Plastic Bills

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I am interested how Australia was able the make the switch. Does everybody fight and raise a stink about the switch and the government just did it anyway.

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Basically, yes. But there were two additional benefits to switching to plastic (in addition to the usual arguments about better security and structural integrity) that worked in our favour.

First, our paper money hasn't got all the traditional baggage and vested interests that the American banknotes have. Greenbacks have been around since the Civil War, our paper money had only been around since 1966.

Secondly, the technology is Australian-invented and Australian-owned; switching to polymer could therefore be portrayed as something patriotic.

Polymer notes were introduced gradually. First up was a circulating commemorative $10 note in 1988. It was launched as an experimental testbed, and the public took an immediate dislike to them. The hologram-like "optically variable device" (OVD) inside the clear plastic window was particularly targeted.

When regular circulation notes were introduced a few years later, they replaced one denomination at a time (much like the redesigned notes in the US in recent years). The new notes didn't use the OVD.

The main complaint people had (and to an extent still have) with them was that they behaved differently to paper. Especially, the tendency to stick together and the tendency to stay bent when they get heavily creased. But generally, the benefits of polymer have been accepted as being worth the hassles of changeover.

G'day,
if the note is recognizable, and has a serial number, it's legal tender.
I've heard of a bank paying out half, on a half-of-a-note*; the theory being that they would pay the other half when the remainder came in. That story is NOT from my own experience, ands I sometimes wonder if it's "urban myth".
*Australian notes, except the $5, have the serial number printed twice, so "half-of-a-note" equals one serial number. Anything less than that is a fragment, and of no value.

I'd disagree with what SAP said above: the design of the $10 "experimental" intoduced in 1988 was politically loaded, and it backfired. At least one artist sued the government, alleging that his artwork had been incorporated into the design without adequate compensation or attention to context. A lot of other people had their own reasons for resenting one side or other of the note. Personally, I think it's one of the most beautiful of all Australian notes.

Fast forward to 1992, and the $5 is introduced as a regular circulation note. Note these features:
the Queen is restored, having been absent since the $1 note was withdrawn in 1983.
There was an education campaign, which assured us that all of our criticisms from 1988 - real or imaginary - had been addressed.
We had a proprietary interest in the outcome, because the technology was Australian.
And, we were curious to see how it all worked out.

In succeeding years, the progressive introduction of each new denomination was welcomed, because the new notes are much more compact than the old paper notes. The old $20 was the biggest, but when the $50 was introduced, and then the $100, they were just "too big". The polymers can all fit in a wallet or purse.

I live in the tropics. We get 1660mm of rain in five months. The temperature is only rarely below 24 Celsiuc, even at night: so we perspire a lot. There was a lot of interest in how the polymers would handle the climate. They have stood the test.

And I've never heard of any counterfeit polymers.

Peter

Back in February this year, the first counterfeit using a plastic substrate to simulate Australias appeared. A counterfeit $20 note. And a $100 was done more recently

Polymer note have heavily reduced the number of small time counterfeiters. But the pros are still out there. Of course there will always be dumb criminals who try to pass off bad fakes.

And GX is right, there is a difference between different countries and the thickness of the polymer notes. As to whether it changes the lifespan of the note, I don't know.

With all the counterfeiting issues we have with US currency, you would think our government would look into switching to polymer notes. With the recent ruling about the blind not being able to distinguish the different notes because they are all the same size. it would be a good opportunity for them to do some researching about using them.

Forgot to include the address of a site with detailed info on the notes and a few photos,
http://www.polymernotes.org/country...ir.htm#NIRS1

When I was in Vietnam last year I noticed the banknotes in circulation were remarkably similar to our notes here in Australia. A friend over there told me that the Vietnamese notes were made in Australia and then sent to Vietnam. He also said that we export banknotes to many countries in the Asia-Pacific. Recently, while in New Zealand I found their notes are also similar. I can't seem to find info on this through searching the net though. Does anyone know if we do export these notes or is it just the technology, and if so, to which countries?

https://goccf.com/t/21790&whichpage=2#247949

To answer Brett, the US would (for the most part) never use polymer notes because
1. It's not American. Why would you not want your money to be American? With all this outsourcing and dwindling of our American industries, you want to outsource our money too? ~~Politican's PC answer

2. We have to license the technology from the Aussies, which would be.... not favorable to the US govn't

3. Hey, Crane gets 4c for every note printed, which makes them a profit (and especially by printing all those 1s). If we switch over to polymer, then they would have to buy new machines, research, etc... Plus, the printing lobbyists would be all over the senator who introduces this bill, so it's not really worth endangering one's public service career over this thing. And why does the government care? It's your money and they can spend however much they want.

Thank you for your responses.
wd1040, I'll have to have another look at the Vietnamese notes I have in relation to the print quality, but from memory, they were as good as the notes circulating here. They still have plenty of the old paper notes used in day-to-day transactions over there though, and many in a seriously dilapidated state. Many of these I kept merely for the fact that I wasn't sure if they would be around on my next visit.
Peter, this was the info I'd been looking for, so thank you for providing the links. I'm a newbie to banknote collecting and any extra knowledge I can get from the forum members is really appreciated. Cheers.

FYI Peter, and for anyone else interested, Crooked Business has been advertised for release at independent cinemas in Sydney also. Not sure how long it will run though...