Is the Journey Series the last series?

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With the advent of credit cards and now debit cards being used more and more everyday, as well as a host of counterfeiting problems going around, it's been said that perhaps one day we will live in a cashless society where all transactions will be done with a card of somesort.  Now in saying this, the good ol' BoC seems to put a new series of notes in front of us every 10-15 years or so, we just completed the latest series, so that means we are looking at least the year 2014 before the next series arrives. Between now and then, could cash slowly go out of style and be obsolete? Will the Journey Series be the last? Any thoughts??


King H

Don't expect Canadian banknotes to end any decade soon.  We may be long dead by the time the BoC stops issuing banknotes...

Should the BoC stop issuing banknotes in the future, they should issue a special plastic card where any client's money earned could be credited to the card at a local bank, and the card could be used to purchase certain items, large or small.  This would be similar to debit cards, only there would be no service charges.  And it would be safer and more convenient to use.  The client would be given a secret code and they would have to memorize it.  Again, any cash earned at work would be deposited on the proposed BoC cash card.  All the companies would deposit the funds directly on the cash card by computer and the client could spend away!

However, there are two disadvantages here...

1.  If a child was being given an allowance, he or she would have to learn to use the cash card.  Otherwise, coins would be an alternate option.

2.  And high technology could put your friendly bank teller out of the job, since the banks would stop issuing banknotes and replace them with the cash card.

It would be a good idea, but I really think that there should be a Canadian banknote series made from polymer for the next series.

- Cathy

I just don't see a cashless society anytime in the near future ... and I don't think the Journey Series will be the last ...

I think traditionally if we have a change in monarchy (say if QE2 were to no longer be queen) would we not change her picture?  I'm not sure ... she's been the queen for over 50 years, so I've never had to worry about it during my life so far!!!

HAHA ... I just thought of something ... we could have Prince Charles and Camilla 20 dollar bills!  

Marty

I'm praying that it won't be the last.

I'm also praying that there counterfeiters will figure out how to fake the new $10, $20, $50, $100 soon. And then a new series will be issued quickly hopefully.

I want to see polymer notes here.

Counterfeiting Prevention

Question 1
How can I tell if a bank note is real?

All genuine bank notes have several security features (Counterfeiting Prevention) that you can check quickly and easily.

We recommend that you verify two or three security features. If you're still not sure about a particular note, then check more features.


Question 2
What should I do if I have a counterfeit note?

If you detect a counterfeit note, retain the note if possible, record details of the note, contact the nearest police force or Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for confirmation, and provide them with the information on the person who gave you the note.


Question 3
How does the Bank of Canada handle counterfeiting?

The Bank of Canada has established a currency education program to assist Canadians in identifying genuine bank notes. The Bank monitors counterfeiting levels and works closely with law enforcement agencies and financial institutions to ensure the authenticity of notes in circulation. Also, the Bank periodically changes the design and security features of bank notes.


Question 4
Which note is counterfeited most often?

It varies from year to year. For this reason, the Bank of Canada recommends that cash handlers routinely verify the security features on all denominations of bank notes.


Question 5
How serious a problem is counterfeiting?

The number of counterfeit notes in Canada is only a small fraction of one per cent of the number of genuine bank notes in circulation. View recent statistics.


Question 6
Why does the Bank of Canada not offer reimbursement for a counterfeit note?

Like other central banks, the Bank of Canada does not offer reimbursement for counterfeit notes because this could encourage counterfeiting for the purpose of reimbursement. It would be difficult for the Bank to differentiate between an innocent recipient and one who is trying to defraud the Bank.

The Bank of Canada's legal obligation to honour bank notes extends only to notes issued by the Bank of Canada. The Bank has no legal obligation to honour counterfeit notes.

I'm also praying that there counterfeiters will figure out how to fake the new $10, $20, $50, $100 soon. And then a new series will be issued quickly hopefully.

I've heard reports that each of the new $10 (yes, the new $10), the $20, the $50 and the $100 have been counterfeited already. I cannot confirm any of these rumours as I have not seen any first-hand, but they are reputed to be very good. The only items which are reported to not be convincing is that the notes lack the watermark portrait.

As always, I welcome donations of counterfeit notes to my collection. (It is used extensively for educational purposes, so fear not). I will continue to keep my eyes open for some of these fakes.

I'll trade you a fake $100 Journey Series Note for a real one.  

Thank you, but the key word there was donations. At least one kind soul has been gracious enough to give me several such notes that they have come across. They are a great help because I can show people the differences between obvious forgeries, and pretty decent ones, inkjet and laserjet notes, etc. The trouble is, I don't have any really, really good ones, or any of the new 2004/5 notes. Using Birds $10s is somewhat pointless because they are long-defunct.

So if anyone gets one, give it to me! You shouldn't generally expect to get anything from the bank, and attempting to pass it off to someone else is knowingly and willingly committing a crime. So, give it to me, and do a good deed in promoting awareness of counterfeits and how to prevent their circulation.

Hello BWJM,

I'll trade you a fake $100 Journey Series Note for a real one.      

(There have been instances in Vancouver where counterfeit Journey Series Notes with the new hologram features have been successfully copied.  It's true that the watermark is a tad bit difficult.)  

Hmmmm,

Section 457 of the Criminal Code of Canada states:
No person shall make, publish, print, execute, issue, distribute or circulate, including by electronic or computer-assisted means, anything in the likeness of a current bank note; or an obligation or a security of a government or bank.

I would love to have an example of a fake note for my collection as well, but I can't see how "donate" would be exempt according to the criteria above.

You do what you want to do. I was going by the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law. This is now getting off-topic, so perhaps we should drop the matter.

Hello BWJM,

I'll trade you a fake $100 Journey Series Note for a real one.      

(There have been instances in Vancouver where counterfeit Journey Series Notes with the new hologram features have been successfully copied.  It's true that the watermark is a tad bit difficult.)  

That's interesting....

In places like Europe, they've figured out how to do the watermark pretty decently in places like France. I've seen a counterfeit 500 Franc bill from 1994 that had a good watermark.

Back on topic,  I don't think cash will ever disappear.  In fact, with the amount of fraud and crime associated with plastic and other electronic payments, some are prodicting a big return to just plain ol' cash.  Guess we'll have to see.