Plastic Banknotes.

Here's an interesting section that no-one else has come up with.It is about plastic banknotes & which countries have issued them.The first country to issue a plastic banknote was the Isle of Man,which put a Tyvek 1 Pound note into circulation in 1983.It was withdrawn after a short period.Australia have had plastic notes since 1988.New Zealand has been issuing them since 1999.Yes,the New Zealand ones are dated,
as the first 2 numbers in the serial number is the date code.For example,
a $5 note with '99' at the start of the serial number is an issue from 1999.The Chatham Islands' first notes are of Tyvek.These are dated 1999,but were not released into circulation until the 1st of January 2000.
The Chatham Islands' notes are the only ones to have been designated as 'negotiable tender',& are also the only dual-denominated plastic notes.
I know that Romania,Vietnam,Brunei,& Malaysia have also had plastic banknotes.Can anyone else think of other countries,especially those of the British Commonwealth,that have had plastic banknotes?

 

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Mexico and N. Ireland, I think use plastic.

 

I have never even heard of that. very interesting!!!!

 

Also have a look at this site http://www.polymernotes.com/

And here is one in German http://www.polymernotes.de/index2.html which also has a link to some "polymer note web ring": http://www.polymernotes.de/html/webring.html

Neat pictures

Christian

 

now you have piqued my interst, i have to go to the coin store tommorow and now i have to see if he has one.

 

Mexico has them for the 20 peso notes only, very odd considering that the most commonly conterfited banknotes are the 500 and 200 peso notes but yet they are stila paper.

 

Good afternoon Aidan,

Didn't Australia issue a $10.00 special issue plastic note that actually had a date of 1988 on it..? My memory is a little weak but something tells me that the Australian Mint put out a introductory note housed in a attractive folder that had the date but the notes that were actually released didn't have one.

catman

 

Ccgnum,Northern Ireland (also better known as Ulster) did have a plastic note.It is a 5 Pounds issued by the Northern Bank (the same bank that was recently robbed by a gang linked to the vermin
from Sinn Fein/I.R.A.) to commemorate the Millennium.

Catman,I did mention about Aussie having plastic notes,but it was the Isle of Man who had the first ever plastic note.

When I say 'soft plastic money',it is a reference to plastic banknotes,as opposed to credit cards,which is 'hard plastic money'.

 

Until your post I really didn't have an idea as to how many countries were producing them. When Australia first started I bought the commemorative version. But then I heard they were having problems with them circulating because they got dirty and sticky.

catman

 

Catman,did you know that the first issue of notes from the Chatham Islands are plastic as well? It is the same Tyvek material that the Manx Pounds were printed from.

 

My knowledge of the Plastic Banknotes is limited. I was going to collect them but never really started. I got hooked on the Queen instead.

catman

 

Catman,Queen Elizabeth is the most depicted person on banknotes.She still appears on the notes of Fiji,even though Fiji has been a republic since 1987.I do know why she still appears on them.She is still recognised as being a Paramount Chief of Fiji.She has never appeared on the notes of South Africa,but she did appear on Rhodesian notes.

 

One of my Favorites is a 1959 $1.00 issue from Hong Kong. I also like a few that came out of the Bahamas. These are real colorful.

steve

 

Steve,don't forget that the latest $20 note from Canada also has the Queen's portrait as well.

 

Aidan,

There is a whole bunch I don't have. I'm going to post my wants in the "open" catagory as soon as i get use to the new forum.

steve

 

I'm surprised that Mexico hasn't done a complete changeover. One would had expected that at least they would had started with the higher denominations instead of their smallest.

 

I didn't know that Mexico had any of the soft plastics. Do you have a photo of one of them. I would love to see it.

catman

 

Australia now only uses poly many sites available if anyone wants them
Richard

 

Did Australia discontinue the $2.00 note in favor of the coin..?

catman

 

Steve,Aussie no longer uses a $2 note,but the $1 coin is larger than the $2 coin,whereas,here in New
Zealand,the $1 coin is slightly smaller than the 10c. coin,& the $2 is slightly smaller than the 20c. coin.