Question About $5 and $10 Bills

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I noticed a trend that starting in 2010, the number of $5 bills in circulation started to decline after hitting its peak in 2009.  Funny thing is, in my region, the number of new $5 prefixes went down starting in 2008.  The number of new $10 prefixes, in 2012 so far in my region, have been very few, and very far between.  Only a very small range of BFU and eventually BFT were seen in my region in 2012, though I think the BFT's I got were probably shipped to Sobeys and not to the Scotiabank I presently deal with.  But oddly enough, I noticed the number of $10 bills across Canada have gone up starting in 2004, until at least 2010.  I was so used to seeing about 5 new prefixes for the $10 bill a decade ago.  Now I probably only see 2 new prefixes annually (though by 2014, it won't be the case for at least a few years).  There seems to be a trend going on.

My question is, is there any word on how many $10 bills and $5 bills were in circulation in 2011?

And are banks likely ordering the new $10 bills less and less in preparation for the soon-to-be released Polymer $10's?  After all, the cost to order the Polymer $10 bills may be more than the paper $10 bills, and maybe the banks are retaining the money they would normally spend on ordering new paper $10 bills so that they can add that to the bank's budget to order the possibly more expensive new Polymer $10 bills when they are released, so the bank is probably devoting this entire 2012 and part of 2013 to total recycling of $10 bills.

If demand for the $10 bill in my region is quite low now, I have a feeling most of my region's $10 bills will be replaced by the Polymer versions probably within 3 months.

My question is, is there any word on how many $10 bills and $5 bills were in circulation in 2011?

Yes, this data is available.  Give me some time and I'll get it posted to the Wiki as soon as I can (I'm hoping today).

And are banks likely ordering the new $10 bills less and less in preparation for the soon-to-be released Polymer $10's?  After all, the cost to order the Polymer $10 bills may be more than the paper $10 bills, and maybe the banks are retaining the money they would normally spend on ordering new paper $10 bills so that they can add that to the bank's budget to order the possibly more expensive new Polymer $10 bills when they are released, so the bank is probably devoting this entire 2012 and part of 2013 to total recycling of $10 bills.

I can't see there being a price difference to the banks for polymer notes vs. paper.  They simply order a quantity of notes of a certain denomination from their cash supplier (often their regional head office, which is generally under a contract with someone like Brinks or Securicor) and then the cash is supplied.  If the Bank of Canada charges security companies for bricks, I don't see why they would charge more for plastic vs. paper.  Similarly for downstream charges from security companies to banks.

If demand for the $10 bill in my region is quite low now, I have a feeling most of my region's $10 bills will be replaced by the Polymer versions probably within 3 months.

As we've seen with the $50 and $100 notes, the paper notes are being replaced very quickly.  It won't take long at all for the majority of notes in circulation to be replaced.  Even despite the colossal number of $20s in circulation, there are an equally colossal number of new polymer $20s just waiting to be rolled out to replace the old ones.  Again, it won't take long.  November and December should be fun for new prefixes and whatnot.

I noticed a trend that starting in 2010, the number of $5 bills in circulation started to decline after hitting its peak in 2009.  Funny thing is, in my region, the number of new $5 prefixes went down starting in 2008.

Wasn't that about the time that the Journey $5s with the lacquer coating had pretty much replaced the $5s in circulation that didn't have it? Perhaps this is nothing more than the notes lasting longer in circulation and requiring fewer reissues.

2011 data has been posted: Bank of Canada Note Liabilities

It is interesting to observe that while the number of $100 and $50 notes in circulation have markedly increased (a little more than trend), all other denominations have gone down.  The $5s have dropped to levels not seen since 2004/2005.

For those of you who like charts, here is the number of notes in circulation based on the liabilities table. Click the thumbnail to view full-size chart.

{http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/5759/notesreleased.png:http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/5759/notesreleased.th.png}

Just viewed the chart...  wow.

It appears that the $5 bill is now the second least circulated bill in circulation ahead of the $10.  The $10 bill has been the lowest circulated denomination for quite some time, and it seems as if the $5 bill is starting to head that way as well.

Yep, demand for smaller denominations is shrinking now.  We're in an era now that $50 and $100 bills are becoming more the norms now.

I am, however, surprised that the $20 bill is starting to lose steam.  I can see why there are only 800 million Polymer $20 bills printed, and will be phased in over 2 years according to an article I viewed last night.  I will post a link to the article eventually.

Also, I think I know what the main driver for the increase in demand for $100 bills may be over the last few years - Organized Crime.

Since the $1,000 bill was retired in 2000, I believe that people involved in organized crime couldn't obtain $1,000 bills any longer, so they probably resorted to $100 bills as a way to "skirt around" the defunct G-note.  It seems as if large denominations are overwhelming to someone involved in such crimes.

As for the demand for the $50 bill on the rise, it may be partly due to organized crime, but also due to higher fuel prices (A couple of $20 bills used to buy a fill-up of gas, but now a $50 bill can, thus reducing the demand for the $20).

I am very shocked that the $50 bill abruptly increased in demand, seeing that the new $50 bill had prefixes AHS to AML, and we saw FMS, and now there is a GHB reported to the database.  That really tells you there are way more $50's in circulation than there have been a few years ago, and they probably printed a lot because of higher demand now and for the future.

I am not sure what to expect of the new $10 bill when it comes out next year.  I have a feeling there will be a lot less of them printed to meet with the lower demand in the coming years.  Wouldn't surprise me if there will only be 8 or 9 new prefixes for the new $10 bill being released in some months' time.

Wasn't that about the time that the Journey $5s with the lacquer coating had pretty much replaced the $5s in circulation that didn't have it? Perhaps this is nothing more than the notes lasting longer in circulation and requiring fewer reissues.

Seth, you do make a good point.  The lacquer coating on the $5s and the $10s most likely resulted in fewer issues of new banknotes.  It's possible that the number of new $10 prefixes went down to three per year in 2008, and now, as long as the paper $10s are being issued, I only get to see two new prefixes for $10 bills annually.  Of course, once the new $5 and $10 bills get released, there will possibly be a barrage of new prefixes coming to my region (even more so with the $5) to replace whatever paper versions exists, and there liikely will only be reissues every 4 to 5 years at that time.

So maybe the number of $5s in circulation is seeing levels not seen since 2004-2005 because 2005 may have been the last full year of the $5s with no lacquer coating and a lot of the older $5s are now obsolete.  Same for the $10s, though maybe I was seeing 3 new prefixees annually for a while because there were still a number of pre-2005 issue $10s still yet to be replaced, and now, most likely, a vast majority of them are gone.  If not for the lacquer coating, there probaly would have been 4 or 5 new $10 prefixes per year to this day.

And it would be interestnig to see how many bills of each denomination were in circulation during 2012.

The lacquer coating on the $5s and the $10s most likely resulted in fewer issues of new banknotes.  .

Since my interest in banknotes started after the lacquer discussions that have happened on this forum I just wanted to confirm the following that I have experienced:

$5 - upto 2009 AAT (BABN printed) - Fully lacquered
$5 - from 2010 HPA to HPZ and HAA to HA? - Partially lacquered

$10 - upto BTZ (2008) and upto BFH (2008) - Fully lacquered
$10 - From BFH (2009) to BFW (present) - Partially lacquered

It is interesting for me to note that $5 fully lacquered continued into 2009 and $10 fully lacquered only continued into 2008.

I am wondering if CBN produced any fully lacquered notes in other denominations.

I am wondering if there is any information on the quantity of each of the existing denominations for 2012?

I'm curious to see if the number of $5 and $10 bills have fallen or risen in 2012.

Yes, that information is available.  The Wiki has been updated.

http://wiki.cdnpapermoney.com/index.php?title=Bank_of_Canada_Note_Liabilities

Yes, that information is available.  The Wiki has been updated.

http://wiki.cdnpapermoney.com/index.php?title=Bank_of_Canada_Note_Liabilities

I was rather surprised to learn that the number of $5 bills in circulation hit an all-time high, taking a huge jump from last year's equally lower levels similar to 2004-2005.

The $10 bill, however, seems to have taken a huge jump in the number of such bills in circulation.  Must be at its highest levels since the 1980s, maybe.

But sadly, I can see why I seem to get two or more $5 bills in my change in this day and age way more than $10 bills now.  The gap between the number of $5 and $10 bills is quite broad.  No matter how much the $10 bill increases in demand, the $5 bill will always rule.