Canada Now Offering Plastic $100 Bills

The Bank of Canada this week will begin the distribution of plastic $100 bills. Made out of a secret polymer substance the new bills are replacing traditional paper bills as the old bills go out of circulation and the new bills go into circulation.

Globe and Mail is reporting that the countries mint plans to release $50 Polymer bills in March which will then be followed by $20, $10 and $5 billion in 2013.

Made out of multiple layers of plastic the bills are almost impossible to tear which will mean the country will need to print less paper money. The bills are also super difficult to counterfeit and they are recyclable.

Speaking about the increase in the number of “cashless transactions” currently underway the central bank’s governor said of the new bills:

“Reports of the death of cash are greatly exaggerated,” and therefore “Canadians … need a currency that they can trust.”

Canada isn’t the first country to use polymer bills, Australia unveiled their polymer money in the 1980s and nearly 30 other countries have moved away from classic paper currency.

Here’s a great video explaining the new $100 polymer bills:

[iframe src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/7chpllnU-To” width=”560? height=”315? ]

Do you think other paper currency based countries should move towards polymer based cash?