Rave: Polymer Canadian notes

[Jerry]

I have one of those new 5$ notes made of plastic in front of me at the moment. It used to be crumpled as hell. A pain in the ass to deal with I used to think!

I also have a banker lamp on my desk, and the weird idea to try using its globe as a bank note iron. It's terrific! Of course plastic gets softer with heat, that's no rocket science. But still, I didn't expect the solution to be right in front of me X3

[Kaedal]

Well, it's the little things in life...

[#00Buck]

You only have $5?

[Jerry]

You only have $5?

Nobody wanted to sleep with me last night :V

[Mikazuki Marazhu]

Plastic money? Great.. we can now buy gold with plastic.

[Mikazuki Marazhu]

But can I buy your butt with plastic?

I only accept American Express.

[#00Buck]

Nobody wanted to sleep with me last night :V

Is that how you got the last $5?

[Skylar Husky]

As a numismatist (coin and currency collector), ever since hearing about those new polymer notes, I have wanted to get my hands on a set of them. Last time I was up in Canada for a Petroleum Phase Behavior conference, in 2008 or 2009 it was held in Victoria, British Columbia, an island West of Vancouver. While there, I made it a goal to get each currency note from $5 through $50 for my collection. I wish I was able to find a coin shop there because I would have bought a One Dollar note and Two Dollar note as well. Canada has not minted a dollar note since before 1987 when the "loonie" or one dollar coin began to be minted. 

Neat Find, Jerry.

Edited October 10, 2015 by Skylar Husky

[FlynnCoyote]

Wow... New?

Australia has been using polymer notes since 1988. In fact, unless google lied to me just now, we were the first country in the world to do it. Also that was the year I was born, so now I feel good too. =D

[Skylar Husky]

Wow... New?

Australia has been using polymer notes since 1988. In fact, unless google lied to me just now, we were the first country in the world to do it. Also that was the year I was born, so now I feel good too. =D

Hmmm? Really? That is very interesting. Coins I have from Australia are silver and date back to the  Pound, Shilling and Pence system. I have a few of the decimal coins of the dollar with the various animals on them. I need to get Australian money as well.

[#00Buck]

So do you have more than $5 now?

[Wrecker]

Howbout a $20 dollar quarter?

[Skylar Husky]

Howbout a $20 dollar quarter?

I can barely read the inscription to the right of the wolf. Fine Silver Argent Pur .9999. How much does this cost at a coin shop or Royal Canadian Mint? Is it a legal tender issue (could be used lawfully in any shop for $20) or is it a bullion coin issue like the Silver and Gold Maple Leaf coins?

Edited October 9, 2015 by Skylar Husky

[Irreverent]

I can barely read the inscription to the right of the wolf. Fine Silver Argent Pur .9999. How much does this cost at a coin shop or Royal Canadian Mint? Is it a legal tender issue (could be used lawfully in any shop for $20) or is it a bullion coin issue like the Silver and Gold Maple Leaf coins?

Have a look here: http://canadiancoinnews.com/legal-tender-subtleties-leave-collectors-dealers-scratching-heads/

 

Its my understanding that RCM collector sets are not circulating legal tender.

[AshleyAshes]

Howbout a $20 dollar quarter?

We prefer the term 'Decatoonie', thank you very much.

[Sutekh_the_Steak]

We've started using plastic notes in Scotland recently too (not sure about the rest of the UK because Scotland has different banknotes for some reason despite using the same currency, but Clydesdale Bank up here have started issuing them). So far it's only £5 notes and they don't appear often (I've only gotten two since they were introduced in March), but they are cool. They don't rip easily or get wet which is good.

Also they've got see-through bits on them which is neat. :3

[Skylar Husky]

Have a look here: http://canadiancoinnews.com/legal-tender-subtleties-leave-collectors-dealers-scratching-heads/

 

Its my understanding that RCM collector sets are not circulating legal tender.

Thank you for the elucidation on that.

About 1/4 Troy Ounce of Fine Silver

I also read there are $50 CAD and $100 CAD coins. 

It is a bullion coin, or a coin which is sold with the intrinsic value of precious metal in mind rather than face value.

Interestingly enough the United States makes a Silver One troy Ounce round comparable to the Silver maple leaf. It is a Silver Eagle. It has a face value of $5 USD and is considered legal tender. You would be a fool to spend the coin for 5 dollars, especially since a Troy Ounce of silver goes for about $16.00 USD while I write this, but it is considered legal US tender by the mint and government.

Canada and the United States are not alone in this. There are many countries which participate in one way or another in Bullion Coin minting.

• China mints one ounce Panda coins with the temple of heaven on the back of them. Every year the panda on the front is a new design.
• Australia mints a Silver Koala coin
• South Africa mints a Silver coin to go with their Gold Krugerrands. I forget what they call the silver coin at the moment.
• Mexico Mints one ounce round coins called Libertads. They also mint 100 Peso coins which are two metal coins, like a Canadian Two dollar or "Toonie" A brass ring with a Sterling silver core.
• Great Britain mints a One Ounce coin called a Britannia coin.
• Iceland has minted One ounce coins with a face value of 1,000 Kroner as well. 

 

 

Edited October 9, 2015 by Skylar Husky

[#00Buck]

I like money.

[Mayonnaise]

I hate polymer money. They don't have the nice smell of cotton paper.

[Mayonnaise]

Ah, yes, the sweet smell of sweat, cum, cocaine, and ass.

Ew what kind of place did you go to get notes like that? lol

[Mayonnaise]

Anywhere that accepts paper money. I've handled all kinds of shit money as a cashier.

Ahh. Do the money get shittier as the day goes by?

I usually get new ones when shops just opened.

[Jerry]

A numismatic thread, nice!

So do you have more than $5 now?

Of course, what do you think I am, poor? I have 5.05$ now!

[Skylar Husky]

In the USA typically stores don't get new money unless it's some heavily-damaged bill that they swap out at a bank.

Otherwise it's constant re-circulation of paper money.

It is interesting to Note. Krause Publications prints Blackbook: A Guide Book for United States Currency (Paper money) and in it they state the average lifespan of the various currency notes in circulation.

• $1.00 - 18 months
• $5.00 - 15 months
• $10.00 - 24 months
• $20.00 - 36 months
• $50.00 - 48-60 months
• $100.00 - 72-84 months.

The $5.00 note has a shorter lifespan because The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (Factory where the United States Prints the money, and stamps basically.) has to spend so much more time printing off $1.00 notes. 51% of production is spent on $1.00 notes. 51% The rest of the notes are almost evenly divided for the remaining 49%. It is the pure volume of $1.00 notes out there that extends their lifespan when compared to the $5.00 note. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing also prints $2.00 notes but hardly anyone ever has them or spends them. They are easy to ask for and purchase at any bank and will have new, fresh crisp notes typically. There is no drawer for them in the cash register either. When I worked as a cashier, Our store's protocol was to place them in the slot with the $1.00 notes. But there are so few printed or used that they do not really factor in as a percentage of their production. 

But the 51% It is why Canada and other countries have come to their senses and started striking coins. a dollar coin could have a lifetime up to 30 years. Polymer notes or coins really are the way we ought to go as well.

The reason the United States will not completely stop minting $1.00 notes is because of the worst blunder in United States Currency History in 1979. It was the Susan B. Anthony Dollar. From 1971 to 1978 the Dollar coin was the size, nearly the mass and diameter of traditional silver dollars minted last in the 1930's. In 1979 The mint sought to reduce the mass from 22.67 grams and 38 mm to 8.1 grams and around 28 mm. The problem was the mint did not mint the coin in a different metal. It was in between a United States Quarter Dollar (25 Cents coin) and United States Half Dollar (50 Cents coin.) in size and weight. Looking at them, at a glance out of the corner of your eye, they were easily mistaken quarters and were easily confused and spent as quarters. The Mint minted them in 1979, 1980 and 1981. there was a special exclusive collectors' mintage in 1999 before the first Sacagewea dollars, which are gold toned and identical in size to the Canadian Dollar (loonie) when minting began in 2000.

the only way the United States is going to embrace dollar coins is if the Bureau of Engraving and Printing ceases printing $1.00 notes. 

Edited October 9, 2015 by Skylar Husky

[Jerry]

It is interesting to Note. Krause Publications prints Blackbook: A Guide Book for United States Currency (Paper money) and in it they state the average lifespan of the various currency notes in circulation.

• $1.00 - 18 months
• $5.00 - 15 months
• $10.00 - 24 months
• $20.00 - 36 months
• $50.00 - 48-60 months
• $100.00 - 72-84 months.

The $5.00 note has a shorter lifespan because The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (Factory where the United States Prints the money, and stamps basically.) has to spend so much more time printing off $1.00 notes. 51% of production is spent on $1.00 notes. 51% The rest of the notes are almost evenly divided for the remaining 49%. It is the pure volume of $1.00 notes out there that extends their lifespan when compared to the $5.00 note. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing also prints $2.00 notes but hardly anyone ever has them or spends them. They are easy to ask for and purchase at any bank and will have new, fresh crisp notes typically. There is no drawer for them in the cash register either. When I worked as a cashier, Our store's protocol was to place them in the slot with the $1.00 notes. But there are so few printed or used that they do not really factor in as a percentage of their production. 

But the 51% It is why Canada and other countries have come to their senses and started striking coins. a dollar coin could have a lifetime up to 30 years. Polymer notes or coins really are the way we ought to go as well.

The reason the United States will not completely stop minting $1.00 notes is because of the worst blunder in United States Currency History in 1979. It was the Susan B. Anthony Dollar. From 1971 to 1978 the Dollar coin was the size, nearly the mass and diameter of traditional silver dollars minted last in the 1930's. In 1979 The mint sought to reduce the mass from 22.67 grams and 38 mm to 8.1 grams and around 28 mm. The problem was the mint did not mint the coin in a different metal. It was in between a United States Quarter Dollar (25 Cents coin) and United States Half Dollar (50 Cents coin.) in size and weight. Looking at them, at a glance out of the corner of your eye, they were easily mistaken quarters and were easily confused and spent as quarters. The Mint minted them in 1979, 1980 and 1981. there was a special exclusive collectors' mintage in 1999 before the first Sacagewea dollars, which are gold toned and identical in size to the Canadian Dollar (loonie) when minting began in 2000.

the only way the United States is going to embrace dollar coins is if the Bureau of Engraving and Printing ceases printing $1.00 notes. 

I still see plenty of $1 coins from 1987 in circulation. They were originally introduced in 1987 in replacement of the banknotes. The $2 banknote was replaced later, in 1996. I've got a few of those near-extinct $1 and $2 banknotes, thanks to my mom who works in a dollar store X3

[Irreverent]

It is a bullion coin, or a coin which is sold with the intrinsic value of precious metal in mind rather than face value.

I'm no coin collector, but I think the RCM offers a little of both.  For example, there are collector sets of legal tender that can be used as legal tender and there are collector sets that are specialty coins minted in a precise value (that are arguably legal tender) ad then there are true bullion coins that have no legal tender value at all.

Damned if I can find a FAQ, but have a look at http://www.mint.ca.

[Wrecker]

We prefer the term 'Decatoonie', thank you very much.

no way, it's gotta be a foursquarter

I hate polymer money. They don't have the nice smell of cotton paper.

canadian bills smell like maple syrup. no joke.

Edited October 10, 2015 by Wrecker

[#00Buck]

A numismatic thread, nice!

Of course, what do you think I am, poor? I have 5.05$ now!

Did you get the $0.05 from sex?

[Mikazuki Marazhu]

1963 US Note is real money.

[Imperial Impact]

HA

REH

CANE

[Skylar Husky]

1963 US Note is real money.

Have you got one of those?

What denomination and what color are the seals and serial numbers on the note?

 

[Mikazuki Marazhu]

Have you got one of those?

What denomination and what color are the seals and serial numbers on the note?

 

I left it home. It was a $5 United States Note.

 

[Skylar Husky]

I still see plenty of $1 coins from 1987 in circulation. They were originally introduced in 1987 in replacement of the banknotes. The $2 banknote was replaced later, in 1996. I've got a few of those near-extinct $1 and $2 banknotes, thanks to my mom who works in a dollar store X3

That is pretty cool. I finally got my paws on a set of the Canadian Tire Money. I have been seeking a nice set of those for a long time. My mother was able to help me track them down and she surprised me with them for my birthday. LOL. I still wouldn't mind a one or two dollar note from Canada though.

there is another thing to warn you about United States currency. It was very convenient whenever I have been in Canada to know that $37.45 CAD is paid with one green note, one purple note, one blue note, two loonies, one 25 cents coin, and two ten cents coins.

In the United States you actually have to read the notes because they are all the same pale green color with black ink on the front and green ink on the back. No instant color recognition. Most of my friends who are fresh from Canada have complained vociferously about that.

Edited October 10, 2015 by Skylar Husky

[Mikazuki Marazhu]

I read your PM response about the US bank note. it saddens me how the government itself is allowing centralized banks like the federal reserve to take control of our finances. I could never trade US notes over federal reserve notes.

[Skylar Husky]

1963 US Note is real money.

I left it home. It was a $5 United States Note.

 

I read your PM response about the US bank note. it saddens me how the government itself is allowing centralized banks like the federal reserve to take control of our finances. I could never trade US notes over federal reserve notes.

I did not wish to double post earlier when it clicked with me what Mikazuki Marazhu was asking so I just PM'ed him about it. But i will post it now.

 

A short answer to your question, Is a 1963 United States note real money?  Yes it is. And depending on the color of the seals, the signatures of the Treasurer and Director on each side of the portrait and whether the seals and serial numbers are red or navy blue, it can be significantly more than $5.00 in value. It is potentially worth $20.00 if it is in average shape and has the rarer signatures in the series. 

NOW: The Long answer with some more explanation.

A United States note is a legitimate piece of historical United States Currency. At one time before the Department of the Treasury demonetized them, the United States had multiple types of currency and multiple types of commodities to back their value.

Each of these notes will say what they are in the top scroll of the note nearest the blank border.

There were Gold Certificates, which if you went to the bank with say a $20.00 Gold certificate, you could ask the teller for $20.00 worth of gold. This was often handed to you in current gold coins circulating. The Presidential order 1045 signed by Franklin Roosevelt in 1933 made it illegal for US citizens to own gold. It wasn't until Gerald Ford repealed the order in 1975 that US Citizens could again lawfully own gold. The notes were nullified for use as exchange for Gold but granted legal tender status as de facto $20.00 Federal Reserve notes.

As an interesting side note, Most United States currency has green ink on the back, hence the slang "Greenbacks." I have one from 1922, the last series year of the larger size notes, which has a bright yellowish inked back. It looks like the images on the wikipedia article about them. Mine isn't in as pristine of shape however. That note is easily worth about $800.00 judging by its condition. See the link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_certificate#/media/File:US-$10-GC-1922-Fr-1173.jpg

There were Silver Certificates, again, they were like the Gold certificates, you could go to a bank and ask a teller for their face value in silver coins. The Coinage act of 1965, signed by President Johnson in June of 1965 nullified their validity in collecting silver. It was also at this time that the United States Mint ceased minting silver coins and these notes became de facto Federal Reserve notes.

There were United States Notes, whose financial backing escapes me at the moment. They are also referred to as "Legal Tender Notes" because on the front, right of the portrait, the inscription said: "This note is Legal Tender for all debts public and private." All previous notes discussed to this point had "payable to the bearer on demand" in the same spot. 

Finally the Federal Reserve Note. President Woodrow Wilson and his colleagues around 1913 moved to change a great deal of how banks were set up and organized. One of those changes was to change the infrastructure of banks into the current system of the Federal Reserve System, consisting of 12 member banks, each of which petitions the Treasury for currency and then it distributes that currency to its member banks. The Federal Reserve Note is more or less fiat currency, meaning the government says it is worth its face value and it is for that reason alone. This was partially facilitated by the necessity that a shortage of silver, gold and other commodities wrought. There was simply not enough gold, silver and other sources available to back the currency in circulation.

It has been said that by the time Nixon had completely taken the United States currency off of any backing, (The Gold in Fort Knox was meant to back our currency if there was ever an emergency, and from tales I read and have been told by military working there, gold bars are literally piled up to the vault doors!) the gold was able to only back a single digit percentage of the currency out there floating around (This was in 1971.) Many different sources bounce between percentages, but most say between 8 and 11%. There were other reasons too.

There was one more that I did not tell Mikazuki Marazhu about and wished I had. He would have appreciated it. Prior to admitting Hawaii into the United States as the 50th state, Hawaii was a territory. And many currency notes had been minted strictly for use in Hawaii. They were special and had "HAWAII" written across the back of the note over all of the other ink and artistry of the note. See the link for more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaii_overprint_note#/media/File:US-$20-FRN-1934-A-Fr.2305.jpg

Edited October 10, 2015 by Skylar Husky

[Socks the Fox]

In the United States you actually have to read the notes because they are all the same pale green color with black ink on the front and green ink on the back. No instant color recognition. Most of my friends who are fresh from Canada have complained vociferously about that.

Hasn't the US had colored notes for about a decade now? $1 is the traditional white, $5 is a kind of reddish purple color, $10 is yellow, $20 is green, $50 is a more pinkish red than the $5 red, and recently $100s were made blue with the cool holo strip on the front and the MS Word art 100 on the back. Makes it so much easier to turn off my brain when sorting the bills from the Self Check tills.

[Skylar Husky]

Hasn't the US had colored notes for about a decade now? $1 is the traditional white, $5 is a kind of reddish purple color, $10 is yellow, $20 is green, $50 is a more pinkish red than the $5 red, and recently $100s were made blue with the cool holo strip on the front and the MS Word art 100 on the back. Makes it so much easier to turn off my brain when sorting the bills from the Self Check tills.

Yes, you are correct. But for the large part they are pale green.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_dollar#/media/File:USDnotes.png

In other countries it is blatantly obvious that the currency notes are different. There is no mistaking the currency of Canada for instance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Canadian_dollar

Edited October 11, 2015 by Skylar Husky

[Gamedog]

The 50s smell like maple syrup

[Skylar Husky]

The 50s smell like maple syrup

I have heard this. i will have to get one and smell it for myself. LOL

 

[Gamedog]

I have heard this. i will have to get one and smell it for myself. LOL

 

I've got a handful of them here, they definitely do. The new ones (as in freshly made, off the mint) smell so strongly of maple syrup that people started filing complaints to the mint, asking them to stop scenting them like maple syrup, to which the mint replied "we don't add any scents to the money" lol

Very weird.

 

I took a pic of the bills i have atm just 4 u

 

 

 

[Skylar Husky]

Cool, the designs on them changed. The Five used to have a scene of children sledding in the snow and carrying a sled. I forget what was on the ten and twenty. So they have changed the designs as well. Do the new notes feel strange in your hand?

Thank you for posting pictures.

 

[Gamedog]

Cool, the designs on them changed. The Five used to have a scene of children sledding in the snow and carrying a sled. I forget what was on the ten and twenty. So they have changed the designs as well. Do the new notes feel strange in your hand?

Thank you for posting pictures.

 

The one you're talking about is the $5 bill just before we got the new "plastic" money. The $20 bill had a boat with totem animals on it, and the $10 had war vets I believe?

My fave set was the Birds of Canada one.
$2 was robins (VERY old bill), $5 was kingfisher, $10 was an osprey, $20 was a loon, $50 was a snowy owl, and $100 was a Canadian goose

 

The bills are really slippery and smooth. Easier to count in your hand than the cotton/papery textured ones before. The only issue I dislike about them (and it's a small complaint) is that once you crease/fold them, it's not easy to straighten them back out. You can see the $50 there was really folded up in a small pocket of my wallet.
Other people have complained about leaving the new bills in a hot car in the sun and having them melt together, but I've not had this issue. The good thing about this new money is that it's tear-resistant and water-proof.

[Skylar Husky]

The one you're talking about is the $5 bill just before we got the new "plastic" money. The $20 bill had a boat with totem animals on it, and the $10 had war vets I believe?

My fave set was the Birds of Canada one.
$2 was robins (VERY old bill), $5 was kingfisher, $10 was an osprey, $20 was a loon, $50 was a snowy owl, and $100 was a Canadian goose

 

The bills are really slippery and smooth. Easier to count in your hand than the cotton/papery textured ones before. The only issue I dislike about them (and it's a small complaint) is that once you crease/fold them, it's not easy to straighten them back out. You can see the $50 there was really folded up in a small pocket of my wallet.
Other people have complained about leaving the new bills in a hot car in the sun and having them melt together, but I've not had this issue. The good thing about this new money is that it's tear-resistant and water-proof.

I have not seen the Birds of Canada series of notes. I have only heard about them. I will have to look at those on the website images. They might be something I need to collect.

I wondered if they felt like pieces of plastic or if they had an almost paper feeling. Most playing cards these days are made of plastic because they hold up better than the card stock to repeated shuffling but they still feel like the card stock cards. I wondered if the same was true for the notes.

Creases don't come out well, that is too bad, There is an old trick where you can put a paper note in a folded piece of paper and close that into the pages of a heavy book and stack other heavy books on it. In a few weeks the creases all but disappear. I am not sure it will work for the polymer notes. It will also be interesting to see how currency grading will go with those notes. Most of the cotton rag / paper notes are graded on the visual signs of wear on the designs and whether or not there are creases in the notes or wear along the creases in the notes.

Money melting together in a hot car! YIKES! That is a big flaw. Houston, Texas is not a place to leave a note or stack of notes in direct sunlight or with a clear line of sight though. First off, the windows would be broken to get the money, but second I have seen my sister's hairbrush melt and stick to the dashboard of my mother's car in a hot Houston Summer day when the temperature outside was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees C.)

the waterproof and rip-resistant properties are really cool though.