In 2021, $ 1 and $ 2 of Canadian bills will lose their legal tender status

TORONTO – If Canadians have old paper bills in their wallets, it will be until the end of the year for merchants to use them in day-to-day transactions before accepting them anymore.

The Bank of Canada (BoC) Reminder issued On Thursday, 1 1, $ 2, $ 25, $ 500 and bank 1,000 banknotes will be stripped of their legal tender status by January 1, 2021.

However, the bank said the decision to remove the legal tender status from the bills would have little effect on the majority of Canadians.

“Many Canadians are not affected because the banknotes targeted by this statement have not been produced for decades and are rarely used in transactions,” BoC said. Said in a statement.

The BoC recognizes that stores can accept these bills as payment if they choose.

“Money is not just banknotes, it takes many forms: Contactless payments using credit cards, debit cards, checks and mobile devices. You can pay anything with this money, even if you do not consider them a ‘legal tender’,” BoC said.

While these rare bills will lose their status in the coming weeks, the notes are not suddenly useless.

Canadians with these old banknotes can take them to their financial institution or send them to the BoC for redemption for their face value. People can also choose to keep their old notes as a souvenir, the bank said.

However, more money can be made by selling rare bills to collectors.

The Bill 500 bill is one of the rarest banknotes, and since there are only over three dozen bills in existence, they are very difficult to come by. The value of a bill can range from $ 20,000 to $ 60,000, depending on its situation Website Canada Currency.

Rare banknotes, such as a $ 25 bill, can also be made Get thousands of dollars.

Canada’s old bills

And 1 and $ 2 notes ceased to be issued in 1989 and 1996, respectively, and were replaced by Looney and Tooney. Five versions were made before these bills were taken out of circulation.

Only $ 25 bills in circulation were issued Commemorative banknotes On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the ascension of King George V to the throne in 1935. Both this and the $ 500 note were discontinued shortly after it was issued in 1935.

BoC has produced four versions of the pre-bill 1,000 bill Withdrew in 2000.

Of BoC Last number of affected bills In circulation, from the end of 2019, it is as follows:

• Bill 1 Bill: 150,230,000

• Bill 2 Bill: 103,036,000

• Bill 25 Bill: 1,840

• Bill 500 Bill: 40

• Bill 1,000 Bill: 632,019

These numbers do not include notes issued by the Dominion of Canada, individual provinces or non-functioning or chartered banks.

The removal of the legal tender status of these bills would be in line with amendments to the Bank of Canada Act and the Currency Act passed by Parliament in 2018 to remove old banknote tribes from circulation.

The BoC said that having the power to remove the legal tender status from certain bills would help the bank to do a better job of keeping the notes in circulation.

“The new banknotes have better security features, they are harder to counterfeit, and overall they are in better condition. Keeping the notes current means they work more efficiently for all of us,” BoC said in a statement.

More than 20 central banks around the world have the authority to remove legal tender status from their notes, including the Bank of England, Sweden’s Ricksbank in Sweden, the Swiss National Bank and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.

The federal government has indicated it has no plans to put other notes into circulation at this time.