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Can the new polymer bills take the heat?

GAP

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Can the new polymer bills take the heat?
Bank of Canada acknowledges that 'extreme conditions' can damage the new bills
CBC News  Jul 11, 2012
Article Link

The Bank of Canada says its new $50 and $100 polymer bank notes will last much longer than the old paper-based versions. But that added durability doesn't mean they're indestructible.

Several reports have appeared about the new bills melting, crinkling or otherwise shrivelling after exposure to very high temperatures.

On Tuesday, radio station CKFR in Kelowna, B.C., quoted a local credit union teller, Brittney Halldorson, saying staff at her credit union have seen the new bills melting in the summer heat.

"We're finding temperatures in cars, we've seen it a few times now, where three or four melt together," she told the station.

A woman in Cambridge, Ont., told the Cambridge Times last January that eight of the new $100 polymer notes shrivelled when her son put them in a tin that he placed near a heater.

So can the new polymer bills actually melt?

The Bank of Canada defends the hardiness of its new bills, pointing out that they last 2½ times longer than paper-based notes under normal conditions.

And when conditions aren't normal?
More on link
 
The new bills don't catch as fast as paper, yet the C, L, and $20 would make fantastic secondary tinder in a pinch. When I have time I'll try slower combustion scenarios. No I don't have money to burn, but a safe with loot is empty if it can't handle the heat.
 
Someone actually told me this at a Timmies drive thru as well. The bills will melt right to your dash if you leave it in the heat. I don't really need to worry about that though, no fifties travelling through here anytime soon! I wonder if it would get warm enough in a safe to melt them.
 
ttlbmg said:
The bills will melt right to your dash if you leave it in the heat.

They don't. Saw the test on TV the other night and tried it myself.

 
Typical.

These new notes have been in use for years in much hotter climates, ours are made from the exact same material as the Aussie notes.  I recall when the Two Dollar coin came out and people were complaining that the core would easily fall out.    Yeah if you beat it with a hammer!

Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, Australia, Bermuda are among the many nations that use these notes. 

I suspect people are putting the notes through their paces, just to see what happens, the novelty will wear off.  I wonder how many people are still trying to tear them?

 
GAP said:
A woman in Cambridge, Ont., told the Cambridge Times last January that eight of the new $100 polymer notes shrivelled when her son put them in a tin that he placed near a heater.
What's a kid doing with $800 cash?
 
Journeyman said:
What's a kid doing with $800 cash?

Mom has the kid dealing the dope so she doesn't go to jail...............
 
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