Legal Tender Status and Collectibility and Value of 1, 2, and 1000 dollar notes

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

It seems like the branches I go to there is a buzz about the 1, 2, and 1000 dollar notes. I have returned a few 1000 dollar notes and often the conversation stems around whether people are going to return them and if they are still worth keeping.

It is interesting how much interest there is amongst some of the front line bank staff. It is interesting that many of these people are swayed by watching things on e-bay.

Of course people on this forum very well understand that value in dollar terms and collectability will depend on many factors.

However one of the factors for people to hang on to their "collection" ought to be the fact that they can always turn the notes in to any bank for face value. With this becoming difficult with the changes coming and to the point that it may almost become onerous to return the notes I am wondering if this will have any impact on collecting.

We all know that the prices in catalog for the most common notes are "eye candies" for the commoner. Partly because a non TPG note could vary in perceived grading and partly because if you take it to a dealer to sell, it is inconceivable that you will get anywhere close to the catalog value because of buying-selling differences.

My thinking is that this is going to have an impact how people will think of collecting these notes particularly for the higher denominations. Am I way out in my thinking?

I agree that it will have an impact, I don't know if you are thinking it will be positive or negative? Personally I'm of the thinking it will be negative. Over the past 10 plus years we all know that values have been trending lower, that's no secret. What makes if worst is when you factor in inflation it makes the drops even more pronounced. Now most will stick to denominations of $10 and below and with every step up you have are larger and larger drop off in interest. To give you an example when I was bricking the Frontier series there were only 2 of us who did bricks of $20's and above and I could not sale anything in the 20's plus. Many times when you get to the $100 and $1000 it really hardly makes sense to hold them unless of course it's to complete your collection. But to simply have a old $100 or $1000 to say you have one is one of the most expensive and worse value propositions. In fact if you took a $100 from 1937 and assumed you stored it away until today and priced in inflation you could technically buy that same note today for under "Face Value" when you pay "book Value" So if you were to take a swing at high denominations you really have to get the "trophy notes" anything less is not worth the trouble. When you talk about the $1000 notes it gets ever uglier. So I would say that perhaps in the short term (2-3Y) you will see some interest but their after they will simply fall of the radar of pretty much 95%+ of collectors.

You'd be best buying a $1000 note keychain

MG

To give you an example when I was bricking the Frontier series there were only 2 of us who did bricks of $20's and above and I could not sale anything in the 20's plus.

Sorry to correct you, but there were more than two bricking 20s +
Also because you may not have had a market for 20 50 or 100 notes there still was and is a market yet I agree much smaller than for 5 and 10's

I really doubt people will start collecting $1000 notes just because they’ve lost legal tender status. 

Its possible the “buzz about the 1, 2, and 1000 dollar notes” is good for the hobby but I doubt it will have much impact.  I feel it is more likely that this news will fly under the radar of your typical Canadian and if that person has a hoard of $1000 notes I really doubt he or she will go out of his/her way to acquire any new CDN notes.

As far as us “die-hard” collectors go: does it really matter? Do we really care about book value of common notes? Do the majority want to go out and acquire a $1000 note just because they’re no longer accepted at a store? Will some people who have the $1000 notes hang onto them and start collecting? I would bet the answer would be “no” in most cases. I know I haven’t changed my stripes. I still shy away from collecting denominations $100 or higher. And in my last check on eBay I’ve noticed a surge in listings of the latest $1000 note. It may be possible that a few "dabblers" decide to hang onto the $1000 but not sure if they would transition well into a bona-fide collector...

A friend told me she had a $1000 note a few years ago and she revealed the information like it was a pure brick of gold she was offering me for less than spot.  I asked her about it but she couldn’t really give me any information other than it had the queen on it (so it was 1954 or newer).  When I told her it was probably worth $1000 she cackled at me like I was off-my-rocker. I quickly changed the subject because I had no interest in acquiring that note.

So, I would wrap up by saying that the removal of these denominations (as legal tender) will likely have little impact on the hobby (in terms of what people collect) other than perhaps (& hopefully) drawing a few more into our community.  Hopefully, the new Viola Desmond $10 will draw in new blood too. I have to say that the introduction of something novel (a vertical portrait of a revolutionary Black woman) may drum up  more interest than the news of the $1, $2 & $1000. I’m sure most here would be happy to welcome some fresh faces into the fold.