Ban the $100 bill?

New and more colorful $5 bills, intended to make counterfeiters’ lives more difficult, went into circulation earlier this month, joining the already spruced-up $10s, $20s, and $50s. The old $5 bills will continue to circulate until they wear out.

Coming next, at a date still to be determined, is the new $100 bill—unless, that is, those who would dump it altogether have their way. The anti-$100 bill argument, made in newspapers recently via this article, is that the $100 bill is handy for terrorists, drug kingpins, and other criminals who deal in large amounts of cash but plays little or no role in the lives of ordinary, law-abiding consumers.

Eliminating the $100 bill (the jargon is “demonetizing” it) would presumably mean that those of us with a C note we got from Grandma last birthday would be able to cash it in for some period of time before it became worthless. Criminal types with crates full of them, however, would have a lot of explaining to do.

What do you think? Should we keep the $100 bill or phase it out? Which would be better for consumers?  Please feel free to comment below.

Comments

[Josh]

If I was a drug kingpin, I would demand euros and not a couple of C notes that are worth significantly less tomorrow than they were today.

[MNovas]

Get rid of it! Easy choice...

[al]

perhaps we should all run around with credit card readers so that when we sell an item, we could be cheated not only by the person buying from us but by visa, master card, discover...you name it..are you willing to fork over 1-4% to a credit card company just to sell a car or other large item you don't need any more? maybe you would take a check....ha ha

[B. Good]

This is part of the plan to one day eliminate cash. All transactions will require a government-issued RealID card and will be input into a massive government database to help root out "terrorists" and eventually "unpatriots".

[decals]

You can't even spend $100 bills anywhere. Whenever I get one its torture trying to find a place that will actually break it. I think this is a great idea.

[mike]

We need this new 100 dollar bill.It keeps the un savory countries
from counterfiting our money. If they do ,which they are the old hundred,our dollar becomes more and more worthless. got to think about the big picture.

[Sean]

I agree in principle however I have one of those wallets with the money clip on the side and sometimes hundreds come in handy because they take up less space.

[WartHog]

Keep the 100 and 50; get rid of pennies, and maybe nickels. I routinely stock my wallet with 2 100s and 4 50s... plus whatever 20s, 10s, etc I might already have. I rarely use credit/debit cards.

Using credit cards requires too much trouble keeping track of purchases; storing the receipt and checking bills each month. It's ridiculous how many people use credit cards for incidental purchases (say less than $20). It slows up the line and makes commerce more expensive.

Regarding pennies, they no longer exist in my personal world. I don't accept them in my change, so I no longer have them in my pocket.

[liberty]

Why don't we just capitulate and order our lives entirely to thwart the few who abuse ordinary conveniences such as the $100 bill? Eliminating the bill would be parallel to abandoning Central Park because there is an occasional mugging there. We must not give in!

[Gary]

If we made $101 bills and demonitized the $100 bills, everyone wins... the $100 bills held by drug dealers would be worthless and the people who like having larger denomination bills could use the $101 bills. Cool.

[Andy]

Banning the "C" note makes as much sense as Canada banning the $1 & $2 bills. Then you had a pocket of heavy metal change to drag around. Like any other ban in American history, this will have a minimal effect on the criminals and a serious effect on the law abiding citizens. I like to carry a few $100's when I go to Reno or Tahoe and I don't like to depend on ATM's in busy public places due to the possibility of 'shoulder surfers' and other hustlers. Did this brilliant scheme originate with one of 'the People's Republic of Kaleefornia' simpletons or some other equally absurd fool? Also, depending on ATM's increases the income for the banks since they are now charging more for me to access MY money. What a deal!!!

[Dennis]

It seems to me that the move to ban the $100 bill is another move by the big-money interests that actually control our government to make any independence on the part of consumers even more remote than it already is. The "drug kingpins" and "terrorists" of the world are not all uneducated thugs, contrary to their pop culture image. They are fully aware of the existence and are adept in the use of offshore accounts, electronic (wire) transfers, and shadow corporate identities to move large amounts of money. Our cash ($20,$50 and $100 bills) already contains magnetic signature strips which make it difficult to carry large amounts (over $10,000) by air internationally. And of course, serial numbers are tracked and traced easier than ever in this computerized age.

My family uses cash when we go on vacation, and to purchase or sell large-value items such as used motorcycles or autos privately. The proposed demonetization of the $100 bill is an attempt to stamp out any remaining fiscal privacy, nothing more.

We need to keep the $100 bill for our use and convenience.

For What Its Worth...Dennis

[Elizabeth]

Well, I agree with the reader who said get rid of the pennies. But I think getting rid of the 100 will just make the 50 desireable for the druggies and Mafia. Why don't we just impose zero tolerance for this behavior and STOP trying to micro-manage what is really the job of the police?

[Karl]

It might be OK to get rid of the $100 bill. I think however that the $20 should be discontinued and replaced with a $25 bill. Also the 50 cent piece which is seldom used should be replaced with a $2.50 coin. These changes would fit together very nicly.

[Marilyn]

Keep the $100 bill. I need one every time I go to the gas station. When on a trip, I take a bill or two in case some place does not take a credit card.

[Joanne]

For many field trips, the places only want to be paid in large bills. No one wants to count $600-800 in small bills and/or coins, and I don't want to have to carry a huge wad of cash around. There are people and places that take large bills and prefer it. I try to make the bill I pay with fit the price I'm paying. I would never go to a fast food place and try to pay with a $100 bill, but I certainly would use it in other places. I hope they don't get rid of it, or the $50 bill, either.

[c p curtis]

Good idea too long coming. I personally have only had one or two in my pocket ever and I am 63. Only criminals have large amounts. We need to do it every year or two and clean them out.

[Daniel]

It is NOT the $100 bill that we need to do away with--it is the people that are breaking the law. Get the rope & get the bad people out of the USA.

[Owen R]

I just got back from a vacation in Ireland. Went with a wallet full of hundreds. NO BANK would convert the hundreds to Euros—saying 'counterfeits' were everywhere—and they would only accommodate patrons with accounts at their banks. Luckily, a buddy had a 'no-fee' ATM card and was able to get me Euros in exchange for the hundred that he took back to the states.

[Daniel DuBois]

I stumbled upon this blog because I googled "bring back $500 bill." I'm heading to Vegas, and was bemoaning the fact that I can't fit a mere $5k in my wallet. $100 is not a lot of money anymore, I carry them around just to pay for food/gas/etc. And I need $500s and $1000s if I want to play moderately large-stakes poker without having to use a money belt. I can't believe someone is suggesting we get rid of the $100. That strikes me as ludicrous! I don't even want to think abut what $10k in $20s looks like.

[Ralph Rodriquez]

Luckily, America still has a $1,000 bill. Its called a gold eagle! We also have a $2,000 bill. Its called a platinum eagle!

[David Bruhn]

I work in a bar that deals in cash. $100 bills are used all the time and are very useful for large tabs. They save time and reduce mistakes in this fast paced environment. Change and up date them but don't ban them. I would much rather scan two $100 bills than ten $20 bills for counterfeits. If you feel the need to eliminate something try the penny. Round to the nickle. It costs more than a penny to make one and nothing costs a penny {not even a cent symbol on my computer}. Personally I think every thing should be rounded to the quarter as in a lot of bars. I hate this pocket full of change!

[Robert]

Have you all lost your minds? I use 100 bills. Every tried to pay for a $3000 car with 20 dollar bills? How about buying a used boat or motorcyle? Talk about having to carry a huge wad of cash!

Sure I can use my debit "card" to get a fridge at Home Depot and usually do but I don't buy things on credit - I'm credit/debt free for over 4 years - I buy with cash! And sometime need a few larger bills to pay for my purchases. Sheesh! I'm hoping that one day we can use the $500 note.

Large bills aren't for terrorists or drug lords. You all are off your rockers!

[Blake Sigmon]

Hmmmm. I think they should keep it. When is the new $100 bill going to come out?

[XS]

This is not the first time that the US thought that, by reducing us to smaller denominations via obfusticating and then eliminating a size of note, we would be "safer" from a criminal organization.

How many of you who never use $50 or $100 bills are old enough to remember the $500 ad $1000 bills that this country used to have in circulation. (We had $5,000 and $10,000 too, but I never saw anybody spend one.)

Did removing those large bills from circulation stop any illegal traffic? Of course not. It meant that people who dealt in big bills switched to small bills. (Hundreds are the top end of a "small bill". The small/big split began at $500, which is where the slang term "no large bills" originated in old gangster movies.)

Add to that, if you wanted to exchange several million untraceable dollars, you would do it in Gold or Platinum bullion, or in other precious metals or stones. All printed notes in this country have serial numbers, and are therefore (theoretically) traceable. Simply removing a denomination doesn't stop drug trade. It doesn't even slow it down.

I fact, if nothing else, it's a shady way for the Feds to deprive you of the right to possess the money you own, forcing you to use electronic transactions or credit for any purchase over $200. Most of the guys I know carry between $300 and $500 on their person. I can't say what the trend is for ladies.

For men, it's not an ego boost (for most of us) to carry $100s. It's a necessity, as we don't have purses into which we can stuff rolls of quarters and piles of ones and fives. We carry one wallet, ad if we want to fit $500 in there, $100 notes are a requirement. I'm also on the same page s a few posters above, and I prefer to carry cash over bank cards, as I can keep tabs on it and limit myself, especially so because I like money, and it's harder to part with the real McCoy than with a few numerals on paper tae that a charge machine spits out at me.

I'm in favor of reviving the $500 and $1,000 notes. The Euro is so strong now that its top end note, the €500 is worth close to $800. If they can have that kind of spending power, why can't Americans have it, or at least keep what we have now?

Jeepers, stop being “sheeple” and stop letting the world take advantage of your rights, especially where your right to own money is a factor. Demonetization is a very scary word, and you need look no further than the Deutschemark or the Old Mexican Peso to see how far it can go to ruin an economy.

Think about it.