Weird Laws Reagrding US Notes In Canada?

no kidding! You know it's funny, at another money mart I was told that they only accept british pounds for exchange if it is paper currency. As if the british pound coin is play money or something. she told me she had never even seen one before. Kind of strange for a chain of currency exchanges that don't know how to identify the money.

I think the people who work there need a little more training....thats just rediculous

Most misconceptions regarding "foreign" currency are usually started by people who don't know what they're talking about. It is probably typical for Money Mart not to accept the older series because of the possibility of counterfeit notes, realizing that most of their staff likely couldn't tell the difference anyway.

It's not too different than those places that just won't accept Canadian $50 or $100 bills over the counter, because these have been counterfeited by scanner quite easily -- and management doesn't tell them that the newest ones are pretty much counterfeit-proof because of the metallic strip running down the left side. Their underlings are usually not known for their common sense, so they just don't accept any, period.

It's not a "law", it's likely just Money Mart's own regulation.

I agree with that assessment. Saying "it is a law" usually ends all discussion and arguments. It may dissuade the customer from taking their business elsewhere; leading them to believe that no one will be able exchange the older notes.

Around here, no money-changers deal in "fiddly small change"; they all only accept notes. If you bring home a bucketful of foreign coins, the only thing you can do with them to exchange them for money is sell them to a coin dealer - and they'll only pay you by the kilogram, rather than try to give you actual face value.

Well, the thing with coins is that they're much harder for banks to store and deal with, which costs them money. Notes, on the other hand, store easier and are usually worth more, and are cheaper to ship. It's all a matter of banks keeping their costs down.

The older notes are much easier to counterfeit; all one needs is a good quality scanner and some paper, and the average person can be easily fooled. Don't forget that pre-1988 or so there was no frenzied movement to foil counterfeiters, since back then there was a lot of work involved, having to create plates, getting a press, developing the right shade of ink, etc. Technology in the form of better photocopy machines and scanners basically made it easier to counterfeit, and anyone could now do it. In the US, this led to (in sequence) an extra oval of microprinting around the portrait frame on the higher value bills, a whole new series (the "Big Heads") with color-shifting ink, and an even further new series incorporating colored underprinting, watermarks, etc. It's a lot for the general public to keep up on, and since very few collectors (who are better educated about counterfeits) handle our money, you see dumb little rules passed off as laws to an unknowing public.

In the case of old (Canadian) $50 and $100 bills being rejected, let's put it this way -- if the bill turns out to be a fake, that's a lot of money to be deducted from the check of the average 7 Eleven cashier (who is the person who will ultimately be made to cough up), especially if he was instructed not to accept the older notes.

It's more of a case of better safe than sorry, especially since the company would be the last one to take it on the chin over counterfeit bills.