This week it was revealed that Europe could soon be saying “au revoir” to the 500 euro bill. The European Central Bank’s president Mario Draghi complained on Monday that the paper note – worth $556 – is increasingly being used for illegal activities. Hoarding cash is a bit of a problem in Europe. Reuters reports that the euro zone had more than 1 trillion euros ($1.1 trillion) in cash last year, and about a third of that is hoarded in 500 euro notes.
Big notes are not only a security risk but, with the rise of the cashless society, they are also becoming an irrelevance. The imminent death of the 500 euro bill has also reignited calls across the pond for the $100 bill to be scrapped. Valuable banknotes will eventually disappear altogether. So we decided to look at some of the most valuable banknotes in circulation around the world.
The list below focuses on notes that are still in circulation, so the Bank of England’s 1 million and 100 million pound notes, known as “giants” and “titans,” respectively, do not count as they remain within the bank’s vaults. They also have to be legal tender, so many collectors’ editions won’t count. Furthermore, this list goes by dollar value, so sorry, Zimbabwe’s 100 trillion dollar note does not count either.
- The United States’ $10,000 dollar note. Few Americans will ever see any note bigger than a $100 bill but it does not mean they don’t exist. The U.S. no longer prints the insanely valuable notes that it once did. The last one to go into circulation was the $10,000 note, and it did so in the 1950s but it was discontinued in 1969. However, as of 2009, some 336 were rumored to still be in circulation and they remain legal tender.
- Singapore’s $10,000 note ($7,124). It is rarely used, but it still exists. It was first issued in 1973 and then discontinued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in 2014 as part of its anti-money laundering controls. But, it is still circulating and the note will remain legal tender indefinitely.
- Brunei’s $10, 000 dollar note ($7,122). Brunei’s $10,000 note is currently the most valuable in the world that is yet to be discontinued. To the contrary, the note got a snazzy new redesign in 2006 when Brunei switched all of it banknotes over to a polymer design. Brunei’s currency has been lauded as having the world’s best security features, which is probably just as well.
- Switzerland’s 1000 franc note ($1,008). This is currently Europe’s most valuable note and, despite the demise of the 500 Euro note, the Swiss have vowed to keep it. According to the Guardian, a spokesman for the Swiss National Bank (SNB) said the bank believed that — despite other big notes being discontinued over money laundering fears — the size of a banknote had “no impact” on efforts to combat crime. Few Swiss have seen one of the violet notes, which currently features 19th-century cultural historian Jacob Burckhardt.
- Canada’s 1000 dollar note ($731). The note was created in 1992 but was discontinued in 2000 upon the request of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police over fears it was being used in criminal circles to move large sums of cash. However, some notes remain in circulation and are still legal tender.
Photo: Wiki Commons
