Surprised it took them so long to get rid of them. From an article[0] I found from when the UK decided to stop dealing with 500s "many British gangsters store

Surprised it took them so long to get rid of them. From an article[0] I found from when the UK decided to stop dealing with 500s "many British gangsters stored their spoils in the form of €500 notes. While £1m weighs 50kg in £20 notes, the same value weighs only 2.2kg in €500 notes. This has made life easier for a growing number of criminals, since the euro's introduction in 2002. Should you wish, for example, you can swallow €150,000 in €500 notes, or hide €20,000 of them a cigarette packet" [0]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/goodbye-to-the-note-of-ill-repute-1972192.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/goodbye-to-the-no...