Shortage of 10s circulating

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Canadian ten-dollar bill
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Canadian ten-dollar bill is one of the most common banknotes of Canadian currency

So where are they all?

So where are they all?

I think what they mean on Wikipedia when they said that the $10 is one of the most common banknotes in Canadian currency is that it is in the top 3 in frequency.  The $20 would be the most dominant, followed by the $5, and then the $10.  Although $10s are not as common, they are not rarely used like the U.S. $2 bill is.  $10s are the middle denomination in terms of frequency.

Speaking of the lack of $10s in circulation, that reminds me of an occurrence that happened back in 2005:

One evening, during the Christmas shopping season, I was at a local supermarket and I paid for a purchase with a $20 bill.  For almost four months, coincidentally, I was receiving a $10 in my change every time I cracked a $20, but for the first time since that summer I received 3 $5 bills in my change.  And the really disappointing thing about it was that the cashier apparently had $10s in his till (and even worse, they were UNC).

I was desparate to change up 2 of the $5s later in the week, and so I went to the Scotiabank that Friday to cash my cheque, and explained to the teller that I had a "problem" and asked her for one of the UNC $10s that I missed out on.  Well, apparently, they had already received their bulk order for the Christmas season the week before, and while I expected them to not run out of $10s, well, sadly they did.  They lasted 4 days.  The teller even commented that something like this happens only once in a quarter of a century.  It seemed like, for some strange reason, that $10s were a "hot item" at that branch during Christmas 2005.  And to make it even worse, they were experiencing a drought of $10s, until December 30, 2005 (the last banking day of that year) when they ended the year with the branch's first $10s in more than 2 weeks - and they were UNC.  Now that was a spectacular way to end off 2005.  It made me so happy, I would set off fireworks.

If there is to be a moral to this story, it's quite clear.  As the old proverb goes, "Good Things Come To Those Who Wait."  It works - but only if you have an optimistic attitude while you are on a quest for the UNC notes.

There, I just got a $10 BEY2945509 98/93 NEAR SNR only 491 away from the range. From an old family owned private Gas station that still has a $10 tray in the till. Thank God for old cash tills! May not be a replacement but it's still a TEN.

Dei Gratia Mon!

I just noted from past experiences that there ARE indeed fewer $10s circulating than in previous years.  I think most likely to blame for this is the ever-increasing prices in recent years.  There seems to be fewer and fewer $10-$15 purchases now compared to that of 2005.  I can see why the BoC have only shipped "newer" prefixes BTG through BTK thus far in Canada during the 2007 print year run, and I have only primarily seen BTH thus far.

Like I had stated in a previous post in this thread, I did receive a $10 in my change more often between August and December 2005.  Such occurrence became less common during that time period last year, and now in 2007, the probability of getting a $10 in my change seems to be similar to winning the top prize on a breakopen ticket.  It's almost similar to finding a "needle in a haystack."

But fortunately, as far as I know, banks still do order the same quantities of bundles of $10s every week as they did in previous years, regardless of the shortage.  It's just that the tellers are much less prone to run out of them nowadays as opposed to this time period in 2005 when the Scotiabank branch I dealt with (and still do) was experiencing a rare but significant drought of $10s - thanks to the major Christmas rush that year where they went like "hot cakes."

EDIT:  I do have one question - if there is a shortage of $10s circulating in Canada, will banks (possibly the smaller branches) eventually be downsizing their shipments of such denominations?  If they currently order weekly, will they eventually be downsizing their order to once every two weeks or something?

There may be a clue in the outstanding liabilities list of Banknotes for the Bank of Canada that may answer some questions.

It appears half as many $10s are printed compared to $5s and there are almost 7x the # of $20s in circulation compared to $10s.

Recently I was lucky and received about 40 new $10s from BMO and there seem to be more out there now for some reason.

But what I am wondering is, if some select banks across Canada (possibly the smaller branches) will possibly be downsizing their shipments of $10 notes eventually.

I noticed that some bank branches do not order $10 notes at all, and some branches do order them on a weekly basis (especially the larger branches).  So the smaller branches that order them on a weekly basis, will they eventually order them on a bi-weekly basis (every 2 weeks) instead of weekly?

And I noticed it has been more than 3 months since the last new $10 prefix, BTK, was first reported (on 10/4/2007, to be exact).  Will BTL or BTM see the light of day in the near future?  If not, I can see why they call this time period the "January doldrums" for shoppers.

I noticed that some bank branches do not order $10 notes at all

The branch I deal with (in a rural area) has never ordered $10 notes (unless it was bricks for me) in the past 18 months.
They tend to use fives and twenties I was told

Well, it depends on what location or district you reside.  Depending on the population size, the smaller the location, the less likely the banks will order $10s (as well as $50s and $100s).

And I see a familiar pattern here - it's mainly the busier bank branches that order $10s on a regular basis (the more customers who frequent the branch, the more likely they will order $10s).  And if you were dealing with a bank branch located in a busy shopping mall and deals with an even heavier volume of customers, then that particular branch would most likely order newer $10s.  Smaller branches would be more prone to order $20s and $5s in crisp quantities, but the volume of customers determines if there is a need for crisp $10s since the bank branch would have to possibly pay fees to receive specific orders of infrequently circulated denominations.

And I haven't seen any crisp $10s since I first had exposure to the 2007 print year back in December, but Easter will come sooner than we realize, and we will be seeing some crisp $10s during the week prior to the Easter shopping season.  And if the rumour of prefix FTD holds to be true, then there just so happens there may be a sudden demand for $10s, which means 2007 will end up being the busiest print year for that particular denomination - since the "Printed in 2004" run when we had 12 prefixes total.

But I still think that getting a $10 bill in my change nowadays is just as probable as winning $100 on a pull-tab ticket.  One of the reasons why I very rarely pay for purchases with $20s these days.

I wonder if the BoC will discontinue the $10 someday due to more and more people using Interac for purchases and everything going electronic?

I mentioned this to a member already but I should reiterate it for everyone here too.

 My local branches have just run out of Tens including circulated notes. My regular bank had put up a sign "SORRY, NO TENS." last Friday when I came in with my brick of tens to deposit.  I can tell you the tellers were happy to see me. I live just outside Vancouver and we have a fairly large Asian population here. With Chinese New Year coming around the corner this week Asians love get their hands on and give away crisp uncirculated cash as traditional gifts to relatives and friends. They really want Uncirculated Tens or Fifties if they were rich enough. Fifties are best for their Red and gold color to go with those little red and gold envelopes. It is most unfortunate most notes would have to be folded to be placed in these red envelopes.

Gung hey fat choy mon!

Ever hear of the phrase "stranger things have happened"?  Well, what happened at a local Scotiabank branch I wasn't planning to visit yesterday put real meaning to that particular phrase.

You see, I received my cheque yesterday, and the opportunity arose and I cashed it.  I asked the teller for the best quality $10s and, surprisingly enough, I received some crisp BTJ's over the counter!  And that particular Scotiabank branch doesn't usually receive shipments of crisp $10s to the extent of that of a busy shopping mall!  Especially since it's the middle of February.

Now, I just figured out something here...

The only denominations of crisp bills that banks usually receive shipments of during the "dry spell" are primarily the infrequently used kinds ($10s, $50s, and $100s).  There may be some crisp $20s in some select ATMs.  You see, in order for a bank to receive bricks of 1,000 $10 bills, they would most likely have to accumulate 1,000 tattered notes that are deemed unfit for circulation that are deposited by commercial or regular customers.  It would take a smaller branch a bit longer to accumulate 1,000 tattered $10s before they can exchange them for crisp bills, as they are very infrequently used.  I believe, mainly due to the weather (just my guess), that there wasn't much activity in crisp $10s in 2006 until April that year.

Some branches, large or small, do not usually receive their first shipment of crisp $5s until sometime in March or early April, as there are so many of them in circulation, thus not requiring the need for crisp $5s during what we all know as the "winter doldrums" for shoppers - thus explaining why we saw only a handful of reportings for APF and APK thus far in 2008, and many more of them yet to come.

But to put the thread back to the topic at hand, the moral of the story is you never know what you can expect if you play the game of chance in hopes of getting your hands on crisp infrequently-used bills.  Try your luck, and you may end up hitting the jackpot.  And I sure did Friday, at a time when I least expected it to happen.

Apologies for bumping this thread...

I heard speculation that the majority of banks in smaller provinces (like New Brunswick, P.E.I., Newfoundland, and the 3 territories, to name a few) do not order $10 bills at all.  Is it because there is much less demand for such denomination in any of those provinces, and ordering $10s would be like "clutter" to a bank, as banks have to order them by the bricks and many of them don't get distributed?  If that's the case, I can see why it's good to go to a bank that receives heavy volumes of customer traffic.

And it really does seem like the $10 bill will eventually go the way of the $2 bill by the time the 2015 comes around.  ATMs and debit payments are causing less demand for banknotes (not just $10s), and $10s seem to be a redundant denomination that has very little usage nowadays.  If all the $5 purchases increase to $10 someday, well the BoC will realize that most people use debit cards for payment, and they'll just simply put more $5s in circulation.  Getting $10s in my change was a regular thing back in 1988; but in 2008, 2 $5 bills in anyone's change is pretty much the norms now.

It could be. Here in Vancouver (metro population 2 million), my mom has gotten almost constantly $10 notes through change. No obvious shortage here, though it seems like there may have been fewer a couple months ago. I doubt that the $10 note will be removed while they still have the $5.The BoC doesn't seem like the kind of central bank to use an odd denominational system. Besides, if they get rid of the 10, I will NOT be happy...

BTW, I currently have NO political clout.

Here in Vancouver (metro population 2 million), my mom has gotten almost constantly $10 notes through change.

You mean to say your mother never or very rarely received $10s from a banking transaction? 

No obvious shortage here, though it seems like there may have been fewer a couple months ago.

I can see why it pays to live in Vancouver. 

Besides, $10s are more easily divisible than $20s.

That darn metric system!
LOL!

That darn metric system!
LOL!

Ah, yes... the "power of tens." LOL!