Are circulating FRNs getting crummier?

[Sparky]

I read a story a few months ago about the way people "value" paper money that is in better condition than they do older worn-out notes.

This article presents studies which indicate that people will spend their worn out money first and faster than their new bills:

Why We Like Crisip, New Dollar Bills (http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-11-13/why-we-like-crisp-new-dollar-bills)

The very next day, this other article came out in Canada, where a strikingly similar type of study showed that people spend their crisp bills first. It sort of contradicts itself, however, in the 3rd-to-last paragraph, which says people want to "rid themselves of worn currency."

Clean cash spent faster than dirty bills (http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2012/11/14/Clean-cash-spent-faster-than-dirty-bills/UPI-80341352927756/)

The reason I bring this up is because lately I've noticed that the money I've received in circulation seems to be in much worse condition than I remember it being. Has anybody else noticed this? I thought of this today when I received this 5-dollar bill from the bank:

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The bill is completely torn through on the left; you can see the poor job of it being taped, as the serial number is no longer completely legible. Now keep in mind, I received this from a bank. Aren't the banks responsible for removing old notes from circulation? Has some new guidance been handed down to them to try to keep notes circulating longer? I used to regularly get fresh new notes from the bank; now I rarely do. Is there a shortage developing?

Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this trend. Take a look at your FRNs and let us know how they look.

[Twisted Titan]

People are digging in the bottom of the couch because they have the faint memory thats the last place they where before they lost it.

People are broke as can be.

Coinstar machines at the Supermarkets are doing a brisk business as of late.

[milehi]

I was passed a $100 note from the 90's a while back by my credit union. I had read a thread here on this site about a man who was harrassed for the better part of a day because his old style note looked counterfeit, and no one, including LE who was called to the scene recognized the note. I traded it back in for five twenty dollar bills to the teller.

[Agrippa]

Lately the cash machines where I live have been dispensing brand-new sequentially-numbered bills, when they work at all. Cashiers look at these bills confusedly, as if they had been presented with some strange coupon that they aren't sure what to do with. The bills tendered in change do seem in poor shape: dusty from disuse, sometimes mouse-nibbled.

The cashless society is well on its way.

[General of Darkness]

Lately the cash machines where I live have been dispensing brand-new sequentially-numbered bills, when they work at all. Cashiers look at these bills confusedly, as if they had been presented with some strange coupon that they aren't sure what to do with. The bills tendered in change do seem in poor shape: dusty from disuse, sometimes mouse-nibbled.

The cashless society is well on its way.

Tellers are some of the dumbest people on the planet. Their IQ is slightly higher than a stump, and even then a stump has uses, you can sit on it.

[Neuro]

Crummier bills may suggest that the printing presses are used for other things than printing fresh bills. Could be storing up on $100 and maybe even $500 bills in the event of financial collapse, to secure continued government function. Maybe the current bills are going to be replaced with a different bill or even currency and the presses are producing these now. Maybe the federal reserve is trying to suppress price inflation, by keeping supply of bills low, or maybe it is introduction to cashless society we see now playing out. Or maybe Sparky just had a freak avalanche of crummy ills coming his way...

[madfranks]

Strange coincidence, this thread. Yesterday I got some crisp, brand new 5s in change, and it looked like the ink was bleeding through the outlines that defined the large 5s in each corner. I had to take a close look to make sure it wasn't a counterfeit note. To answer the OP question, it certainly seems like the quality of new notes is going down. They look cheaper, just like the coins.

[madfranks]

Here's a pic of the note I mentioned above, with the bleeding ink. Click to see it full size.

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[freespirit]

MF- do you have a shot of another fiver that can be put side/side for comparison?