The European Central Bank will stop issuing its largest bill, the €500 note, after years of complaints that it was mostly used by criminals to move large amounts of drug money and other criminal profits. They'll be gone by 2018.
Most Europeans have never seen one; the bill was nicknamed the Bin Laden, after the former Al Qaeda leader, because, the joke went, everyone knew it existed, but no one ever saw it. From personal experience, it's nearly impossible to use one legitimately (I received one from a U.S. bank several years ago, and could not find a bank in France that would break it!)
Despite the widespread belief that the bills were used only by criminals and terrorists, they have continued in circulation, largely unseen. The decision to withdraw them from circulation was taken at the request of France. The existing notes will continue to be legal tender until they end up at a bank.
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