A news reported by CBC Canada a saying that Canada will be switching to plastic currency in 2010. Canada's paper-cotton banknotes would be replaced by newly designed plastic notes. This move is part of a plan to modernize and protect Canadian currency against counterfeiting. The new plastic bills, made from a polymer material, are harder to fake, recyclable, and two to three times more resistant to tearing, the Bank of Canada said. The polymer material will last longer than the cotton paper currently in use, resulting in lower overall production costs and reduced environmental impact.
Australia has used polymer banknotes since the 1990s, and an Australian company will provide the material for Canada. The company that will provide the material for Canada most probably will be Note Printing Australia, at Craigieburn, Victoria. In 1996, the Reserve Bank of Australia formed a joint venture company - Securency Pty Ltd - with a foreign manufacturer of polypropylene films to further develop polymer substrate and to market it to currency note printers in other countries.
Currently, Australia, New Zealand and Romania have fully converted to polymer banknotes. The Polymer notes start in the late 1970s and early 1980s. When du Pont pioneered this evolution of technology in currency with its Tyvek polymer, a material that was jointly developed by du Pont and American Banknote Company. It was later discovered that the printing ink does not bond to the Tyvek material and after handling a few times, the ink on the notes smudges and wears off. The first three countries to introduce Plastic banknotes were Haiti, Costa Rica and Isle of Man. In the late 1980s, the Reserve Bank of Australia developed and perfected the technique with Guardian polymer, and introduced plastic banknotes in 1988. Today, all countries that issue polymer currency use this version.
Anyone from Canada? How do you feel about the new Canada Polymer bill and a classic cotton-paper Canadian bill? In Malaysia, there is rumours about fully converting to Polymer notes but until this day, the only polymer in circulation is the 5 ringgit. With so many counterfeit and fake 50 ringgit nowadays, Bank Negara Malaysia should look into converting Malaysian currency to Polymer.Source: CBC Canada.
