Of course, as we wrote at the time, what Europe and the rest of the world's elites would be truly doing is setting the scene for ever more aggressive NIRP, and by removing the highest denomination bank notes, it would make evading negative rates that much more difficult and costly (albeit would certainly favor gold).

How did the 'war on cash' workout? Not so well, as CNBC's Kate Rooney points out, the amount of $100 bills in circulation is surging. And it's leaving some economists scratching their heads.

The number of outstanding U.S. $100 bills has doubled since the financial crisis, with more than 12 billion of them across the world, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. C-notes have passed $1 bills in circulation, Deutsche Bank chief international economist Torsten Slok said in a note to clients this week.