It's all about the Bordens

June 20, 2011 1:57 PM

It's all about the Bordens. The Bank of Canada unveils its new series of polymer bank notes. Because no one wants soggy bills when you're makin' it rain.
posted by GuyZero (68 comments total)

For those concerned about the environmental impact, there's a full report available on the life-cycle impact of polymer bills [117 page PDF].
posted by GuyZero at 2:00 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

This is good because all my $100 bills tend to get jizzed up pretty quick.
posted by SassHat at 2:03 PM on June 20, 2011 [9 favorites]

money made out of oil
posted by stbalbach at 2:05 PM on June 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

Haha, like anyone would want Canadian currency. USA USA USA USA!

Oh wait, sorry, that was the last decade. Any Canadians out there need a housekeeper? I will accept your hi-tech polymer cash under the table.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 2:05 PM on June 20, 2011 [5 favorites]

From the first link:

Issue dates

New Series Roll-out Issue dates:
$100—November 2011
$50—March 2012
$20, $10, $5—by end of...


Okay, so whenever.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:05 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh man, I was hoping they'd have a new $1 bill and we wouldn't have to carry the coins anymore. But at least there's a $5, so it looks like coinifaction has been stopped for now.
posted by Kevin Street at 2:06 PM on June 20, 2011

Pieces of Eight! AWWWWWWK Pieces of eight!
posted by jfuller at 2:07 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

While the Vimy memorial is gorgeous, I'm going to miss the Bill Reid Jade Canoe $20.

Losing the Hockey Sweater $5 for some picture of the Canadarm is a travesty.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 2:10 PM on June 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

I had to look up who Borden was. My knowledge of Canadian history is cruddy...

The bank note reader for those with vision problems is cool though.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 2:10 PM on June 20, 2011

"Look through the frosted maple leaf window...."

Yeah, like I am falling for that one again.
posted by cjorgensen at 2:11 PM on June 20, 2011 [6 favorites]

I love the word Canadarm but seriously? No more hockey 5$ bills? That is wrong. I'd prefer a hockey-puck designed (but not sized) foonie.
posted by jeather at 2:14 PM on June 20, 2011

Here's a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7chpllnU-To
posted by joelf at 2:15 PM on June 20, 2011

Losing the Hockey Sweater $5 for some picture of the Canadarm is a travesty.

Dude, imagine how bad all of Sarnia, Ontario felt when they got bumped off the $10 for a wetlands.
posted by GuyZero at 2:16 PM on June 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

I hope that wasn't all of Sarnia, Ontario!
posted by Flashman at 2:19 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I was half-expecting this to be an excuse to put Harper's face on every denomination. So be thankful for that at least.
posted by ardgedee at 2:20 PM on June 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

about as bad as all of Sarnia, Ontario feel when they think about the fact that they live in Sarnia?
posted by Fraxas at 2:21 PM on June 20, 2011 [7 favorites]

about as bad as all of Sarnia, Ontario feel when they think about the fact that they live in Sarnia?

Harsh but fair.
posted by GuyZero at 2:21 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

The Canada arm? That thing is like 30 years old! The shuttle isn't even running anymore.

May as well put the baskeball hoop, or the wireless radio on it.
posted by joelf at 2:22 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

joelf, thanks for the video. I sort of wish they had made Borden's moustache with raised ink too.
posted by GuyZero at 2:24 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Nice, I'm goign to start makin it rain with Canadian dollars from now on, nice new notes and I can save a couple bucks. All the ballas make it rain with Euros though.
posted by Ad hominem at 2:26 PM on June 20, 2011

The bank note reader for those with vision problems is cool though.
posted by SpaceWarp13

Or they could just make the bills slightly different sized. But never let a technologically sophisticated scheme get in the way of common sense.
posted by Keith Talent at 2:26 PM on June 20, 2011

nice new notes and I can save a couple bucks

more expensive, if you're in the US. =)
posted by Fraxas at 2:28 PM on June 20, 2011

The polymer notes we are introducing today are unique. There is simply no other currency like it. These new notes combine transparency, holography and other sophisticated security elements.

I'm no banknote expert, but that sounds a heck of a lot like modern Mexican currency.

(They don't feel anything like money, but it's fun to crumble them into teeny little balls and then open them up again, crease-free.)
posted by rokusan at 2:30 PM on June 20, 2011

ardgedee: I was half-expecting this to be an excuse to put Harper's face on every denomination. So be thankful for that at least.

*shudders at this brief glimpse into a possible dystopian future*
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:31 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

"The Canada arm? That thing is like 30 years old! The shuttle isn't even running anymore."

There's still a Canadarm on the International Space Station.
posted by Kevin Street at 2:32 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

nice new notes and I can save a couple bucks

Oh well, I'm not known for fiscal responsibility, why quibble anyway.

Here is a bonus video of Floyd "Money" Mayweather making it rain after driving his phantom into a club.
posted by Ad hominem at 2:33 PM on June 20, 2011

The most important high-tech-plastic-banknotes question: If you put one in the oven, do you get (like with regular banknotes of other countries) a tiny keyring-sized banknote that is an exact miniature of the full-size thing?
posted by -harlequin- at 2:39 PM on June 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

But with loonies I can make it hail...and really, isn't that more Canadian?
posted by maryr at 2:57 PM on June 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

All the ballas make it rain with Euros though.

I believe you're referring to "Makin' it hail!"
posted by P.o.B. at 2:58 PM on June 20, 2011

Haha, like anyone would want Canadian currency. USA USA USA USA!

American money is made of paper, like Monopoly money
posted by Hoopo at 2:59 PM on June 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

I was half-expecting this to be an excuse to put Harper's face on every denomination. So be thankful for that at least.

One could argue that putting a robot on a bill is the same as putting Harper on it.
posted by jeather at 3:00 PM on June 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

Makin' it hail is throwing sacajaweas, hey they are money too.
posted by Ad hominem at 3:05 PM on June 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

Goddamn, my spelling today. I mean sacagaweas.
posted by Ad hominem at 3:08 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Outstanding. Good to see the triumph of numismatic reason.
posted by Tube at 3:17 PM on June 20, 2011

I'd forgotten about Sarnia on the $10. That was a... strange choice.

Lots of cool pictures of different notes throughout the years at the National Currency Collection.

Finally, the strange tale of the Devil's Head series.
posted by stinkycheese at 3:30 PM on June 20, 2011

Today there are only 35 counterfeit notes detected per million notes—a more than ten-fold reduction...

...in the detection of counterfeit notes.
posted by Wolfdog at 3:34 PM on June 20, 2011 [10 favorites]

They're talking about doing this in Costa Rica as well. I would love the ability to take my 20 mil in the water instead of stashing it in a tree.
posted by notion at 3:36 PM on June 20, 2011

"The Canada arm? That thing is like 30 years old! The shuttle isn't even running anymore."

Hey! Remember when we used to have some purpose greater than getting some more stuff? Yeah! Those were good days! So feel good about yourself and go buy something, shitbird! Five bucks worth, that's nearly a beer!

Much love,

Der The Harper Government
posted by gompa at 4:03 PM on June 20, 2011

If it costs money to make money, and this hi-tech cash costs more than your average bill, then wouldn't this essentially cost taxpayers (...I don't know how Canada works, correct me if I'm wrong...) more money in the long run?
posted by Malice at 4:08 PM on June 20, 2011

No more $5 Spocks?! I'll bet the polymer won't hold ink like the cotton. boooo.

ok, only kind of boo. I'll bet that the material will hold the braille longer. I thought it was a nice try with the bills, but the nubs get worn as the bills age.
posted by Zack_Replica at 4:11 PM on June 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

wouldn't this essentially cost taxpayers more money in the long run?

The lifecycle analysis PODF goes through this in more detail than you really want. It'll save money in the long run and reduce the environmental impact of printing banknotes. So the report claims. But the basic issue is that these bills last much longer.
posted by GuyZero at 4:19 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

wouldn't this essentially cost taxpayers more money in the long run?

The lifecycle analysis PODF goes through this in more detail than you really want.

The analysis probably cost more than enough to override any potential savings. Whoops.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 4:21 PM on June 20, 2011

I like the Mexican money that has switched to plastic. By law you can only deal with a ripped bill at a bank and the new 20s and 50s I've received have been pretty indestructible. Both the paper bills and plastic are different sizes so help with the vision impaired. Maybe with the Canadians and Mexicans using plastic the US may figure it out eventually. Especially with the $1 which a) still has little president head and 2) gets a lot of use. Then again, people might scream Amero.
posted by birdherder at 4:22 PM on June 20, 2011

But the basic issue is that these bills last much longer.

I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing. My wife is a banker and is of the opinion that money gets pretty damned filthy, and has said on multiple occasions that if you handle a lot of it your hands get dirty and gross and when they feed it through the sorting machines it smells really, really bad. Does the plastic stay cleaner? I imagine it wouldn't absorb liquids as much, but does that mean all the various gross stuff from whatever people are doing to those bills just sits on the surface waiting to come off on my own hands?
posted by Hoopo at 4:50 PM on June 20, 2011

Are you guys seriously only just now getting polmer notes? You've been on cotton rags all this time?? How utterly quaint. Welcome to the 20th century Canada.

Oh, and Governor, when you say "There is simply no other currency like it" we hope you mean it, being in charge of a sovereign fiat currency and all.
posted by wilful at 4:52 PM on June 20, 2011

Zack_Replica: "No more $5 Spocks?! I'll bet the polymer won't hold ink like the cotton. boooo."

C'mon, the artist didn't even get the 'Live Long and Prosper' hand right.
posted by Gordafarin at 4:56 PM on June 20, 2011

A quick note for the vast majority of Americans who rarely (if ever) think about the USD/CAD exchange rate: the Canadian dollar has been worth more than the American dollar for pretty much all of 2011. Look for yourself. Weird, eh?
posted by mhum at 5:08 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

But the post office is on strike, so we can't order lots of cool stuff over the Internet. Not at the moment, anyway.

*refreshes Amazon.com page again*

In regards to plastic money, many Canadians use Interac bank cards instead of cash, so they're pretty used to the concept already.
posted by Kevin Street at 5:16 PM on June 20, 2011

Honest question: Australia started using polymer banknotes in 1988. Do the new Canadian notes represent a further significant technological development? From the press material, they appear to be exactly the same thing - raised ink, hologram windows, end-of-life recyclability and all.
posted by MarchHare at 5:16 PM on June 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

-harlequin-: "The most important high-tech-plastic-banknotes question: If you put one in the oven, do you get (like with regular banknotes of other countries) a tiny keyring-sized banknote that is an exact miniature of the full-size thing"

wait what
posted by DoctorFedora at 5:18 PM on June 20, 2011

-harlequin-: Yes.
posted by MarchHare at 5:26 PM on June 20, 2011

These notes do sound practically technologically identical to those in use in Australia. Perhaps they're exaggerating their uniqueness for the sake of punching-up the press release.

It's worth noting that while polymer notes are more difficult to counterfeit than paper notes, the practice isn't eliminated entirely by their introduction. Yesterday I saw a sign in the window of a shop in Brunswick, Melbourne warning that all $50+ notes would be double checked due to a high incidence of counterfeited notes being passed. Admittedly I found this unusual enough to take note of it, where similar signs seem to be posted in every other store across the UK.
posted by chmmr at 5:51 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I, for one, welcome our new polymer overlords.
posted by Vindaloo at 6:00 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh well, I'm not known for fiscal responsibility

You'd fit right in with the current government, then.
posted by one more dead town's last parade at 7:40 PM on June 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

The most important high-tech-plastic-banknotes question: If you put one in the oven, do you get (like with regular banknotes of other countries) a tiny keyring-sized banknote that is an exact miniature of the full-size thing?

Never tried it with the ones they have here in Australia, but they do melt pretty quickly if you accidentally drop them into a fry vat at McDonalds.

Does the plastic stay cleaner? I imagine it wouldn't absorb liquids as much, but does that mean all the various gross stuff from whatever people are doing to those bills just sits on the surface waiting to come off on my own hands?

I used to work as a teller and the polymer notes do still get pretty gross. They seem to retain smells pretty well, too. We used to have a fish shop bring in money and that stuff would reek. Someone also brought in a whole lot that smelled like pot once. It took days to get that smell out of the time delay safe.
posted by Kris10_b at 7:45 PM on June 20, 2011

UGH. The 2004 series is SO much more attractive. And now this ugly will last forever.
posted by emeiji at 9:04 PM on June 20, 2011

Wolfdog writes "...in the detection of counterfeit notes."

That was my thought, counterfieters just got better at their jobs.

Hoopo writes "I don't know if that's necessarily a good thing. My wife is a banker and is of the opinion that money gets pretty damned filthy, and has said on multiple occasions that if you handle a lot of it your hands get dirty and gross and when they feed it through the sorting machines it smells really, really bad. Does the plastic stay cleaner? I imagine it wouldn't absorb liquids as much, but does that mean all the various gross stuff from whatever people are doing to those bills just sits on the surface waiting to come off on my own hands?"

One should be able to wash polymer money. I'm imagining some industrial size salad spinner.
posted by Mitheral at 10:33 PM on June 20, 2011

chmmr writes "These notes do sound practically technologically identical to those in use in Australia. Perhaps they're exaggerating their uniqueness for the sake of punching-up the press release."

One of the PDFs says:

notes in the Polymer series are the first to have a stripe of holographic foil. The images on the foil, which is placed in
a large vertical window, are large, brilliant and complex, and the details and colours can be seen clearly from both sides of the note.

It also says:

A second, smaller window contains a frosted area that, when viewed against a single-point light source, shows a circle of numbers matching the note’s value.3

though in the latter case it's unclear whether this is unique to the new Canadian currency.
posted by Mitheral at 11:22 PM on June 20, 2011

Gordafarin: Don't act so..."shocked"...
posted by Mooseli at 3:06 AM on June 21, 2011

They seem to retain smells pretty well, too.

On the upside, if you forget to take them out of your pockets before you wash your clothes, they survive with no damage and are a good bit cleaner. I much prefer the polymer money to the old papery stuff.
posted by harriet vane at 3:17 AM on June 21, 2011

Australia actually prints polymer notes for lots of countries (see crappy we'll print your country's money website here: http://www.noteprinting.com/) in 2009 executives from the bank got in a bit of trouble when is was uncovered they paying giving bribes (easy when you print the money) and supplying prostitutes to politicians from countries who were choosing Australia to print their money.
I'm guessing that a big grown up country like Canada can print its own money, but it does look very similar to Australian money does anyone know whether the Australian reserve bank was involved?
posted by compound eye at 3:32 AM on June 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

(australia prints the mexican notes:

In addition to Australia's banknotes, Note Printing Australia Limited has printed polymer banknotes for a growing number of overseas countries including Bangladesh, Brunei, Chile, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Western Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

)
posted by compound eye at 3:53 AM on June 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

Canada is buying the "paper" for the notes from Australia but I think the printing is being done in house.
posted by Mitheral at 8:43 AM on June 21, 2011

Ahem. "In igloo."
posted by Zozo at 10:06 AM on June 21, 2011

They seem to retain smells pretty well, too.

On the upside, if you forget to take them out of your pockets before you wash your clothes, they survive with no damage and are a good bit cleaner. I much prefer the polymer money to the old papery stuff.

[insert tired money laundering joke here]
posted by Comic Sans-Culotte at 10:30 AM on June 21, 2011

I figured the reason Aussie notes are plastic is because people spend so much time at the beach.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:01 PM on June 21, 2011

Ahem. Chez Canada.
posted by maryr at 5:35 PM on June 21, 2011

I was half-expecting this to be an excuse to put Harper's face on every denomination. So be thankful for that at least.

Keep in mind that they do say they will periodically be changing the bills so my fear that Nickelback may find their way onto the $5 bill or 5 cent coins still stands, looming, and also around the corner. I mean, someone decided it was a good idea to have them play at the Winter Olympics for Christ's sake. It's possible.
posted by juiceCake at 9:46 PM on June 21, 2011