Where Are All The $1000 Notes?

I also think counterfeiting was a big reason too. From what I understand, hundreds are more the gangster thing.

Did that bill have a water stamp?

its been about 15 years since I've seen one in a retail transaction, before that I used to get them once a month or so. not from 'criminals' but from regular people who didnt use credit cards (back before debit cards, which wasnt that long ago, cash was king).

even today there is still an entire subset of the population who live 100% 'off the grid' when it comes finances. they learn where to shop and who to deal with and save a minimum 12% on every purchase + about 40% on their income. everything is cheaper because the dollars stretch a lot further. 'criminal' in a sense that they don't pay taxes but not necessarily criminal as in drug dealing / organized crime etc.

I had them given to me on the casino tables 20 years ago.. Predating a better system, we had to keep count of how much money went into the drop box with a clicker - one click per $20.. let's just say a $5000 buy-in kept a supervisor busy for about 5 minutes..