Converting Canadian Currency, Some of It Old
December 1, 2023 4:55 AM
We have a lot of Canadian currency. Some of the bills are fairly recent while others are decades old. We want to convert it to U.S. dollars, but also wonder if the older bills have value above that of a simple conversion. Would appreciate suggestions on how to best handle this.
FYI: It is a long story, but the currency turned up as we went through belongings of a relative, long after the person's death; we are in the U.S. but not close to the Canadian border; we have no reason to travel there anytime soon; none of the older bills are in mint condition or particularly close to it.
FYI: It is a long story, but the currency turned up as we went through belongings of a relative, long after the person's death; we are in the U.S. but not close to the Canadian border; we have no reason to travel there anytime soon; none of the older bills are in mint condition or particularly close to it.
If the older bills are in anything other than mint condition, as you say, the odds of their holding anything more than face value is basically zero.
Can you qualify what you mean by "a lot", in terms of physical volume and a ballpark total value? Banks have reporting obligations at various levels about transactions like this, which might matter to you. As well, depending on what "a lot" means, you might want to go to your bank ahead of time, explain the situation so that they're prepared for the transaction on the day of.
posted by mhoye at 5:57 AM on December 1, 2023
Can you qualify what you mean by "a lot", in terms of physical volume and a ballpark total value? Banks have reporting obligations at various levels about transactions like this, which might matter to you. As well, depending on what "a lot" means, you might want to go to your bank ahead of time, explain the situation so that they're prepared for the transaction on the day of.
posted by mhoye at 5:57 AM on December 1, 2023
Old Canadian bills are very unlikely to have significant value unless they are from the 30s or earlier.
Some of them (low value bills that were replaced by coins and high value bills that were too easily counterfeited and no longer get issued) are no longer considered legal tender and you have to trade them at a bank for the value rather than use them in transactions so if you have some of those, even your American bank may be reluctant to take them.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:21 AM on December 1, 2023
Some of them (low value bills that were replaced by coins and high value bills that were too easily counterfeited and no longer get issued) are no longer considered legal tender and you have to trade them at a bank for the value rather than use them in transactions so if you have some of those, even your American bank may be reluctant to take them.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:21 AM on December 1, 2023
If they are in decent shape and still legal tender, you can most likely exchange them at a bank or currency exchange (for a fee). If they are no longer legal tender or they are so mutilated (worn/moldy/torn) that normal places won't take them, you can send them to the Bank of Canada to be redeemed. (There's a form you would need to fill out and it has a section for direct deposit information for American banks so it seems like you being in the US shouldn't matter? I don't know exactly how that part would work.)
posted by mskyle at 11:22 AM on December 1, 2023
posted by mskyle at 11:22 AM on December 1, 2023
One and two dollar bills are no longer legal tender. As of 2021 they lost their status as money and can no longer be redeemed. Some older $25, $500 and $1,000 dollar bills are also no longer redeemable for their face value.
Also, when I inherited a sheaf of Straits Dollars from my Chinese uncle, I discovered that many older bills from different nations were counterfeited in Asia from the eighties onward in order to defraud collectors. The counterfeits were good enough that they could not be distinguished from genuine, as the genuine ones predated modern security measures. This means that many older bills had ceased to add value to collections, and are basically only good for bookmarks and novelties. If you've got small Canadian ills from the thirties they might be worth a little more than its face value, or they might not be worth anything.
There is a good chance your little sheaf of bills never got exchanged at the bank because your relative discovered they couldn't get value for them, and yet they had once been precious money, and so couldn't bring themself to throw them away.
My Uncle's collection of Straits Dollars followed him from post war Hong Kong to England for university, to Canada for post grad, to the US to teach at the University of Washington, and ended up in his fire proof lock box with the wills and investment certificates. I still have them, except for the ones that I left in library books. I sincerely hope when I die no one thinks briefly that they have uncovered a windfall.
posted by Jane the Brown at 7:50 AM on December 2, 2023
Also, when I inherited a sheaf of Straits Dollars from my Chinese uncle, I discovered that many older bills from different nations were counterfeited in Asia from the eighties onward in order to defraud collectors. The counterfeits were good enough that they could not be distinguished from genuine, as the genuine ones predated modern security measures. This means that many older bills had ceased to add value to collections, and are basically only good for bookmarks and novelties. If you've got small Canadian ills from the thirties they might be worth a little more than its face value, or they might not be worth anything.
There is a good chance your little sheaf of bills never got exchanged at the bank because your relative discovered they couldn't get value for them, and yet they had once been precious money, and so couldn't bring themself to throw them away.
My Uncle's collection of Straits Dollars followed him from post war Hong Kong to England for university, to Canada for post grad, to the US to teach at the University of Washington, and ended up in his fire proof lock box with the wills and investment certificates. I still have them, except for the ones that I left in library books. I sincerely hope when I die no one thinks briefly that they have uncovered a windfall.
posted by Jane the Brown at 7:50 AM on December 2, 2023
Paper money has to be pretty much pristine unless it is truly rare for it to have any collector value. No creases, no folds, no dogears. I worked in a shop that dealt in bullion and coins and occasionally paper money. I think your best bet is to redeem them through the Bank of Canada.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:23 PM on December 3, 2023
posted by oneirodynia at 2:23 PM on December 3, 2023
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posted by freakazoid at 5:17 AM on December 1, 2023