I understand about making the number big for the vision-impaired.

[randomness]

But the big purple "5" on the back of the new $5 bill is taking things a bit far, don't you think?

http://www.moneyfactory.gov/newmoney/main.cfm/currency/new5

Comments

[st-rev.livejournal.com]

The new $5 bills, which entered circulation on March 13, 2008, are safer, smarter and more secure: safer because they’re harder to fake and easier to check; smarter to stay ahead of savvy counterfeiters; and more secure to protect the integrity of U.S. currency.

Also redundant, redundant, and also redundant.

[marith.livejournal.com]

I know! We finally get color money, and it has to look this dorktastic? Bah!

[in-parentheses.livejournal.com]

No! It's fabulous! I love them so much I find it hard to pay for things, because I want to keep one in my wallet at all times! (This sounds sarcastic, but it's not. I heart the purple 5.)

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

Yet another US bill which looks like it has leprosy.

And, they don't work in bill changers yet.

[redbird]

I like it, even though the first time I saw one, I thought someone had gotten silly with a magic marker. How about equally bright, and different-colored, digits on the other bills next?

[emilymorgan.livejournal.com]

I've always thought our money should have Braille dots on it.

[cerebralpaladin.livejournal.com]

That may be a good idea, but the correct solution is almost surely the European one: have bills of different sizes, with larger denominations always bigger than smaller denominations. This means that (A) it is relatively easy for the blind to pay bills (and receive change) accurately based on feel and (B) you cannot counterfeit by bleaching small bills (like $1) and then reprinting them as higher denominations, which is I understand the standard technique in the US to defeat the special paper.

[emilymorgan.livejournal.com]

Smart! I didn't realize that counterfeiters used bleach.

[holmes-iv.livejournal.com]

This has the demerit of being a royal pain in the ass for everybody who's not blind, however (I know I have a single in here somewhere...).

[cerebralpaladin.livejournal.com]

Huh. Our experiences differ. (Mine are limited, but I've never found this inconvenient when I've used foreign currency.)

I keep the bills in my wallet sorted anyway-- if you sort different size bills in ascending order, it shouldn't be particularly difficult. And you can get subdivided wallets for even easier functioning. I suppose an unsorted money clip would become a total pain, but I suspect that that's inherent to choosing to use an unsorted money clip.

Still, it's useful to know that some people disagree on this one. I had thought of the multi-size solution as a no-brainer, opposed only by inertia.

[ketzl.livejournal.com]

They haven't gotten rid of cash yet, I'm content!

[cerridwynn.livejournal.com]

I like it. Not the giant purple 5, necessarily, but i like that they managed to give us colored money and still maintain the distinctive U.S.-green. Kinda cool!

[uberjay.livejournal.com]

Hey I like the purple 5. :)