5 ms·

I'd forgotten Europe has €500 notes, whereas in the US everyone now gets to deal with $100 bill spam. Few people bother to pickup loose change anymore. What's

I'd forgotten Europe has €500 notes, whereas in the US everyone now gets to deal with $100 bill spam. Few people bother to pickup loose change anymore. What's the long-term plan here? Perhaps it's to add maximum physical friction to moving larger amounts of fiat than you can spend in a single visit to Costco on a food run for your family of of 4. :)

pavlov 2y ago
The 500 euro bill hasn’t been produced since 2019. Apparently 25% of them were in circulation in Spain, despite the Spanish economy being only a fraction of the eurozone.
- mattmanser 2y ago
  In the UK they heavily discourage even the £50 note (roughly €60/$63). We basically only use 5/10/20. Most shops won't take them and cash machines don't give them out. Which is pretty odd now given how high inflation got here for the last few years. Here's an article from 5 years ago saying that £50 notes were widely regarded as just used by criminals. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48993008 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48993008
  - anonymousDan 2y ago
    Yes I found this strange coming from Ireland where (during the Celtic Tiger at least!) the minimum I ever seemed to get from cash machines was 50 euros.
  - nitwit005 2y ago
    The same attitude is present in the US. You can occasionally find signs in stores in the US indicating they won't accept bills larger than $20: https://www.amazon.com/SmartSign-V-shaped-Businesses-Restaurants-Double-Side/dp/B0CCVTG6C4?th=1 https://www.amazon.com/SmartSign-V-shaped-Businesses-Restaur...
    - mjevans 2y ago
      The real root of the attitude should be "We don't accept transactions that would produce more than 20 USD in change." However the average person is an idiot so it's easier for them to just say they don't take 50s/100s. I guess arguably there's a greater incentive to try to use lesser bills to make larger ones, but that's what the watermarks and security strips are supposed to prevent.
    - potato3732842 2y ago
      It's always a lie though. You can't realistically start a register out with less than $100 of change for a few hour shift. Maybe $50 for really short shift or if there's a manager with safe access who can reload it.
      - nitwit005 2y ago
        The signs aren't about the amount of change in the register. It's that they'll refuse to take large bills.
    - cafard 2y ago
      Citibank ATMs will happily give you $100 bills if you don't specify otherwise. I prefer $20s, as less inconvenient for the store clerks.
- tim333 2y ago
  I bough and sold a flat in Spain around 2004 and it was standard then for part of the payment to be in cash for tax avoidance purposes. This was all done officially through regular Spanish lawyers and estate agents.
dylan604 2y ago
> Few people bother to pickup loose change anymore. My favorite head scratcher is the US penny. It would be so much easier on all involved if we rounded so everything was MOD5 friendly, and just eliminated the penny.
- bagels 2y ago
  Canada did it.
  - bigiain 2y ago
    So did Australia.
- nickff 2y ago
  There has been a long-running campaign to get rid of the penny, to the extent that there's a "West Wing" episode that features the campaign. Ironically, Canada got rid of the penny in 2012-2013, after relatively little debate.
  - dylan604 2y ago
    The West Wing episode is what I always think of when I think about the penny, and I almost referenced it myself
  - metadat 2y ago
    And yet we also still have Daytime Saving Light Time. What is wrong with us?
CalRobert 2y ago
I don't like it, but I think the long term plan is to eliminate paper money, and with it privacy. I live in the Netherlands and you can really live 100% cash-free here. A lot of places are card-only, even.
- sneak 2y ago
  I refuse to patronize places that are card only. Not everyone can use electronic payments. New York and some other cities actually made it illegal, as it's discriminatory.
  - chairmanwow1 2y ago
    How on earth is requiring card payments discriminatory? Providing cash payment options is absolutely not free and implies extra risk on behalf of the business. Refusing to take part in the banking system is not worth penalizing businesses for. Let the free market work.
    - weertw 2y ago
      Ever see a homeless schizophrenic? Do you think they have a bank account?
      - chairmanwow1 2y ago
        This is a strawman. The homeless schizophrenic is clearly not capable of caring for themselves, so their inability to participate in society should not impose restrictions on all businesses. The problem you cite is not solved by requiring businesses to accept cash—it is solved by removing the homeless schizophrenic from the depravity of the street.
        lores 2y ago
        Many people at the margin don't have bank accounts. Not only schizophrenics, but undocumented immigrants or the homeless. There are a lot of undocumented immigrants and homeless.
sschueller 2y ago
Switzerland has 1000 Franc notes which is around 1140 USD. The central bank just decided that the next series will also include the 1k note although the EU doesn't want it (not that they really have a say) and some others are opposed to it as well. CHF 1000 is worth less than it ever was so the whole claim about it being used for crime is bullshit. People keep cash at home and safety deposit boxes. When we had negative interest rates it made sense to keep some money in cash. A bigger debate that is coming is the elimination of the 5 rappen coin. The 1 rappen coin was killed a long time ago and the golden colored 5 may soon also go.
- avidiax 2y ago
  My understanding is that Switzerland doesn't require you to declare cash of any amount when arriving. €1.2million in a briefcase? No problem. 3kg of beef? Serious business. CHF1000 notes would obviously be very convenient for moving large amounts of cash. If you are the sort of person trying to avoid the tax man's 20-40% taxation or the police's 100% taxation, why care about the CHF exchange rate?
pier25 2y ago
Many years ago I got paid a bonus with €500 notes. They were so rare in Spain that people used to call them Bin Ladens (since at the time he hadn't been caught yet).

pavlov 2y ago

The 500 euro bill hasn’t been produced since 2019. Apparently 25% of them were in circulation in Spain, despite the Spanish economy being only a fraction of the eurozone.

mattmanser 2y ago
In the UK they heavily discourage even the £50 note (roughly €60/$63). We basically only use 5/10/20. Most shops won't take them and cash machines don't give them out. Which is pretty odd now given how high inflation got here for the last few years. Here's an article from 5 years ago saying that £50 notes were widely regarded as just used by criminals. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48993008 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48993008
- anonymousDan 2y ago
  Yes I found this strange coming from Ireland where (during the Celtic Tiger at least!) the minimum I ever seemed to get from cash machines was 50 euros.
- nitwit005 2y ago
  The same attitude is present in the US. You can occasionally find signs in stores in the US indicating they won't accept bills larger than $20: https://www.amazon.com/SmartSign-V-shaped-Businesses-Restaurants-Double-Side/dp/B0CCVTG6C4?th=1 https://www.amazon.com/SmartSign-V-shaped-Businesses-Restaur...
  - mjevans 2y ago
    The real root of the attitude should be "We don't accept transactions that would produce more than 20 USD in change." However the average person is an idiot so it's easier for them to just say they don't take 50s/100s. I guess arguably there's a greater incentive to try to use lesser bills to make larger ones, but that's what the watermarks and security strips are supposed to prevent.
  - potato3732842 2y ago
    It's always a lie though. You can't realistically start a register out with less than $100 of change for a few hour shift. Maybe $50 for really short shift or if there's a manager with safe access who can reload it.
    - nitwit005 2y ago
      The signs aren't about the amount of change in the register. It's that they'll refuse to take large bills.
  - cafard 2y ago
    Citibank ATMs will happily give you $100 bills if you don't specify otherwise. I prefer $20s, as less inconvenient for the store clerks.
tim333 2y ago
I bough and sold a flat in Spain around 2004 and it was standard then for part of the payment to be in cash for tax avoidance purposes. This was all done officially through regular Spanish lawyers and estate agents.

dylan604 2y ago

> Few people bother to pickup loose change anymore. My favorite head scratcher is the US penny. It would be so much easier on all involved if we rounded so everything was MOD5 friendly, and just eliminated the penny.

bagels 2y ago
Canada did it.
- bigiain 2y ago
  So did Australia.
nickff 2y ago
There has been a long-running campaign to get rid of the penny, to the extent that there's a "West Wing" episode that features the campaign. Ironically, Canada got rid of the penny in 2012-2013, after relatively little debate.
- dylan604 2y ago
  The West Wing episode is what I always think of when I think about the penny, and I almost referenced it myself
- metadat 2y ago
  And yet we also still have Daytime Saving Light Time. What is wrong with us?

CalRobert 2y ago

I don't like it, but I think the long term plan is to eliminate paper money, and with it privacy. I live in the Netherlands and you can really live 100% cash-free here. A lot of places are card-only, even.

sneak 2y ago
I refuse to patronize places that are card only. Not everyone can use electronic payments. New York and some other cities actually made it illegal, as it's discriminatory.
- chairmanwow1 2y ago
  How on earth is requiring card payments discriminatory? Providing cash payment options is absolutely not free and implies extra risk on behalf of the business. Refusing to take part in the banking system is not worth penalizing businesses for. Let the free market work.
  - weertw 2y ago
    Ever see a homeless schizophrenic? Do you think they have a bank account?
    - chairmanwow1 2y ago
      This is a strawman. The homeless schizophrenic is clearly not capable of caring for themselves, so their inability to participate in society should not impose restrictions on all businesses. The problem you cite is not solved by requiring businesses to accept cash—it is solved by removing the homeless schizophrenic from the depravity of the street.
      - lores 2y ago
        Many people at the margin don't have bank accounts. Not only schizophrenics, but undocumented immigrants or the homeless. There are a lot of undocumented immigrants and homeless.

sschueller 2y ago

Switzerland has 1000 Franc notes which is around 1140 USD. The central bank just decided that the next series will also include the 1k note although the EU doesn't want it (not that they really have a say) and some others are opposed to it as well. CHF 1000 is worth less than it ever was so the whole claim about it being used for crime is bullshit. People keep cash at home and safety deposit boxes. When we had negative interest rates it made sense to keep some money in cash. A bigger debate that is coming is the elimination of the 5 rappen coin. The 1 rappen coin was killed a long time ago and the golden colored 5 may soon also go.

avidiax 2y ago
My understanding is that Switzerland doesn't require you to declare cash of any amount when arriving. €1.2million in a briefcase? No problem. 3kg of beef? Serious business. CHF1000 notes would obviously be very convenient for moving large amounts of cash. If you are the sort of person trying to avoid the tax man's 20-40% taxation or the police's 100% taxation, why care about the CHF exchange rate?

pier25 2y ago

Many years ago I got paid a bonus with €500 notes. They were so rare in Spain that people used to call them Bin Ladens (since at the time he hadn't been caught yet).