U.S. Currency Design


Does US currency need an upgrade?  

112 members have voted

  1. 1. Does US currency need an upgrade?

    • Yes, it needs an update.
      67
    • No, I like it the way it is.
      45


Recommended Posts

I disagree, I think it is much easier to differentiate colour than it is to differentiate the face on the bill, especially with a quick glance, so it would be much easier to learn / get used to.

Instead of looking at the face, look at the number. I don't understand the difficulty. And it's even in the corner. Every corner. If you have bunch of bills in your wallet, just riffle the corners to see the values.

And what if US currency did do colors. What if we used red for our $10 bills, purple for our $50's, and yellow for our $1's. Are you saying that'd be less confusing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So in order to make it so easy for you because looking at the number in the corner, or the president's face is soooo hard, we should color the bills and discriminate against those folks that are color blind? Yea, thats a good idea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, as a non-american who visits your country from time to time, I can tell you thats crap. Canadian bills are significantly easier to tell apart at a glance. I confuse American bills all the time.

Canadian Bills

How can you confuse American bills? $1,$2,$5,$10,$20,$50,$100, etc.. in each corner, front and backside.

I dont it eaiser for people to see my money at a 'glance' i dont know them :laugh: they dont need to know what i have.

I say they should only change the design or paper if its an counterfeit issue, not to make it look pretty, Im not going to frame it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And what if US currency did do colors. What if we used red for our $10 bills, purple for our $50's, and yellow for our $1's. Are you saying that'd be less confusing?

I don't see why this is so hard to understand, its the way nearly the entire world does it. Its much easier to associate colours with amounts than faces you don't recognize. Its much easier than having to pull out the bill and look in the corner to figure out how much its worth.

I mean its not a big deal, but it is a pain in the ass.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't see why this is so hard to understand, its the way nearly the entire world does it. Its much easier to associate colours with amounts than faces you don't recognize. Its much easier than having to pull out the bill and look in the corner to figure out how much its worth.

I mean its not a big deal, but it is a pain in the ass.

You're missing my point.

Our Canadian friend here is suggesting that the US use colors for their money, because it's easier than looking at numbers.

What I'm trying to tell him, and what you've failed to see, is that the only way this would work would be if the US used the same color scheme as Canada. What if the US used a color for their $5 bill that is used for Canada's $50? What if we colored our $20 using the same color Canada uses for their $1? Now you've got people who have used Canadian currency their entire lives visiting America and using currency that associates the same colors with different values.

I'm saying that this scenario can be more confusing than not using colors at all.

The issue is not that colors would make currency easier to recognize, because that only comes with time. Send an American to Canada and they still have to look at the number. They don't go, 'ah, purple means $50' or whatever.

It's about being accustomed to a certain methodology. Some countries are accustomed to looking at a bill's color. People in these countries could have trouble when they travel if the country they visit uses different colors or uses no colors at all. Other countries are accustomed to looking for a big number on a bill. This works no matter where you are, because every currency must have a value number on it.

i wish we all paid our money digitally. like credit card or something similar.

Uh, they're called check cards. Use 'em anywhere credit cards are accepted and the money comes right out of your account. It's as close as you can get to not carrying any cash on you at all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

yea, it's rather blah. Most, if not all, other "industrialized" nations have multicolored money. : /

The reason for the mono color design has a story...

they thought it made money look like toy money and thought their people did not need color to seperate and visual the value instead of reading it...

But color looks nice but overall.. i like the new money that is shaded mono color with tints of peach or what not looks goood

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

American money is pretty blah, they all look the same, I always end up handing the cashier the wrong bill.

Agreed and it looks like play money...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Colors help people distinguish bills from a blink of an eye without focusing anywhere specific on the bill.

Color is a security feature although not the best like holograms or watermarks. There are always flaws in the color shades of counterfeit bills.

Color also, something that people did not mention, helps businesses. In what way? Cameras. At the cash register if a customer payed cash and then complains that he got change for a $20 and not a $50, we can easily check it from cameras. You see a green bill, you know it's a 20. You see a blue, you know it's a 5. No discussion about it. I'm sure there are great cameras out there that can zoom in and do other expensive neat things but most stores only have cameras good enough to identify somebody's face and not somebody's money.

I personally like the "old" design of American currency. Don't ask me why. I think it's cool that all the banknotes follow a standard design. We got money floating around from 1970's up to now. That's 3 different designs. Whenever I get a $100 bill from 1969 series at work, I literally do a "full cavity search" on it before accepting it.

The inconvenience of keeping the same design is it makes it easier to counterfeit compared to Canadian or European or Australian which is practically impossible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Les Am?ricains doivent r?dessiner leurs notes bancaires car maintenant, ils sont plus faciles ? ?tre dupliqu?s ill?galement compar? aux autres pays comme le Canada! Aussi, ?a pourra aider les touristes si on pourra les identifier par couleur au lieu de les regarder si proche!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Les Am?ricains doivent r?dessiner leurs notes bancaires car maintenant, ils sont plus faciles ? ?tre dupliqu?s ill?galement compar? aux autres pays comme le Canada! Aussi, ?a pourra aider les touristes si on pourra les identifier par couleur au lieu de les regarder si proche!

huh?

I got Americans Illegal Canada Identify out of that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^Quick translation:

Americans should redesign their banknotes because now, it is really easy to make illeagal duplicates compared to other countries like Canada, it would also help tourists if they can identify notes just by looking at them!

Edited by Quactaur
Link to comment
Share on other sites

^Quick translation:

Americans should redesign their banknotes now because, it is really easy to make illeagal duplicates compared to other countries like Canada, it would also help tourists if they can identify notes just by looking at them!

Ok, gotcha, I agree even though i like the green bills. I got a new 10 dollar bill the other day and it was a light brown color.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, gotcha, I agree even though i like the green bills. I got a new 10 dollar bill the other day and it was a light brown color.

Eh, non! Si c'est brun clair, c'est le billet de 100$! Les billets de 10$ sont violets!

(Translate: Uh, no! If it's light brown, it's the $100 bill! $10 bills are purple!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Eh, non! Si c'est brun clair, c'est le billet de 100$! Les billets de 10$ sont violets!

(Translate: Uh, no! If it's light brown, it's the $100 bill! $10 bills are purple!)

I'm talking U.S. currecy here. all i ever seen was green before that 10 the other day

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^Quick translation:

Americans should redesign their banknotes because now, it is really easy to make illeagal duplicates compared to other countries like Canada, it would also help tourists if they can identify notes just by looking at them!

How is it hard to look at the corner, and see a (rather large) 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, or 100? What is hard about that? I don't see how a single or double digit number makes people confused, it says 5 but is it?.. :wacko: Numbers are Universal, if you don't know what a $5 is worth a color wouldnt help in that!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would love a lot of colors and unique prints for each dollar. The new USD's are looking decently better, but I'd love to see a unique color difference in the bills. It would be much easier to distinguish at a glance, and when dealing with large amounts of cash easier to count.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the US should try color money. For all you nay sayers out there, should we still stay with black and white TVs? Should we stay with Netscape 4.7? Should we stay with Windows 95? You have to accept change sometimes. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.