I think I've had a $100 bill in my hand/wallet once or twice in my life. They really are not commonly used in the US in ordinary transactions.

€500 bills are the organized crime bills (takes a very little amount of space to carry a lot of values), and no retailer would accept them in most €Z countries anyway. Which is a reason why they aren't issued anymore

And yes, it is an extremely cultural thing, in France, where I live, you never see a >€50 note because we mostly pay in CCs/Checks. In Germany/Spain, you are way more likely to see those

In UK, even some supermarket chains won't accept a £50 note, our largest denomination. Many overseas visitors have been given obsolete UK notes by their own bank, which causes an even bigger headache for them.

€500 were discontinued for basically being only used by organised crime, hence the association. €100 don't have the same link, but high-value notes are always treated somewhat skeptically because they are attractive to counterfitters.

Agree with @JonCuster that $100 bills are not terribly common in the US. Most transactions aren't done with cash at all, and the ones that are tend to be for smaller sums where a $100 bill would be annoyingly large. I was very surprised to learn that $100 bills make up about 1/3 of all US notes in circulation; it sure doesn't seem like it.

@Lundin That's an important distinction but interestingly many cars would actually be above the limits for cash payments that exist in about half of all eurozone countries, at least if you're buying from a professional (you are typically still allowed to pay cash if it's a transaction between consumers).

@NuclearHoagie A lot of them are held or circulating outside the US. There are countries like the DRC where people prefer pristine $100 notes over anything else (including local cash, other US banknotes or even used $100 banknotes).

@JonCuster Even worse is the $2 note. I've never seen one in circulation. The only place I've collected them is at Monticello in Virginia because it being Thomas Jefferson's estate.

In Germany, it's not that I want to use 100€ bills, but sometimes it happens that your 100€ ATM withdrawal leads to exactly 1 bill being issued. Shops know this happens, so usually you'll be fine.

For Germany, €100 is not the note of choise for most peaple. If the goal of your question is for a one time extraction of notes that is to be gradually given out during a trip, €50 should be the largest.

@PeterM - the $2 bills came out when I was a kid, so I saw a few in the wild, snagged a few as keepsakes, and they disappeared rapidly thereafter...

@helm That's why I started withdrawing "odd" amounts when I am using an ATM where I cannot select the denomination. Asking for 80€, I will often get 4x20€, sometimes 50€+20€+10€ - but either way, I will get at least some small bills.

Europe is, once more, not a homogeneous place. It depends. on the country.

US$100 bills are common outside of the US, really?

@JonCuster they are relatively rare of course, but there are still places where you can regularly get 2 dollar bills as change. ~100 million were printed in 2022, which isn't nothing when you consider that only 300 million 10 dollar bills were printed that year. really, the biggest issue is people think they are much rarer than they actually are, so they hoard them when they get them and thus their velocity (circulation) is very low. it's kinda a similar story to the 100 dollar bill, in 21/22 combined 2.8x more $100 were printed than $1 bills, but they don't circulate as much.

@JonCuster In addition to what eps said, you can also go to a bank and ask if you can change your money for $2 bills. I recently got some mint condition $2 bills to give away as gifts for Chinese new year.

Adding to others pointing this out, the assumption that USD 100 banknotes are common in the US is inaccurate. Many places don’t accept anything over USD 50 banknotes, and some don’t even accept those unless it’s as part of a higher value transaction where they won’t have to make change for one. There are a lot in circulation, but mostly because they are used for physical cash transfers between businesses and/or banks, not because normal people use them with any regularity.

FA, I just verified with my wife, who is a senior financial person within AAFES, the Army and Air Force Exchange System (Basically the on-post stores at all Army posts and AF bases, they (are required) to take $50 and $100 bills upon presentation, by a customer in payment for anything, including a pack of gum, with the requirement that the bill(s) be verified (I won't go into how). In addition, they take $1 coins, 50c pieces and $2 bills as well.