Canada Rolls Out Plastic Money

markian writes "Canada is set to switch to new banknotes that last 2.5 times longer than paper money. High-tech features include metallic imagery in a transparent area, raised ink, transparent text, and hidden numbers. 'If you look through the frosted maple leaf emblem at a single-point light source and hold it close to your eye, you'll see a hidden circle of numbers that match the face value of the note.' The Bank of Canada has more information on the subject. Now if we can just get rid of the penny..."

Comments

Nothing new here

[HappyClown]

Australia has had polymer banknotes since 1988, and in fact it's an Australian company that will be supplying these notes to Canada. Polymer banknotes have been used to varying degrees in 27 countries prior to Canada.

Re:Nothing new here

[tomhuxley]

You, sir, are a very cheap date.

Re:Nothing new here

[Shrike82]

Clearly you two have no place on the Internet. During a disagreement you've both used words like "respect" and "sorry" with wild abandon. You should be insulting each other in an illogical and globally offensive manner at this point.

Been using it for years

[nfras]

Came to Australia in 1998 and thought the polymer notes looked like Monopoly money. Having used it for a while it's so much better than the paper stuff. Hardly ever tears, is easy to see how much you have in your wallet just by opening it. Stands out from a wad of receipts.
Whenever I have to go the US I hate having to use those crappy bits of toilet paper that feel like they been stuck to some homeless guy's arse since 1973.

Re:Been using it for years

[ian_from_brisbane]

Scratch that, I mis-read your post. I'm sure you know what year YOU came to Australia.

Re:Been using it for years

[ezzthetic]

There's a big problem with polymer notes that should have been forseen by the Mint. You can't light a cigar with a hundred dollar bill without passing out from the fumes.

Re:Been using it for years

[Samantha Wright]

Ah, but it was foreseen: we're trying to eliminate tobacco consumption in Canada.

You're already making more progress...

[damn_registrars]

Canada dumped the dollar bill in favor of coins of the same denomination. We talk about it in the US - just like we said back in the 60s that we would switch to the metric system - and never actually do it.

Re:You're already making more progress...

[iCEBaLM]

Celsius is problematic because the degrees are too large, thus not really a better system, and is actually separate from the metric system anyway, so I wouldn't count that fact.

Celsius is an official SI derived unit of measurement for temperature, and therefore is part of the metric system.

Re:You're already making more progress...

[Suddenly_Dead]

Celsius is problematic because the degrees are too large, thus not really a better system, and is actually separate from the metric system anyway, so I wouldn't count that fact.

Celsius is just an offset Kelvin scale (a 1 degree C temperature difference is the same as a 1 K difference); it's not that separate from metric / SI, and they're both used in some scientific fields (Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures says that this is acceptable, so it's Official).

And we've already had plenty of discussions about your other point on Slashdot: you use decimal numbers when you need more precision, and you get used to it, like any unit change.

Re:Get rid of the penny? pff

[Michael Wardle]

Doubtful. A lot of prices end in .99 not because that's the store's actual cost, but because apparently many customers think 4.99 is $4, not $5.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_pricing

Australia got rid of the 1c coin years ago. Prices that used to end in .99 now end in .95, not .00.

Re:Mexico

[geekoid]

Ducks with prosthetics may also use plastic bills.

Re:How do they hold up in a dryer?

[HornWumpus]

They all prefer their tips on the stage.

Tough titty for them.

I'll continue to ice down a bunch of coins then drop them into her g-string while pretending to slip a dollar bill in. They love that.

Re:Get rid of the penny? pff

[aXis100]

Prices in Australia still do end in .99, it's only the final total at the cash register that is rounded down to the nearest 5c.

Re:Canada still has a penny too?

[blair1q]

No weapon that can be defeated by a week in a drawer with a moth is "awesome."

Re:Get rid of the penny? pff

[b1keshr3dder]

Australia got rid of the 1c coin years ago. Prices that used to end in .99 now end in .95, not .00.

Actually its a little bit more complex than that in Australia. Prices that are not a multiple of the smallest coin are still allowed (ie any interger value for cents is OK). At the checkout the final_total_only is rounded (down to the nearest multiple of 5 cents for sales ending in 1c, 2c, 6c, 7c & up to the nearest multiple of 5 cents for sales ending in 3c, 4c, 8c, 9c; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_rounding, but only if cash is used for purchase. Electronic payments are charged at the exact total cost. IOW, very little difference to cost of most transactions, but fewer coins required (along with savings for pocket wear and coin production costs).

Re:But on the bright side...

[frozentier]

No, but unfortunately the value is about the same.