Canada is moving to polymer notes starting in 2011. They are moving away from rag notes to join Australia, Bermuda, Brunei, New Zealand and others. Polymer notes are more resistant to counterfeiting than rag notes and last FAR longer. Get ready for a new batch of counterfeit US notes as counterfeiters move away from the harder to counterfeit Canadian polymer notes. Canada is also changing the composition of the last remaining non-steel plated coins. The loonie and twonie will be moving to plated steel in 2011. When the heck is the US Gov't going to get with the program? Get rid of the $1, $2 and $5 notes and the cent, make $2 and $5 coins, and go polymer. I don't know what the savings would be, but it would be significant. The reason they WON'T do the above is it would take money away from their constituents that do the manufacturing. Lord knows the world would end if the suppliers of the rag paper our current paper money is made from would no longer be needed.
After Crane Paper, the biggest proponents of the rag buck are the BEP employees. Job security plain and simple. Unless it can be proven that rag bucks cause cancer the US will never quit printing them. Canada did the switch right. After such and such a date NO paper dollars and two dollars were allowed to leave a bank once they were turned in. I think they are still legal tender but those still around are likely worth more than face to collectors now.
