Canada’s Fancy New Plastic Money Has The Unfortunate Problem Of Melting

Canada’s got some pretty fancy new money — $100 and $50 polymer bills that last longer and aren’t damaged as easily as paper notes. But as the saying does not go, “All that is plastic might melt at some point, so, sorry your money shriveled.” In some cases, the money has been said to curl up like bacon in a frying pan. Yum.

“The Bank of Canada cannot rule out that polymer notes may be damaged under certain extraordinary conditions,” Julie Girard, a currency spokesperson for the Bank of Canada, told the Toronto Star Thursday.

The bills were designed to be veritably indestructible, but when they’re near intense heat like inside a hot car or next to something emitting heat, they’re reportedly melting, shriveling and otherwise turning in on themselves.

Despite the fact that the Bank of Canada says the bills, which were introduced in November, underwent a barrage of scientific tests to see if they could withstand certain conditions, money holders are saying the money is anything but impervious to heat.

Among the anecdotal reports are stories from bank tellers of bills melting together in a hot car, or a man who put his wallet on a recently used toaster oven and noticed later that three $100 bills had taken on the shape of a “Coke bottle.” Weird spot to set your wallet, by the way.

“So you can’t rip them, you can’t tear them, you can’t wreck them by washing them but apparently you can heat them and melt them,” said a banking industry source.

The Bank of Canada isn’t explaining how its rigorous tests of extreme heat and extreme cold failed to predict these kinds of results. Seems like they’re sticking with the polymer notes, which are said to last 2.5 times longer than paper bills, or about 19 years. Unless you get say, a blow dryer involved.

Plastic bills: Quick! Spend them before they melt [Toronto Star]

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