Back on November 14th 2011 Canada released its first Polymer bill ($100). That was followed on the 26th of March 2012 with the $50 and on November 7th 2012 with the $20. The $10 and $5 are expected to be released this year. While there have been a few complaints with the new banknotes, they are expected to stay. The biggest advantage of the new Polymer bills is their excellent lifespan that is about 2.5 times longer than standard bills. These is one small problem many people are experiencing, however, that I would like to cover in this article.

One problem with the new banknotes is that they are not all compatible with older currency counters and can result in some pretty bad jams. As a result, many of our Canadian customers are looking for currency counters that can handle the new bills. Thankfully one of our most reputable currency counter manufacturers, Semacon, has stepped up to the plate with brand new Canadian currency counters (found here). Rather than make you sift through our entire index of bill counters, I would like to list the models that will 100% work with polymer banknotes.

Canadian Bill Counters from Semacon that Handle Polymer Banknotes (sorted by least expensive to most expensive)

• Semacon S-1000-CAD Mini (found here) – Counts at 900 notes per minute. Compact design for table or desk use.
• Semacon S-1015-CAD Mini (found here) – Similar to S-1000-CAD, but includes ultraviolet (UV)  counterfeit detection capabilities.
• Semacon S-1025-CAD Mini (found here) -Also similar to S-1000-CAD, but includes ultraviolet (UV) and magnetic (MG) counterfeit detection.
• Semacon S-1100-CAD (found here) – Counts bills at 1,000 per minute. Excellent for medium-volume use.
• Semacon S-1115-CAD (found here) – Same in design to the S-1100-CAD, but includes ultraviolet (UV) counterfeit detection.
• Semacon S-1125-CAD (found here) – Same in design to the S-1100CAD and S-115-CAD, but is equipped with ultraviolet (UV) and magnetic (MG) counterfeit detection.
• Semacon S-1400-CAD (found here) – This is an extremely fast (1,500 bills per minute) currency counter and is excellent for casino, bank or credit union use.  It includes a dust shield.
• Semacon S-1415-CAD (found here) – This heavy-duty currency counter comes equipped with ultraviolet (UV) counterfeit detection.
• Semacon S-1425-CAD (found here) – Similar to the above two models, but includes ultraviolet (UV) and magnetic (MG) counterfeit detection. It also includes a dust shield, batch counting capabilities and much more.
• Semacon S-1450-CAD (found here) – This is the top of the line for Semacon. It includes UV and MG counterfeit detection, has a fast 1,500 bill per minute counting speed and includes a built-in dust filtration system.

Semacon makes some of the toughest currency counters we offer. They are all made from high-end components and feature a rigorous burn-in period to ensure they work properly prior to shipment. Many of our Canadian currency counters feature counterfeit detection as well. If you are looking to upgrade, or have some questions about these machines, please contact us at 1-800-658-8788. While we are based in the United States, we can ship to Canada and have many Canadian customers.

I would also like to mention that Semacon also offers some excellent Canadian coin counters and sorters:

• Semacon S-120 Canadian Coin Counter (found here)
• Semacon S-140 Canadian Coin Counter & Sorter (found here)

Thank you for reading this article. If you own one of the above mentioned Semacon currency or coin counters, please leave your feedback here as a comment.