New US $20 bills Released, Colors & Layout Change 1051
JayBonci writes "CNN is running a story with the newest advances in the original copy-protection arms race, a new US $20 dollar bill. From the article, specifically color and different number arrangements as an improvement over 1996's "Big Face" dollar bills." Little off the norm for Slashdot, but it's interesting since computers have vastly simplified forgery.
Hmmm (Score:5, Funny)
This is off the norm, with the decline in jobs I don't see too many 20s!
Re:Hmmm (Score:5, Funny)
First you
THIS USER HAS BEEN ARRESETED UNDER THE U.S. PATRIOT ACT. MOVE ALONG, NOTHING TO SEE HERE.
Re:Hmmm (Score:5, Interesting)
If anything this is just another example of our tax dollars being wasted in a futile attempt to stop a crime which, I believe, is not very rampant. This money could be better spent keeping the govenment out of debt and keeping inflation down. Sure the counterfeit bills increse inflation, but probably less so than the government printing more money everytime it feels the need. If anything, I think we would be better off if the govenment would only print as much money as it destroys, and then turn the presses off.
Re:Hmmm (Score:5, Informative)
So, basically, in order to keep our currency the choice of the (under)world, we refuse to expire it.
Re:Hmmm (Score:5, Insightful)
US Treasury Currency FAQ:
http://www.ustreas.gov/education/faq/curren
Bureau of Engraving and Printing FAQ:
http://www.moneyfactory.com/section.cfm/19
Basically, 2 important points from there:
1) No, there will not be a "recall" like the EU countries did when switching to the euro, and
2) "about 95%" of money printed by the US replaces worn-out bills (which are taken out of circulation and destroyed).
The point about people stockpiling bills in foreign countries is a good one; some huge portion (I want to say 2/3?) of US bills, particularly hundreds, are circulating outside of the US. Frankly, we LOVE this phenomenon, because for each amount that's printed, the government takes out an interest-bearing security which is cashed in as the note is destroyed. Of course, it's not "the same" security that's cashed in when a bill is destroyed, but a corresponding number are redeemed as bills are taken out of circulation (which probably has a lot more to do with removing currency from circulation than "the bills wore out"). So basically, the widespread use of US currency outside the US amounts to a free loan to us by everyone else in the world.
So of course we're interested in maintaining this state of affairs. But this isn't the cause for *not* collecting old bills. It is the cause for *designing new ones*. If our bills were easy to forge, do you think they would remain the preferred currency of the world, and yes, the underworld as well? No! Drug dealers don't want to have their money devalued any more than anyone else. And it's partly (perhapts primarily) their demand that keeps the amount of US currency so high. Drug dealers probably prefer the new bills when they can be had -- they don't forge money from whole cloth, they launder real money that people have given them illegally.
So basically, the old money does come out of ciculation, just not all at once. I for one have noticed it getting rarer; this past weekend at the casino was the first time I'd seen old 20's and 100's in a long time (in the sheer volume of currency I saw, it was inevitable to spot a few). The money with increased security features is in demand because it's in almost everyone's best interest to have it that way, from US citizens to foreign drug dealers.
Have old bills? (Score:5, Funny)
7-10 years?!? (Score:5, Insightful)
When the current $20 bills came out, I heard of people having trouble using them, because apparently a few people somehow didn't hear that new bills were being released so obviously thought they were counterfeit. The current bills are pretty obvious, though, now that everybody knows about them. Now they're saying there will be subtle changes every few years, so in another decade there will be like 4 different versions of the $20 bill, ALL LEGAL. If you saw a fifth version, which was counterfeit, would it be obvious to you?
Yeah, they're including new security features. That's cool and all, but how often do people really check them? Sure, on a $100, people check. On $20 they usually don't. They still go by appearance and texture, just like they always have.
Re:7-10 years?!? (Score:4, Interesting)
For that matter, when was the last time you saw an "old-style" 20 from before the last redesign?
Re:7-10 years?!? (Score:3, Interesting)
Yesterday. No foolin.
And not everybody keeps their money in banks.
Best thing that could happen for funny money (Score:5, Insightful)
"Don't be an ass, it's not counterfeit, it's the new twenty that just came out this fall."
All a counter fitter needs to do is come up with a bill chock full of security features and start spending it like there's no tomorrow. As people get used to the new bill every few years, it will become commonplace.
Remember the story of the person who passed a $3.00 bill with Bill Clinton's face on it? All they could charge him with was failure to pay, since he hadn't really counter fitted any money.
Actually, it was a 200$ bill, not a 3$ bill (Score:3, Informative)
The most ridiculous thing I've read... (Score:3, Insightful)
Firstly, I think you mean counterfeiters, not counter fitters - counterfeiters forge money, passports, designer clothes, etc but counter fitters fit counters. OK?
Secondly, issuing a new design of bank note clearly cuts down on counterfeiting and opportunities to commit monetary fraud in several ways:
1. The new design is different from the old one.
Thus, any plates, etc a counterfeiter has for the old note are useless once the old note has been removed from gener
Re:The most ridiculous thing I've read... (Score:5, Informative)
Doesn't matter, the old design is still (il)legal tender.
2. A new design takes time to counterfeit.
Exactly, so they'll keep using the old ones (see #1). However, their are the "king of the mountain" counterfeiters that are just in it for the accomplishment of gettting away with a phony bill, but they also do not typically do large runs of their bills.
3. New designs incorporate tougher security measures.
See #2 and #1.
4. New note designs promote consumer vigilance.
I guess, but if I have only explicitly checked my money for fun to see the different things added to the new bills. I don't really care if I have a phony bill, if it was good enough to be given to me, its good enough to spend.
5. New bank notes are successfully introduced and old ones replaced every day.
No, the old ones are not replaced, they are still valid money, and every 20years is hardly every day. Plus the note in question has been replaced in 1996 so the new one would be 7 years.
Re:Best thing that could happen for funny money (Score:5, Funny)
Damn spell check. You'd think with the average spelling on slashdot, I'd get away with such a slip up.
As for the counterfeit bill I mentioned. My memory was flawed. It was $200 and George Bush, not $3.00 and Bill Clinton. (Thanks Unknown Poltroon (31628) ) Funny how your memory starts to fail as you age.
Google Cache [216.239.51.104]
Danville DQ Gag 'Talk Of Town'
Restaurant, Residents React
UPDATED: 6:42 p.m. EST January 30, 2001
DANVILLE, Ky. -- It started out with a blizzard and now a Dairy Queen in Danville is getting an avalanche of attention.
This $200 bill was used at a Danville Dairy Queen Sunday
A woman who paid for her food with a fake $200 bill Sunday left with plenty of change. The bill had a picture of George W. Bush on the front and oil rigs on the back.
"That's the talk of the town," Danville resident Joseph Bourne said. "It's got to be one of those dumb blonde stories."
Added fellow resident Drew Hammond: "It's the kind of news I like to hear out of my own hometown. Usually things don't happen of great significance here. It gets a lot of attention."
The 18-year-old employee has offered to refund the store. Her manager, Mike Tracy, tried to be supportive, and said that she probably was just too busy to notice the mistake.
"We try to do things as quick as possible here," Tracy said.
At least he's being a good sport about it. The restaurant is now distributing coupons on the backs of fake $200 bills.
"We're going to play off this advertising a little bit and try to think of it as something positive," Tracy said.
Local law enforcement said that the joke became a crime when the woman took off with all that change.
"When the woman received the money and left with it, the joke ceased," Danville police officer Bob Williamson said.
Still, because there's no such thing as a $200 bill, the woman, if caught, couldn't even face federal counterfeit charges.
Re:7-10 years?!? (Score:5, Funny)
You live in a banana republic with almost an banana economy; so what did you expect?
Several different versions of the same bill is so thirdworldish.
[/trollmode]
Re:7-10 years?!? (Score:4, Insightful)
Now they're saying there will be subtle changes every few years, so in another decade there will be like 4 different versions of the $20 bill, ALL LEGAL. If you saw a fifth version, which was counterfeit, would it be obvious to you?
Here I think you've found a real problem. People DON'T look at their money. It's surprising how few people even check the $50's and $100's. Right now there are two versions of every bill, in 2004, it will be three, and just as you say, NO ONE is going to know what the newest versions look like until they see them.
That leads to a sick-but-funny possibility: some merchant takes a ``new'' $20. Later, you come into his shop, spend your ``new'' $20, and he calls the cops, who haul you away for counterfeitting. The problem? The first $20 was counterfeit, and yours was real, and neither the merchant nor the cops knew the difference.
Since no American is educated about their money, it could happen. When the new bills with the watermarks and threads came out, I had to explain what they were to most of the store clerks who noticed. I only knew about them because I'm a coin collector.
Re:7-10 years?!? (Score:4, Funny)
When I still lived Canada, this happened to me. I went to an ATM, took out some cash, and walked next door to McDonalds.
I ordered my QP with Cheese, and handed the clerk a 20. She then went back and got her manager, both of them gawked at the bill, and then the manager tells me she cant accept it.
This pissed me off, since I don't like people accusing me of a felony. The funny thing was, the currency was at least a year old at the time. I guess McDonalds employees dont often see anything bigger than a five. (Having worked there when I was 14 I can attest to that).
Anyways, I told the manager to either accept the bill, or call the cops. It says right on the currency, "This note is legal tender for all debts public and private". Technically, that means, you either accept it as payment, or agree not to be paid. (I've heard of assholes running around with 1000 dollar bills demanding that if a clerk doesnt accept it they dont have to pay at all)
Now where am I going with this story? Oh yeah, she called my bluff and called the cops. The cop came and asked what the problem was, and she walked around the corner with him all in private like she just busted some great counterfeiting ring. The cop, visibly annoyed, pulled one out of his wallet, held them side by side for McTwitwich, and said there was nothing wrong with the bill.
So then I decided I wanted Arbys. I didnt really want Arbys. Noone really wants Arbys. But thats what I said, and I left.
People are educated about their money. You read the article just now didnt you? If people are too stupid to educate themselves, thats their own fault.
Re:7-10 years?!? (Score:4, Funny)
My $20 bills already look like this new one since everytime I seem to have one the god damn cashiers run a highlighter over it. What, pink and yellow highlighting is the new anti-counterfeiting technique? I thought defacing currency was a federal offense.
Re:7-10 years?!? (Score:5, Interesting)
That's the most troublesome thing about it, IMO. From the article:
15 seconds?! Imagine how long you would be standing in line at Wal-Mart if the checkers took 15 seconds on every $20 bill they saw! 15 seconds adds up quickly, especially the day after Thanksgiving or Boxing Day. Another thing is that this guy is an expert. He's probably among the most knowledgeable white hat money makers out there. If it takes him 15 seconds, it's bound to take Suzy Dropout, the Wal-Mart checker, a bit longer (if she does it properly, that is).
As an aside, I spent a couple of years in the UK and learned to really appreciate their money system. US notes are BORING. It's good to see more colors on our new ones. Maybe they'll also change the relative sizes of the notes? (Not that changing the sizes would necessarily thwart counterfeiting, but it was a nice touch to the UK system, IMO.)
Re:7-10 years?!? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:7-10 years?!? (Score:3, Funny)
And don't get me started on all those people who are in wheelchairs because they are too lazy to walk. Don't give me that wussy politically-correct "they're paralyzed" crap either. That's just a lie of the liberal media!!!
Re:7-10 years?!? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:7-10 years?!? (Score:3, Interesting)
I've always felt that one of the core problems with e-commerce was that the default e-currency
Re:7-10 years?!? (Score:3, Informative)
yes, rarely and yes but here's some facts from the Federal Reserve courtesy of moneyfactory.com:
# The following information regarding the average life of a Federal Reserve Note was provided by the Federal Reserve System - please note that the life of a note depends on its denomination:
$ 1
$ 5
$ 10................ 3 Years
$ 20
Re:Here's how it works (Score:3, Informative)
Sorry, that is not the case. It's a matter of law that this can't happen.
From the federalreserve.gov site:
National bank notes were issued from 1863 to 1935. Any national bank notes remaining in circulation are legal tender at face value as a matter of law. They would most likely be worth more than face value to currency collectors, however,
The new $20 bill ... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:The new $20 bill ... (Score:5, Interesting)
If memory serves, I think the hologram they designed had passed all but one of the torture tests. These included baking them in extremely hot ovens, rolling them, washing them, etc.
The test on which it failed was the crumple test. They set the bill on top of a metal tube, and a shaft came down and pressed the bill into the tube, crushing it incredibly. When it came out and was flattened, the hologram was severely wrinkled and crushed, and the holographic image was (obviously) no longer able to be seen.
Better pics (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Better pics (Score:3, Funny)
They actually encourage you to print it!! (Score:5, Funny)
Yesh! (Score:5, Funny)
More efficient (Score:5, Funny)
Counterfitting measures updated. (Score:5, Insightful)
Ironic that the most precious thing a nation could have would also be the cheapest.
Re:Counterfitting measures updated. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Counterfitting measures updated. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Counterfitting measures updated. (Score:5, Insightful)
It's virtually impossible to replicate every single feature in modern currency. What the big counterfeiters hope for is to fool most of the people most of the time, and get an army of kids/lackies to pass the bad notes for them.
Counterfeiting is more about finding ways to pass the bills than create them - it always has been.
You have to find clerks and gas station attendents. But since most stores have you on camera, it's easier to find the guy who passed the bad bill. You'd be a complete idiot to go to Best Buy and pick up a fancy Alienware PC and 21" LCD monitor with counterfeit 20's.
Better would be strangers on the street ("hey buddy can you break a 20?"). Street level drug dealers and prostitutes no doubt get a lot of funny money.
But it's a slow, labor-intensive process.. You have to pass one note at a time, and in the smaller denominations, as to not arouse suspicion.
It's much like other organized crimes like drug dealing or bookmaking - it's not generating the money thats the problem, it's getting rid of it (laundering).
They'll probably never make an "impossible-to-duplicate" bill, but they can make the enterprise of counterfeiting so fraught with headaches and dangers that few would even bother.
Re:Counterfitting measures updated. (Score:3, Insightful)
The most precious thing a nation could have is not its money! Geez ....
Seems counterproductive (Score:3, Interesting)
Plus, changing them all the time, now there are several different kinds in circulation, more thin
Re:Counterfitting measures updated. (Score:3)
Most counterfeits look stupid (Score:5, Insightful)
95% of the time, counterfeit bills are accepted by people who don't seem to notice that while the bill corners say $20, George Washington is in the center. Or that they're printed on normal grade paper.
I'm sure the government is making the change to the $20 for "big time" counterfeiters, but it seems like most of the time it can be prevented on the retail level by people just using their heads.
Re:Most counterfeits look stupid (Score:3, Insightful)
Aw yeah, I forgot, middle eastern countries don't have to follow U.N. resolutions.
Much, in fact, like the US.
But... (Score:5, Insightful)
I have some swiss francs. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I have some swiss francs. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:But... (Score:5, Funny)
(My shrink makes me say this 50 times every morning. Or until I stop crying, whichever comes first.)
What about size? (Score:5, Interesting)
From € to Ä (not!) (Score:3, Funny)
Interactive Flash Movie That shows new features (Score:5, Interesting)
This will stop counterfeiting how...? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:This will stop counterfeiting how...? (Score:4, Funny)
One change we won't likely see (Score:5, Insightful)
In Japan for years now, not only are the coins and dollar bills used in different colors (for easy glances to see how much money someone has), but they are of different sizes and shapes that make the coins recognizable by the blind. The 10,000 Yen bill is the longest, while the 1,000 is the shortest. Even the 5 Yen coin has a hole in it to separate it from the other coins (yes, this also goes back thousands of years to the Chinese "cash" coins).
Seeing as how all American bills are of the same size, I imagine that it must be slightly frustrating for a blind person to trust someone they don't know to be completely honest about money and take $5 instead of $50. Unfortunately, I can't see the Treasury Department putting some sort of Braille marker or other deliniating factor into future money production.
Re:One change we won't likely see (Score:5, Informative)
Re:One change we won't likely see (Score:4, Informative)
Definately not likely [treas.gov].
New Canadian bills (Score:5, Insightful)
I do wonder how well the braille stands up to the wear-and-tear such bills would go through during the normal lifetime of paper currency
YS.
Re:One change we won't likely see (Score:3, Informative)
Anti-counterfeit or vending lobby? (Score:3, Interesting)
Moves like this reak of the Sopranos. The same people that make vending/coin change machines also make lottery ticket distribution and numbering systems and slot machines!!
If the vending industry were smart they'd be lobbying for money readers REQUIRED to accept cash at retail that would authenticate bills and serial numbers OR going to plastic/mark of the beast I suppose would solve the whole thing ;)
Anecdote (Score:5, Funny)
I told him he was all horrible and evil for doing so - but I'm not sure I wouldn't have done the same.
Re:Anecdote (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Anecdote (Score:5, Insightful)
So retail folks often make mistakes. Sometimes in your favor, sometimes in favor of the store. Which is more impressive: remaining silent and taking advantage of it, or saying something?
Especially considering that the more you think about it, the more you realize society runs on trust and relies on people to do the right thing more often than not...
Rumanian Lei (Score:4, Informative)
Some of the Rumanian lei-bills (at least the 10000 bill) are quite difficult to counterfeit (with a standard pc). They have a hole covered with transparent plastic (which also has some kind of watermarking). I don't see why anyone would counterfeit lei though, since the 10000 bill was worth 50 cents or less when I visited Bucharest.
Forgers (and whistleblowers) beware! (Score:5, Interesting)
For some reason this fact is not well documented, but here is at least one reference [ibm.com](pdf) in an IBM report from 1998. See the section on tracking.
This can be a problem for cheap counterfeiters (well-equipped ones won't have a problem either acquiring a copier on the blackmarket or using a modified one) but it also can suck for whistleblowers making copies of documents. If the copier used can be identified it makes it that much easier for a vengeful company/government to identify the whistleblower and take "corrective action."
Time to verify? (Score:4, Insightful)
Umm. 15 seconds is the MAX time a credit card terminal should take to authorize a transaction (including dial-time which should only be once if you have a lot of customers in a line). Do they really think people are going to spend that amount of time, PER BILL for each customer?
Counterfeit Detection (Score:4, Interesting)
Request for future features (Score:5, Funny)
Re: New version of $20 bill
Dear Treasury Department (cc to Bureau of Printing and Engraving):
The new release of the product looks ok. I think it still needs some work, though. There are some additional features that I would like to see in the upcoming $20 bill v. 2.3 beta release:
1. P2P sharing
2. Centerfolds (!) (note: not Andrew Jackson - think modern, maybe Denise Richards)
3. Self-generation (try making paper from those Wizard's Apprentice broomsticks)
4. Encryption, so that only I can use my bills
BTW, please, please do implement a "software activation" thingy. That would be really lame.
Respectfully,
GF.
There's nothing appealing about Denise Richarards (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:There's nothing appealing about Denise Richarar (Score:4, Informative)
There are lots of appealing things about Denise Richards - her tits, her ass, and her "mouth hanging open 90% of the time."
If you need convincing, you can check out her tits:
- Here [worldsbestpickupline.com] and
- Here [worldsbestpickupline.com]
You can rest assured that I have check the links thoroughly. I will consider the site to be slashdotted in advance. If this post isn't a "+5, Informative" then nothing is.
GF.
Dollar coins (Score:5, Insightful)
What I wanna know is, when are they going to phase out the dollar bill? The Sacagawea dollar coin went the way of the Susan B because they kept printing singles. Coins have a pocket life of 30 years, compared to 3 for bills. If we're gonna spend the time and money in a coin let's actually make it work.
(/soapbox)
Re:Dollar coins (Score:3, Insightful)
No, they went that way because nobody used them.
They are too heavy to carry. I have a couple sitting in the ashtray of my car in case I need to get a soda or something, but I never carry any in my pocket- they're just too bulky to replace singles.
Second, most vending machines still don't accept them. They get stuck, and you lose a buck.
Third, you ever try slipping a dollar coin into a stripper's g-string?
How about some _techie_ proposals? (Score:3, Interesting)
Yeah, yeah, yeah... not very good... how about get some _creative_ suggestions for ingenious, wonderful, complicated technical fixes?
Re:How about some _techie_ proposals? (Score:5, Interesting)
Anonymity. The people with the tinfoil hats already tend to think the plastic strip with the #'s printed on it (20 20 20 for a $20 for example) includes a magnetic id that tracks who spends what, where. If your suggestion came to pass, the anonymity of purchases made with cash would be just as transparent to law enforcement as credit cards.
While I may never have purchased anything illegal, it still remains that I don't want the government tracking my every purchase. Allowing money tracking (which I do think the currency changes over the next 50 years will work towards) is a slippery slope. Sure, you can claim its ok because its being used to thwart counterfitters, but with all that nice juicy data in the computer they can find all the people who bought pot from some dealer they caught. And then someone decides to extend the 2050 Patriot Act to allow the feds to track down the people who bought certain books without having to ask the bookseller or librarian (like the current Patriot Act allows them to do).
I like my anonymity, thin as that veil is. Please don't give the government an excuse to take it away.
Counterfeiting and Terrorism (Score:3, Informative)
Now if they'd only take Jackson off the twenty... (Score:5, Interesting)
If you're not aware, this is the guy that was responsible for deporting many of the native americans to Oklahoma. You might recall that the Cherokee were pretty well "integrated" into society at the time, and they did what any other wronged group would do: they sued in court.
And won. The Supreme Court ruled that "the laws of the state of Georgia 'can have no force' within Cherokee boundaries."
This fine president, who we honor by putting his name on our money, said "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it!"
What a fine example of our American politics.
-Zipwow
Plastic Money (Score:5, Interesting)
But why? (Score:4, Interesting)
What problem is solved by adding another new design?
The two previous designs are still legally in circulation. Since they were / are apparently counterfeitable (is there such a word?), adding a new design does nothing to make the older designs un-counterfeitable.
Unless the older designs of currency are de-monetized, new designs do not solve a problem. (Older readers with military service may remember the MPC[1] script coversion days[2].) Yes, eventually almost all paper money will wind up being captured by banks and turned in for destruction. But it takes years to remove most of a type of bill and the remaining copies are still legal money. So the older patterns are still vulnerable.
[1] MPC - Military Payment Certificates. See google or eBay.
[2] Script conversion days - A twenty-four hour period during which all personnel were required to exchange their MPCs for the same value in a new series (new colors, new pictures). At the end of the conversion period, old series script was worthless and had value only as a colorful curiosity. Failure to exchange meant that you lost. No excuses, no make-ups, see the chaplain.
You cant do this. (Score:3, Insightful)
What about the older bills? (Score:5, Insightful)
Of what use is a new anti-counterfit bill if they don't recall the old, easily counterfitted ones? Counterfitters won't even try to adjust to the new bills if the old ones are still in circulation and legal tender - there's just no reason to.
Deception Dollars! (Score:3, Interesting)
http://www.deceptiondollar.com/ [deceptiondollar.com]
Seriously, though, the US could do worse than differentiate its different bills more clearly. Almost every other country makes it clearer (different sizes, very different colours) which can make it tricky for tourists. Australian notes (plastic, bright colours) are great, purely because they go through the wash and come out the other side. But I don't have to count large piles of the slippery things...
www.moneyfactory.com hosting service (Score:5, Informative)
Should paper money die? (Score:4, Interesting)
Pros:
they can't be counterfeited (or at least it's much harder, correct?)
machine sorting is easier
last longer
that cool jingle in your pocket
will accelerate use of debit cards
Cons:
Form factor - need a coin purse, not a wallet (correctible? credit-card shaped & sized coins?)
Heavier
More expensive to produce (but really, how bad can it be if pennies are coins and $100 bills are paper?)
How big would a $100 coin be anyway?
Will accelerate use of credit cards
Thoughts?
Is U.S. currency a victim of foreign competition? (Score:4, Interesting)
silly money! (Score:4, Interesting)
Check out these babies (the top ones are the newest you should be looking at;
10 guilder note [www.dnb.nl]
10 guilder note [www.dnb.nl] 25 guilder note [www.dnb.nl] 50 guilder note [www.dnb.nl]
100 guilder note [www.dnb.nl]
250 guilder note [www.dnb.nl]
1000 guilder note [www.dnb.nl]
If you don't have much time, just check out the 250. The newest notes feature almost exclusively abstract images, raised ink as well as different levels of height in paper (quite distinguisable by hand, or even in daylight), LSD induced colors, barcodes, microprints of poems, and no image of any identifiable person whatsoever!
Really, click on those links, and if you collect money (who doesn't?
I was sad to see these wonderful notes go the way of the dodo with the introduction of the euro.. The euro is even a weaker currency (the guilder was linked to the Deutsch Mark, one of the hardest currencies in the basket).
What about Chips? (Score:3, Interesting)
As an owner of a set of Chipco chips, I can also attest to the fact that they are very durable and easy to clean, which should mean that we wouldn't have to make so much new currency each year just to replace the currency that gets worn out.
Why don't we all start using chips and plaques (the rectangular chips that you see used mostly in high-roller rooms)?
And what about other denominations? (Score:3, Interesting)
And the subtle changes thing is nothing new. I mean, the Sackopotatoes dollar coin was apparently put in place to phase out the $1 bill, and before they refaced the $10, they put the security strip into it. As far as the dollar coins, I myself prefer them to $1 bills anyway - I don't have to fart around with trying to convince the farebox on the bus that the bill I feed it is a one, rather I just drop the coin in and go along my merry way. But I digress.
That they're making Yet Another version of the US $20 bill is kinda cool, but let's go with a standard and stick there for a bit. Better yet, let's reface ALL paper currency, conspiracy theories be damned.
Still paper? Still green? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why so much green? All the US notes are green, which makes distinguishing between denominations take longer than it should. If the notes were coloured, only a quick glance would be required to check denomination, especially for people with vision impairment.
To speak from my own experience in Australia, it's been all polymer notes since 1990 [dfat.gov.au]. Each note is a different colour and length, doesn't rip, and is terribly difficult to counterfeit.
I'm just surprised this new $US20 isn't polymer. The technology works - why not use it?
It happened to me. (Score:5, Interesting)
The fake was easy to spot, printed on smooth paper on a colour ink jet printer - what made me laugh was some of it had got wet and the ink had run...
We called the cops and the kid disappeared.
It figures... (Score:5, Insightful)
Currency changes (Score:5, Interesting)
Stupid copy protection (Score:5, Funny)
Thats just stupid
-- http://www.spran.co.uk (America doesnt exist)
Why not do the job properly ? (Score:4, Interesting)
I worked on note vending machines at the time of our change from paper to plastic money so I was one of the people invited to the Reserve Bank to see the features of the new money. We where given real and counterfeit US money and asked to tell which was which, it was impossible to tell to the untrained eye. Then we where shown some of the methods used to try and counterfeit the Australian currency, which uses the same technology as ours. At was funny to see bits of paper with holes cut in them for the clear window etc. They also showed off some ideas they haven't used yet. One was a clear window at each end with printed lines that create an interference pattern when the note is folded in half. I also saw what happens if you over heat the plastic notes, they shrink ! But don't worry you have to get them real hot to do that. On a practical note (no pun intended) you need to look at static handling for new plastic notes in note handling machines or else the stick together.
Re:First the Wall Street Journal (Score:3, Interesting)
Are they brazilian looking? (Score:5, Insightful)
Also... the article mentions 2-dollar bills. Since when have the States had Twos? We (Canada) got rid of ours almost a decade ago and the states is just starting to make them now? talk about behind the times. Or is that a joke?
Re:Are they brazilian looking? (Score:3, Insightful)
Anyway
And they call *US* loonie.
Re:Are they brazilian looking? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Are they brazilian looking? (Score:3)
For *decades*. Two dollar bills have been around for a very long time. I remember one of my great grandfathers would always give us kids a two dollar bill for our birthday. Doesn't sound like much until you realize he had a lot of great-grandkids.
Re:Are they brazilian looking? (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't know it they're still printed, but they are real, and still in circulation. They just not commonly used.
Here's a link to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. [moneyfactory.com] The have a picture of Jefferson on them.
And here's a link to a funny story [digiserve.com] about someone who recently tried to spend one at a Taco Bell.
US $2 Bill Fact Sheet/Pictures (Score:5, Informative)
Pictures [treas.gov]
The President on the $2 bill is Thomas Jefferson.
Re:Are they brazilian looking? (Score:5, Interesting)
An interesting thing to think about - in order to acheive $100:
One, $100 bill
Two, $50 bills
Five, $20 bills
Ten, $10 bills
Twenty, $5 bills
Fifty, $2 bills
One-Hundred, $1 bills
Makes a little more sense now, eh?
Yeah, yeah! Re:Becoming more and more like Europe (Score:3, Funny)
Damn them and their evil black collektivist souls!
Quick Martha, git me my gun!
Re:What I've never understood... (Score:3, Interesting)
The US $ has been the worlds leading "hard currency" for quite some time. A large proportion of the issued paper is not in the USA, but is in use overseas. If they recall the older bills, you'll get hit by a huge flood of people desperate to change their notes from all sorts of back-waters (you'll get this anyway even without the recall, but not as much).
This flood of cash movement is a great chance for fraud, and it can cause currency problems as some people may
Re:It will still be worth less than the euro.... (Score:3, Interesting)