Although the European Central Bank has stopped issuing new 500 euro banknotes back in 2018, they are still in circulation and have not lost their value at all.
Collectors are willing to pay up to 650 euros for older banknotes on eBay...
In 2016 ECB decided to gradually stop the issuing of 500 euro banknotes in order to completely stop it in late 2018.
The main reason was that it was easier to hide income from illegal activities, terrorist acts, money laundering, tax evasion and black labor using cash money. A million euros in 500 bills weights only 2,2 kilos while in bills of 100 euros weights nearly 5 times as much, over 10 kilos.
Of course the 500 euro banknote hasn’t disappeared from the market at all. Their numbers are degrading slower than expected, leading authorities to believe that criminals and collectors are searching and store them in large quantities.
In April, 350 million worth of 500 euro banknotes were in circulation in Germany alone and now they are circulating around 300 million. Meaning, the bank notes are still largely in use all around the world and it will be difficult to disappear in the near future.
Common people are not very interested in all of these to be honest… The only thing we know about the 500 euro bill is that it’s purple, is not useful in everyday expenses and is not easy to get your hands on it!
Source,
https://www.sofokleousin.gr/perizitita-ta-eksafanismena-500eyra