See, I like money in Canada.

It's cllearly marked LEGAL TENDER for all debts. It doesn't matter if it's 5 years old, 10 or 20. In or out of circulation. You can still spend it anywhere here. People aren't anal about accepting a ripped bill either. As long as both serial numbers are present, no matter how mangled the money is, it's still worth every penny.

The only time you have to exchange it at a bank is if it's in really rough shape. But walok into any store today with a note from 1955 and unless the clerk is an idiot you won't have a problem.

What you may have a problem with are clerks using ultra-violet light trying to detect counterfeit notes. They've been suckers by the manufacturers of those lights into believing that older (as recent as 3 years) had any special UV marking. They didn't. I've seen store zombies turn down and claim some $50 bills were counterfeit right in front of me (other customer). It only took a split second and one touch of the hand to tell they were real and that the clerk was smoking. Oh well. Not everyone's had the luxury of having worked for a bank and dealt first-hand with fakes.

Bruno