Posted on 11/16/2012 11:22:27 AM PST by Squawk 8888
More than 10 years after the $1,000 bill disappeared from circulation 946,043 of them are still out there, somewhere.
The whereabouts of almost $1-billion worth of the banknotes is a mystery rekindled this month at Quebec’s corruption probe when a witness spoke of a safe over-stuffed with cash, including $1,000 notes, inside a political office.
Retired on May 12, 2000, for being mostly used in criminal transactions, any $1,000 note deposited at a bank is destroyed, although the bills — nicknamed “pinkies” by gangsters because of the pinkish-purple ink — remain legal tender.
Money-laundering experts believe most of the missing bills continue to circulate among criminal elites who use them to pay large debts, with the recipient, in turn, using them to pay their own debts with only a portion of the notes bleeding off into the legitimate banking system.
“They are used now to pay off IOUs, not as traditional cash. They are used for buying and selling but not for cashing, because they know if they cash them, it is traceable,” said Jeffrey Robinson, a New York-based author of several landmark books on money laundering.
“They keep paying with them, over and over, and it’s only the last guy in line who has to worry about cashing them.”
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalpost.com ...
Canada Ping!
Zatso? We eliminated anything larger than a C-note for the same reason.
When QE driven hyperinflation strikes, we're gonna need a LOT of small bills to buy a loaf of bread...
They might as well reissue them. When the hyperinflation hits, you’ll need them to buy a candy bar.....
Actually, QE will make our small bills worth more because it’s devaluing the US dollar.
Not that I can afford to, but are you still allowed to collect them ?
Yes, all Canadian banknotes ever issued are legal tender and are still legal to collect.
You can also collect US $500 notes (about $800) and US $1000 ($1500 in used condition).
“inside a political office”
shocking/s
"What do you mean you don't have $99,998 for my change? What kind of cheap operation is this?"
haa. Obama should have a $125,000 bill and put Rezko on it.
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