformly dark green.

I'm most accustomed to dealing with Canadian currency and, to a lesser extent, Mexican - neither of which have different sizes for their paper money. (Oops, I can't even say "paper" for Canadian anymore haha) The only other non-U. S. currency I ever handled (more than perhaps one bill, once, or something) was Deutsche-marks in 1989, and I seem to THINK that I remember those being the same size as well??

As far as the bold part in your post, that's why I said "obvious" different colours in my post. U. S. money has more different colouring with different denominations than it used to, but STILL not like the $5 bill is obviously yellow and the $20 is obviously red or anything like that...the different amounts still look quite similar.

[gsdx]

Every note where I live is plastic now.

We've got 2 left: the $5 and $10 bills. However, it is likely that the $5 bill will be going to coin format like our $1 and $2 coins.

[bankside]

We've got 2 left: the $5 and $10 bills. However, it is likely that the $5 bill will be going to coin format like our $1 and $2 coins.

Yes? They've already announced the $5 will be out in polymer by the end of 2013.

[star-warrior]

The Hong Kong $10 note has been seen through for over 5 years, it was novel, but it's just meh now.

[tiexgrr]

Wait until you get a "paper" cut from these new bills. The friggen hurt!

The Hong Kong $10 note has been seen through for over 5 years, it was novel, but it's just meh now.

Also, I see HSBC on the bigger bills. Does HSBC have a big presence in HK? Just curious as I know little to nothing about China.

[ozguy]

.... We'll get used to this before long and wonder what all the fuss was about.

Quite right, mate! We've had them for years and to my knowledge have never had a problem with them.

Did you know that Australia created and developed the first plastic (polymer) notes successfully? Other countries tried….but failed. They were circulated for the first time here in 1988. Since then, many other countries have followed suit. Glad to see that Canada has them now as well.

Polymer notes are great because:

They are very difficult (almost impossible) to forge.
They are recyclable.
They are cleaner as they don't absorb sweat, thus dirt doesn't stick.
They are 4-5 times more durable than the normal paper (fibrous) notes.
They are water proof (they would be OK if you went swimming with them in your pockets or even if they were left by mistake in pockets while doing your laundry).
They don't go floppy even after folding them many times.
They don't rip easily (in fact, it's close to impossible to tear them).
Australian notes all have the same width but different lengths. Amounts are: $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 (coins are 5¢, 10¢, 20¢, 50¢, $1 and $2).

[PATMAN]

I am LOVING them... I take a big wad of cash out of an ATM and now that wad is SO much thinner than it used to be! The only problem with these bills is that they should have been introduced years ago.

[tiexgrr]

Has anyone noticed if the new Canadian bills still have the brail dots on them for the visually impaired?

[PATMAN]

Has anyone noticed if the new Canadian bills still have the brail dots on them for the visually impaired?

The series before this one (the regular currency for the last decade or so) did as well

[ozguy]

Has anyone noticed if the new Canadian bills still have the brail dots on them for the visually impaired?

One of the reasons why our notes are different lengths is so that visually impaired people can identify which note is which.

[star-warrior]

Wait until you get a "paper" cut from these new bills. The friggen hurt!



Also, I see HSBC on the bigger bills. Does HSBC have a big presence in HK? Just curious as I know little to nothing about China.

HSBC stands for The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation So, yes, it has a big standing there.

There are $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, and $1000 notes. The other two banks also produce notes as legal tender there are the Standard Chartered Bank and the Bank of China. Of the coinage, there is 10 cents, 20 cents, 50 cents, 1 dollar, 2 dollar, 5 dollar and 10 dollar coins.

China on the otherhand uses the RenMinBi currency which is also called the Yuan. Their paper currency as far as I know has 100 Yuan notes as the largest denomination. The smallest increment of currency is the fen, 10 fen = 1 jiao, 10 jiao = 1 yuan. There are fen notes still floating around, but mostly, the 1 jiao is most used smallest increment in everyday buying of stuff.

You might like to see the current exchange rates :

http://www.xe.com/ucc/

[thatgirl]

We've got 2 left: the $5 and $10 bills. However, it is likely that the $5 bill will be going to coin format like our $1 and $2 coins.

Yes? They've already announced the $5 will be out in polymer by the end of 2013.

Thank goodness.

The idea of a 5 dollar coin...

[HoodedRat]

I want plastic money too goddamit ... ... but I could do without Ugly Betty's miserable visage gurning at me from my bank notes. I dread to think what our notes will look like if Chaz ever becomes King.

[Keeland]

I want plastic money too goddamit ... ... but I could do without Ugly Betty's miserable visage gurning at me from my bank notes. I dread to think what our notes will look like if Chaz ever becomes King.

HoodedRat for First Citizen!

[HoodedRat]

HoodedRat for First Citizen!

Oh no! I sure as hell wouldn't want my own ugly mug on the money, it would totally devalue the currency.

[Keeland]

How about Oliver Cromwell's?

That pic would scare the hell out of Charles, even if changes his name to George, as he said he would, no doubt because Charleses are born to be hanged.

[gsdx]

Yes? They've already announced the $5 will be out in polymer by the end of 2013.

The government must have changed its mind. There was talk of going with a $5 coin, but maybe the new polymer bills will be even cheaper to mint than the coins.

[M10000]

Has anyone noticed if the new Canadian bills still have the brail dots on them for the visually impaired?

The braille dots are on the upper left corner



The nickel and penny need to be discontinued

[gsdx]

The nickel and penny need to be discontinued

The nickel won't be going, but the penny is being discontinued in the spring. It will only affect cash transactions. The final total will be rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cents. 1 and 2 cents will be rounded down. 3 and 4 cents will be rounded up. This is ONLY on the final total. The regular prices won't change as many people fear.

[JohannBessler]

They're beautiful, gents, but I feel a little uneasy about the environmental impact. They make plastic out of petroleum, a non-renewable resource; they made paper out of cotton rags/wood, a renewable resource.

Didn't anybody else think of this?

[gsdx]

Here's the bill in detail:

[Falcon16]

This is interesting, I didn't know this "plastic" money existed!! lol

[cgymike]

Another weak currency...not even worth as much as a us dollar

[gsdx]

Another weak currency...not even worth as much as a us dollar

Current exchange rate: 1 CAD = 1.00659 USD 1 USD = 0.993450 CAD

[JP.]

finally I have time to see it...

Love the money!

want touchhhhh!!!!

[Keeland]

How to make money in Australia:

[cgymike]

Current exchange rate: 1 CAD = 1.00659 USD 1 USD = 0.993450 CAD

It went up a little I see. Parity more or less. Still doesn't buy much. Pound worth a lot more still

[M10000]

[maxpowr9]

The US is so anachronistic when it comes to currency it's downright pathetic. No microchips in credit cards (Amex is the only company I know that does it in the US) and I love Australia's currency...



Sorry I never got a $100 bill while there. The ATM doesn't dispense them.

I have no problems with a $1 bill [that is the one thing I hated about Australia's currency: 1 and 2-dollar coins.] but the US should also get with the times and ditch the penny. It costs 0.025c for every penny which is just silly. The nickel is also made at a loss but that is due to its thickness. I know checks will be extinct at retail stores in 2020.

[gsdx]

I have no problems with a $1 bill [that is the one thing I hated about Australia's currency: 1 and 2-dollar coins.]

Canada has them, too. If you gave them a chance, you'd be surprised how quickly you'd get used to them.