kiona said:
Hi all,
Also how to date them?
Many thanks.
The first two digits of the serial number on a polymer bank note are the year the note was printed at Craigieburn (Northern suburb of Melbourne).
99 = 1999
BTW, back in 1999 a huge number of $100 notes were printed in preparation for the Y2K bug.
In the months leading up to the new year the Reserve Bank engaged Armaguard to distribute large plastic Taper Evident Bags of cash to every bank branch in the country. They were under strict orders not to open the bags unless approval was granted.
This was in preparation for a collapse of electronic banking and a possible run for cash.
Luckily nothing happened and Armaguard was then tasked with retrieving all the TEBs of cash and returning them to the RBA in the weeks following.
Due to the big print run of $100 notes in 1999 none were printed from 2000-2007. As a result you won't find any with 00-07 in the first digits of the serial number.
In about November 2008 the GFC hit. Not only were people taking large amounts of cash out of the bank but huge amounts of AUD$100 notes were sucked out of Australia by the Bank of America via Westpac. As a result, Australia ran out of $100 notes and Craigieburn started printing them again.
I believe the recent claims that there are more $100 notes in circulation than $5 notes is nonsense. There maybe more $100 notes, but most are overseas in foreign bank vaults.