Redesigning the US dollar

[Deleted]

Okay, some of these are jokes but not all of them. What do you think of completely changing the look of United States dollars? Do you think they are totally dull (in spite of a few improvements in recent years) or is their look an important part of the American way of life?

Personally, I can't imagine them becoming too colorful (like the series that looks almost like euros or Swiss francs), but it sure seems to me that somebody could bring the look of them into the 21st century.

Yes? No?

[existentialcrisis]

Some of those are neat, but US money and the color green kinda go hand in hand. The main thing I've always wondered is why the US hasn't introduced dollar coins. I heard that one attempt was made, but that the public rejected it... is this true?

[lagatta]

There has been more than one effort; at one time there were silver dollars and there was a more recent attempt, with female figures on the face side. It is strange; we have had both $1 and $2 coins for many years now.

[Deleted]

The 1 and 2 unit coins are common in most developed countries now -- Europe, the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia...

Whenever the subject is broached among Americans, one of the main arguments is "too much change in my pocket" (you can believe me, because I did bring it up on another site and got 50 replies).

[bixaorellana]

Feb 9, 2010 20:08:25 GMT kerouac2 said:

Do you think they are totally dull (in spite of a few improvements in recent years)

"Improvements"??! That big-head money is SO ugly. The previous bills were sedate, beautifully engraved, and perfectly okay. Yes, a problem for blind people, but there are ways of marking bills for the blind. And I think all Americans learn to bank-face the money in their wallets, making for easy identification.

Silver dollars were still pretty common when I was a kid, but the 100-cent piece of currency has been a bill for a long time. When I moved to Mexico there was a 10-peso note, roughly equivalent to the one-dollar bill. That passed away shortly afterward, to be replaced by the 10-peso coin. (the smallest bill now is 20 pesos). I like the fact that the 10-pesos is a coin, but that's because I'm a woman and carry both a coin purse and a wallet. I don't know if it's as handy for men, who would have that change weighing down a pocket.

I didn't realize until yesterday that Mexico had changed the 100-peso note -- it's much smaller now and has different pictures than before. I was at the gas station when I pulled it out, and the attendant & I discussed how fake it looked. Piece by piece this country is going to the hideous plastic bills. US money always felt more "real" to me anyway, because it was much higher quality paper. I wonder when the US will finish uglying up the money by going to plastic.

[lagatta]

That is very odd. We have pockets too... Is that only from men? Usually women don't carry much change in their pockets. Or are men more inclined to hand out larger denominations of paper money and just pocket all the change? Dunno.

[Deleted]

I am a big fan of the (Australian created) plastic bills, now used throughout Southeast Asia. The money is never tattered now in Vietnam or Thailand.

As for "improvements," I was talking about the anti-counterfeiting measures, not the aesthetics of the newer American banknotes.

[bixaorellana]

I'm waiting for HW or Curt to weigh in on the plastic money question. The first plastic bill introduced here (20 pesos) was made in Australia. All of the plastic bills are horrible. They stick to each other, slither merrily to the ground when pulled from pocket or purse, rip disconcertingly easily, get worn looking rather quickly, and keep any fold put into them forever.

[Deleted]

Somebody said the opposite about the 'sticking' problem on another website:

I've yet to see a worn, faded or torn Australian bill. You don't hand over more than you meant to because they stick together either. Getting used to $1 and $2 coins and lack of pennies in purchases has taken a little more attention.

Another person listed the countries using the plastic bills. I have not checked, but I will assume that it is accurate.

These notes are easily distinguishable, colourful and use a hard-wearing and virtually uncounterfeitable polymer material. The Royal Australian Mint has sold the technology to Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Venezuela, Viet Nam and Zambia.

[bixaorellana]

I read a brochure about the plastic money when it was first introduced here. It sounded like the last paragraph you quote above. The only things with which I agree are that yes, it they are easily distinguishable, but the quite beautiful Mexican bills were already distinguishable from each other, and yes, they're colorful, ditto previous re:distinguishable.

[bixaorellana]

This thread has given me an earworm. It's also started me thinking: why a greenback dollar? Did dollars used to be two different colors?

[existentialcrisis]

I've never heard of plastic money...

I carry a wallet in my pocket like a man lol ... and if I ever feel weighted down by change, I just get rid of those annoying pennies and nickels. I usually don't have any more than several one and two dollar coins at a time. I like them. And it's funny, because a friend of mine used to work at the Halifax Citidal and would have to deal with tourists all day. One particular day she had a bunch of American tourists on a bus tour and they told her they were on their way to Canada. When she told them they were in Canada, they said, "No, we're in Nova Scotia". And she told them Nova Scotia was a part of Canada and they said "No, it's a province" ... so my friend gave up and gave them their change. They said "Oh, keep the coins, we don't want them"... she told them the assorted coins were worth 3 dollars (probably close to what they spent for coffee and snacks) and they just waved her off... they couldn't seem to grasp the concept that a coin can be worth a dollar value. Surely if she gave them three one dollar bills they would have snatched them up. I used to hear such stories from her on a daily basis...

[traveler63]

K2 and everyone:

When I clicked on your link my Norton Security Safe Site came up red telling me that the site isn't safe because there are viruses. So, I clicked off and ran a scan and came up with 2 items that Norton deleted. You might want to a scan to check your computers to make sure you have no problems.

[Deleted]

ET, I have read lots of reports of (mostly) American tourists in Europe thinking they were being shortchanged because they were only receiving "a couple of coins" in change. After the value of the coins is pointed out to them, they are both embarrassed and bemused.

[Deleted]

Feb 16, 2010 15:59:04 GMT traveler63 said:

K2 and everyone:

When I clicked on your link my Norton Security Safe Site came up red telling me that the site isn't safe because there are viruses. So, I clicked off and ran a scan and came up with 2 items that Norton deleted. You might want to a scan to check your computers to make sure you have no problems.

Thanks for the warning, but my Avira antivirus doesn't find anything. It may have been a temporary problem.

[Kimby]

Feb 11, 2010 14:06:52 GMT existentialcrisis said:

The main thing I've always wondered is why the US hasn't introduced dollar coins. I heard that one attempt was made, but that the public rejected it... is this true?

Long ago silver dollars were real money. Then for years there were no dollar coins being minted. Then some idiot designed a quarter-sized tinny-looking dollar with a largely unknown feminist on it, the Susan B. Anthony dollar. No wonder it flopped.

Nevertheless, seeing the success of the Canadian loonie, they tried again with the Sacajawea dollar, a brassy quarter-sized coin with a Native American portrait on it of a woman from the wrong tribe as Sacajawea. It also hasn't been successful. For one thing, many cash registers aren't really set up with slots for another coin. And people don't like the weight of even a quarter-sized dollar coin when they could carry paper.

About the blind. How does changing the color help the blind? Unless each bill or coin has a different size or texture, the blind rely on folding the corners of the bills in their wallets in a way that they will recognize what they are handing to the cashier. But they still have to trust that the cashier hands them back the correct change...

[hwinpp]

I'm not a huge fan of plastic money.

But I've got used to handling the USD. It's one of the official currencies in Cambodia and I like their feel. I especially like the near- mint 100USD notes, they feel so real, like real money!

Of course only 'big heads' are used here but I've not seen the newest ones yet, are they even issued already?

PS, I even recognize fakes now ;D

[gertie]

While lots of those redesigns are kinda pretty, I pretty much despise them all. I think it is great the money from other countries looks pretty much like that, but I don't see why we need to follow suit. I like our money just fine how it is, not because I dislike change. Honest! Even though I do.

I just think it is kinda cool that we are different. Too cool to follow the pack. If we go with anything like that, we'll just be one of the crowd. We have few enough ways in which we are all our own sort these days it sorta seems like.

Oh yeah, I hated the quarter-sized dollar coins, too. And those new nickles always look to me like a minting error. I seriously thought the first one I saw was a mistake!

[Deleted]

I was surprised by the new 5 cent pieces myself. It's as though they were accidentally stamped onto a coin too small.

[gertie]

Yes, exactly so!