Canada's new 'funny money'

The debate over paying with paper or plastic once referred to whether you were using cash or a credit card, but Canada's new plastic $100 bill -- soon to be followed by smaller denominations -- will limit your choices to plastic or plastic.

The polymer-blend bills have a number of advantages over the old paper-and-cotton ones. One key difference is that they are more difficult to counterfeit. And they won't disintegrate if you accidentally run them through the washing machine.

The plastic bills are more secure, more economical and better for the environment, according to the Bank of Canada. They also cost less to produce and last twice as long as paper money; the downside of the polymer notes is that they are more slippery and can't be folded, according to the BBC.

"These polymer notes don’t just celebrate innovation; they are themselves at the frontier of bank note technology," said Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of Canada. "They were developed by a team of physicists, chemists, engineers and other experts from the Bank of Canada and from across the bank note industry."

The brown-tinted bills carry a portrait of Robert Borden, prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920, on one side and have two see-through windows. The smaller window is in the shape of a maple leaf and the larger one has small numbers and another image of Borden inside it. Another counterfeiting precaution is raised ink on some parts of the bill, according to the Los Angeles Times. A Bank of Canada-made video explains these security features in detail. Post continues below.

Perhaps because the new bill is a $100, and a lot of Canadians (like Americans) usually carry smaller bills, knowledgeable reactions to the new bill are few. Responses from readers of the Globe and Mail, range from pride in Canada's always "colourful" currency to concern about whether a plastic bill could be put into a wallet.

The answer to that question is yes. Describing the bills as "smooth [and] stretchy," The Canadian Press says the currency feels like "the celluloid film you used to load into your old-fashioned camera."

"If they're more durable, it's a great thing -- but it looks fake," pedestrian Paul Lemay told The Canadian Press, when stopped on the street in Montreal. "I don't know if I would use it. I would have to be clearly informed before using it."

The new Canadian $50 bill was unveiled in June and will be issued in March 2012, with plastic $20 bills entering circulation in late 2012 and $10 and $5 bills by the end of 2013.

Several other countries use polymer currency, including Australia, which switched in the 1980s, according to Time.

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