Fr. 1000 equates to $1,235 (and yes, there’s a single bill worth that) along with the second highest being Fr. 200 ($247) since the cap in USD maxes out at $100 (Fr. 81) in the US today. There were once $500, $1000, $5000 & $10,000 bills printed in 1928 but ceased reappearing since 1934, only sole collectors have them but they don’t use it for transactions (the $100,000 bill depicting Woodrow Wilson is obscure and not possible to obtain).
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And yes, this bill is currently in circulation around Switzerland.
What would it be like if suddenly a $1000 bill reemerges from its older design from the 1930s tweaked with modern security features inspired by the Fr. 1000 bill stronger than ones present in the $100 bill? That’s up the Federal Reserve to decide, there’s issues dealing with counterfeit $100 bills, in which the Swiss managed to prevent by making their Fr. 1000 bill difficult as hell to counterfeit. (It’s hard enough to find one the first place).
I’d only buy drugs with bills that large. Everything else goes on the card.
I’m surprised there is a 1000 CHF note. Governments in general want to dissuade large cash transactions. You’re supposed to file some treasury forms if you transfer more than 10000 USD in cash (say to buy a car) but I think under some circumstances the amount drops to 3000.
Before Holland switched to the Euro, one of my Dutch buddies told me that 100 NLG bills (Dutch Guilder, 100 NLG was about 60 USD) were very heavily used there, the way we use $20’s in the US. 50’s and 100’s in the US were fairly uncommon at the time, but they’re more common now. ATM’s dispense them which is a fairly recent thing.
Brunei has a B$1000 bill, although they stopped printing it (but exists):
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It’s worth $7,874
China’s biggest denomination is CNY 100 or about USD 15. India pulled its largest denomination bill from circulation maybe 5 years ago. The US stopped doing anything above USD 100 a while ago. Bigger denominations are a counterfeit and bribery risk.
Nobody cares about the Swiss Franc in cash outside of Switzerland. There are 10 million or thereabouts Swiss people. All the other currencies are used in much larger populations, three-figure millions at the lower end.
The EU took 500€ notes out of circulation a few years ago because they prefer large transactions to be done by methods that are easier for the government to monitor. I imagine the US government feels the same way.
- in my experience everyone hates these bigger notes. already the 100 and 200 ones are rather unpopular if you pay at a restaurant, fast food store, bakery etc. as it means lots of change. 50 is the sweet spot that’s easily accepted everywhere.
ATM’s don’t even disperse them, as they cap at 50€ (so in order to acquire 800€ in 500€, 200€ & 100€ notes: I had to visit a bank to withdraw in person via a teller requesting specific denominations). Will electronic stores accept 2000€ in cash for an iPhone 18 consisting of x10 200€ or x4 500€ notes?
I did get the 100 notes several times and once even 200 at an ATM and I was super annoyed by that. Usually, if I withdraw larger amounts, I explicitly choose odd numbers to minimize the risk (i.e. 190 instead of 200).
