ECB to stop printing 500 Euro note in 2018

MAM0912

Just heard on CNBC that the ECB will stop printing the 500 Euro note

in 2018 but will remain in use indefinitely.

amrys

Yes, that's true.
But they have already started to withdraw this note.
At the end of 2015 there were 613 million 500 Euro notes in circulation.
In March 2016 there were already 20 million less counted, around 594 million.
And now they will speed up this process...

rooksmith

If they are really going to let the existing ones remain in use, this is not a big deal. Sometimes a government will actually force people to register them to cash them in to get new notes, or worse, stop honoring them as currency after a given date.

I expect the notes will become rarer over time.

MilesWaits

Howdy.
I typically hang out over the coin forum, but picked these up today at US Bank and thought I would share:

Steve_in_Tampa

I picked up an uncirculated example back when this announcement was made in 2016.

Seldon

Ireland and Finland are among the scarcer 500 euro notes in AU or better.

Serial_no_8

This was from EuroBillTracker years ago (2013). If you check it today, you'll see the diffusion of prefixes as different today:

France (U & E prefixes & 23.51% reported Most common*
Spain(V prefix & 15.38% reported Most common
Germany(W; X & R prefixes & 14.8% Most common
Belgium (Z prefix & 9.23% reported Common to uncommon (depending on denomination)
Italy (S prefix & 9.01% reported Common
Greece (Y prefix & 7.1% reported Common to uncommon (depending on denomination & printer's code)
Austria (N prefix & 5.99% reported): Common
Netherlands (P prefix & 5.21% reported): Uncommon to scarce (depending on denomination & printer's code)
Portugal (M prefix & 4.08% reported): Uncommon to scarce (depending on denomination & printer's code)
Ireland (T prefix & 2.64% reported): uncommon & scarce

• Just IMO from watching them over the years but denominations & printer's code really have a huge bearing on how uncommon. Generally, if the note has a foreign printer's code (like a M prefix but printed in UK) than its much rarer than if it were printed in the same country.

DeutscherGeist

I am mostly in the Sports Cards and World Coin forums, but do some currency collecting. If the last year of the 500 euro note was 2018, where can I find some uncirculated examples? I know I am probably late to the game, but I thought I ask. Should I keep looking on eBay for ones that are graded? I see mostly the first year issue (2002). I just want the last and final year.

I can get 500 euro notes from currency exchange places, but they are usually no better than almost uncirculated. I do make it to Germany and Portugal a few times a year, I guess it doesn't hurt to ask various banks if they happen to have any stored in a special place. Any insights would be appreciated.