Originally Posted by
Bowgie
Same is true is Myanmar. I never did figure out why. My guess is that the $100 bills eventually go somewhere else to finance some kind of smuggling or illegal trade, and the Franklins are easier to carry than $20's.
The reason is that $100 are commonly counterfeited. In some countries there are more counterfeit Benjamins than real ones. I remember one time in Angola an Angolan friend sold a car and asked for $100s, then gave them to me because there was something she wanted me to buy in the US for her. I tested them with the felt tip counterfeit tester pen. All were fake.
They want the newest ones because they are harder to counterfeit and it is less likely that someone will have figured out how to make fake notes
Unblemished notes are also important. Some places won't take $100s if there is a torn corner or someone wrote on them. Not a problem in the US, of course, but big problem in Asia and Africa.