The €500 note has become the drug dealer note of choice due to the large denomination. Through seigniorage the ECB is able to further stabilize the financial system in Europe due to the large profits from it’s printing presses. A fascinating, but slightly funny article from the WSJ. On a similar note, $1 million in $100 bills weighs 22 pounds; in hypothetical $500 bills, it would weigh just 4.4 pounds.