Canada starts switching its paper money to plastic

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Canada starts switching its paper money to plastic

Paper money… it’s so 17th century. Canada is becoming the latest country to get on board with folding money made from plastic, starting with the new $100. The advantages of plastic money over paper (or cotton fiber) are numerous, but the two big ones are that the money lasts longer and it’s much harder to counterfeit.

In addition to it being harder to counterfeit for the sole reason that it’s made of plastic, it also has many security features liked raised ink on the “100,” the words “Bank of Canada” and, of course, the shoulders of Sir Robert Borden, who, as we all learned today, was the prime minister of Canada from 1911 to 1920.

In addition, there are two transparent windows, one showing a maple leaf and the other with the image of a building. These have a number of Inception-like features: security built into security. For example, move the bill around and the building changes colors, and look closely with a single-point light source, and you’ll see some secret numbers in the maple leaf.

Canadian counterfeiters beware: $50 bills are coming in March and $5s and $10s are coming by 2013. Time to hit Craigslist and look for a new profession. Or, you know, just move to one of the countless nations that are still holding on to paper bills.