Random Thoughts.....

[ghost]

I do not. But I'm almost 100% certain that the reason is something that is no longer sensible. Enlighten me.

Generally criminal activity. Easy to move a mil in 1K and 500's. Here is what AI google says.

The U.S. Treasury discontinued $500 and $1,000 bills in 1969 to combat organized crime, money laundering, and tax evasion. High-denomination notes allowed criminals to easily transport massive, untraceable sums of cash. Additionally, the rise of electronic banking and wire transfers made these large bills obsolete. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Large-denomination bills (including $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 notes) were never officially illegal to use, but they were permanently pulled from active circulation by President Richard Nixon’s administration. [1, 2, 3]
The primary reasons for their removal include:

• Criminal Activity: High-value bills were a "godsend" for money launderers, drug traffickers, and racketeers because they allowed millions of dollars to be hidden in a small, easily transportable briefcase. [1, 2]
• Lack of Use: They were originally created to facilitate heavy, large-scale transfers between banks before the days of computers and wire transfers. By the late 1960s, electronic ledgers and checks made large physical cash notes practically useless for the average public. [1, 2, 3]
• Counterfeiting: Large bills are prime targets for forgers because the payout for replicating them is high, and retailers are generally less familiar with their security features. [1, 2]
• Cost Efficiency: Printing low-denomination bills like $1 and $5 notes is more cost-effective than periodically printing small runs of massive bills.

 

[Loganwayne]

Man why cant everyone just be nice.
a home owner (Bobby Orr) had a little issue called me over to look at it, couldnt fix it today but got the work order in and before i left he gave me some books to give to my son.
stopped at a house im working on and been giving left over materials to the flooring guy for a while and joked the other day about getting some moldovan food from him and today he had a big ass plate of stuff for me.

 

[RatLabGuy]

Generally criminal activity. Easy to move a mil in 1K and 500's. Here is what AI google says.

The U.S. Treasury discontinued $500 and $1,000 bills in 1969 to combat organized crime, money laundering, and tax evasion. High-denomination notes allowed criminals to easily transport massive, untraceable sums of cash. Additionally, the rise of electronic banking and wire transfers made these large bills obsolete. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Large-denomination bills (including $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 notes) were never officially illegal to use, but they were permanently pulled from active circulation by President Richard Nixon’s administration. [1, 2, 3]
The primary reasons for their removal include:

• Criminal Activity: High-value bills were a "godsend" for money launderers, drug traffickers, and racketeers because they allowed millions of dollars to be hidden in a small, easily transportable briefcase. [1, 2]
• Lack of Use: They were originally created to facilitate heavy, large-scale transfers between banks before the days of computers and wire transfers. By the late 1960s, electronic ledgers and checks made large physical cash notes practically useless for the average public. [1, 2, 3]
• Counterfeiting: Large bills are prime targets for forgers because the payout for replicating them is high, and retailers are generally less familiar with their security features. [1, 2]
• Cost Efficiency: Printing low-denomination bills like $1 and $5 notes is more cost-effective than periodically printing small runs of massive bills.

Summary: large bills make it harder for the IRS and FBI to do their jobs.

However to @jeepinmatt 's point, since that time - the $250 is the new $100.
although personally I pretty rarely even handle hundos. When I do its rare enough I don't care if the stack is 1/2" thick or 1" thick. The logistics are gonna be the same.

The real question is... with inflation what it is why aren't $2 becoming more popular

 

[jeepinmatt]

Summary: large bills make it harder for the IRS and FBI to do their jobs.

However to @jeepinmatt 's point, since that time - the $250 is the new $100.
although personally I pretty rarely even handle hundos. When I do its rare enough I don't care if the stack is 1/2" thick or 1" thick. The logistics are gonna be the same.

The real question is... with inflation what it is why aren't $2 becoming more popular

Because "queerer than a $2 bill". Gonna have to go straight to $5's.

 

[jeepinmatt]

Generally criminal activity. Easy to move a mil in 1K and 500's. Here is what AI google says.

The U.S. Treasury discontinued $500 and $1,000 bills in 1969 to combat organized crime, money laundering, and tax evasion. High-denomination notes allowed criminals to easily transport massive, untraceable sums of cash. Additionally, the rise of electronic banking and wire transfers made these large bills obsolete. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Large-denomination bills (including $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 notes) were never officially illegal to use, but they were permanently pulled from active circulation by President Richard Nixon’s administration. [1, 2, 3]
The primary reasons for their removal include:

• Criminal Activity: High-value bills were a "godsend" for money launderers, drug traffickers, and racketeers because they allowed millions of dollars to be hidden in a small, easily transportable briefcase. [1, 2]
• Lack of Use: They were originally created to facilitate heavy, large-scale transfers between banks before the days of computers and wire transfers. By the late 1960s, electronic ledgers and checks made large physical cash notes practically useless for the average public. [1, 2, 3]
• Counterfeiting: Large bills are prime targets for forgers because the payout for replicating them is high, and retailers are generally less familiar with their security features. [1, 2]
• Cost Efficiency: Printing low-denomination bills like $1 and $5 notes is more cost-effective than periodically printing small runs of massive bills.

Yep, seems like something that is no longer sensible. There are plenty of other ways to do illegal money stuff these days. And "Cost Efficiency" is probably the dumbest reason on there because there are more hundreds in circulation than anything else. So by sheer volume they would have been the most cost effective to print, but dollar for dollar (see what I did there ) a same size batch of $500's is 5x more cost effective than a $100 and 500x more cost effective than a $1.

 

[RatLabGuy]

Yep, seems like something that is no longer sensible. There are plenty of other ways to do illegal money stuff these days. And "Cost Efficiency" is probably the dumbest reason on there because there are more hundreds in circulation than anything else. So by sheer volume they would have been the most cost effective to print, but dollar for dollar (see what I did there ) a same size batch of $500's is 5x more cost effective than a $100 and 500x more cost effective than a $1.

Its a utilization question though. Not just cost of printing.
If a $500 is used way less often than 5 $100s then you're printing them but they're just sitting around serving no purpose. 5 100s may cost more to print than a single bill, but those single 100s also have a lot more usefulness.
The most efficient system is printing exactly as much of each kind as is needed. What % of people NEED a higher denomination and for what % of the time?
Without a doubt, thanks to inflation, we'd eventually get there, but then also if people's use of cash is diminishing then that also fights against you.

 

[Noel]

Summary: large bills make it harder for the IRS and FBI to do their jobs.

However to @jeepinmatt 's point, since that time - the $250 is the new $100.
although personally I pretty rarely even handle hundos. When I do its rare enough I don't care if the stack is 1/2" thick or 1" thick. The logistics are gonna be the same.

The real question is... with inflation what it is why aren't $2 becoming more popular

There’s some late night places that use 2$ bills only lol