On Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:33:56 +0100, wrote:
"Mark Brader" wrote in message
Neither were the $100,000 US ones. The largest US denomination for
general circulation is the $10,000, last issued around 1944 (but still
valid if you have any, as the US does not demonetize old issues).
The highest denomination still printed in the US dropped again around
1969 from $1,000 to $100, and Canada copied that move in about 2000,
in both cases on the grounds that criminals would be inconvenienced
and most other people would not.

It seems that people and businesses feel a bit uneasy about the 500-euro
note, as if it has some sort of stigma attached to it.

Maybe they're afraid it could be a counterfeit.
A few weeks ago, I bought my annual season ticket (complete NMBS network
+ De Lijn bus/tram) for EUR 2695, for which I payed in cash. From my
bank, I got a mix of 500, 200, 100 and 50 euro notes. At the station,
the clerk held all notes under a small ultraviolet lamp to see if they
were real. I asked him if he often encountered counterfeits and he said
yes, we do.

ObRail: a few years ago in Switzerland I had the pleasure of buying
a train ticket that cost something like 130 francs and paying for it
by inserting cash into the ticket machine *including a 100-franc note,
worth over 40 pounds*. The 200-franc denomination was in common use
as well, and I daresay the machine would have accepted that too if my
ticket had been expensive enough.

I notice that in Amsterdam, GVB does not accept 50-euro notes.

Not even when you buy ticket(s) for that amount or more?

Regards,

Rian

--
Rian van der Borgt, Leuven, Belgium.
e-mail: www: http://www.evonet.be/~rvdborgt/