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Euro Coins Test for Color Blindness

Chris writes "Three-hundred million Europeans now have an easy way to check whether or not they suffer from red-green color blindness according to optics.org. Spanish researchers are suggesting that the new Euro coins, introduced in January of this year across most of Europe, could be used as an instant test for red-green color blindness. Color blindness sufferers confuse reds, yellows and greens. Traditional tests to detect deficiency in color vision are difficult to evaluate or calibrate. But in trials comparing 5 cent coins, which have a reddish tone, with 10 and 20 cent coins, which have a yellowish tone, color-blind observers were incapable of separating them while normal observers achieved the operation in seconds."

18 of 50 comments (clear)

  1. Score one for the EU by photon317 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    You'd think whoever was charged with designing a new coinage would have been tasked with making sure they are easily distinguishable by all, including older people with bad vision, the color blind, etc...

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    1. Re:Score one for the EU by Yarn · · Score: 2

      Yeh, it's a great big fuckup.

      They're not as good as british currency for completely blind people either. ISTR that all coins are round, unlike our system:

      small, thin, round, smooth: 1p
      large, thin, round, smooth: 2p
      small, thin, round, rough: 5p
      large, thin, round, rough: 10p
      small, thin, 7 sides, smooth: 20p
      large, thin, 7 sides, smooth: 50p
      small, thick, round, rough: £1
      large, thick, round, rough: £2

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    2. Re:Score one for the EU by Beltza · · Score: 4, Informative

      The Euro also uses physical properties, which the blind can use. Besides the size and thickness, every coin has a different edge. I have been told that the blind (once used to these coins) have no problems determining the value.
      Besides that, a small device (credit card size) has been developed to measure the coin and give its value in braille.

    3. Re:Score one for the EU by g4dget · · Score: 2

      They are easily distinguishable even by the blind, by size, texture, thickness, and weight. The color derives from the metals used, and that choice is driven largely by other considerations.

  2. Size. by undeg+chwech · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's lucky they're different sizes then. It would be really annoying living somewhere where the money was the same size and colour!

    1. Re:Size. by david+duncan+scott · · Score: 2
      Yeah, but when I'm reaching into my pocket for change it's nice that I don't have to pull it all out to find a quarter.

      It's also nice for coin sorters, of course, which can sift and separate by size.

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  3. Color blindness testing. by booch · · Score: 5, Informative
    Traditional tests to detect deficiency in color vision are difficult to evaluate or calibrate

    Complete BS. There are books of standard tests that look for not only the common red-green color blindness, but also several other less common forms. Here's a cool online version.

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  4. Another screwup. by t · · Score: 2
    Whatever happen to the other screwup they made, the composite coins with the different inner part. Apparently if you put them in a freezer the middle would fall out! Pretty funny I wish I could get some of those.

    t.

    1. Re:Another screwup. by Alex · · Score: 2

      There are no composite Euro coins.

      You are talking about the newer 10 Franc coin I believe.

      Alex

    2. Re:Another screwup. by rakslice · · Score: 2

      Wow... I guess all those folks who insist on storing their loose change in the freezer are going to be pretty put out about this. (!?)

    3. Re:Another screwup. by Myco · · Score: 2, Informative

      Um, yes there are. I've got one. Check your facts before making assertions.

  5. Missing the point by JUSTONEMORELATTE · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The article wasn't claiming that the Euro was poorly designed. The coins are easily identified if you look at the front, but the flip side (obverse side in the article text) of two coins are strikingly similar in every aspect but red-green hue. Ok, that and the big "5" on the right vs the big "20" on the left.

    From the article:
    The population which is affected by some type of congenital red-green anomaly has been estimated by several authors as 8% of men and 0.4% of women in Europe and North-America [2].
    2. J. Pokorny, V. C. Smith, G. Verriest, A. J. L. G. Pinkers, Congenital and acquired color vision defects, (Grune and Stranton, New York, 1979).

    The point is that the vast majority of the population will never get in to have an opthalmologist evaluate their color vision, but now anyone can perform their own screening with a little pocket change.
    Since one of the causes of R/G anomolies is undiagnosed Multiple Sclerosis, this is A Good Thing.
    1. Re:Missing the point by Fat+Casper · · Score: 2
      The point is that the vast majority of the population will never get in to have an opthalmologist evaluate their color vision, but now anyone can perform their own screening with a little pocket change. Since one of the causes of R/G anomolies is undiagnosed Multiple Sclerosis, this is A Good Thing.

      MS is a bad thing; I'm against it. But who the hell needs a doctor (or silly coins) to tell them that they're color blind? Coined money is a public service, but that's ridiculous. Ease in differentiating coins should have been higher on the Europeans' To Do List than testing for MS.

      As an aside, this is one of the many things in the news that make me so glad that my ancestors packed up and left Europe a long time ago. Then I read US and local news and wish there were somewhere I could pack up and leave for.

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    2. Re:Missing the point by JUSTONEMORELATTE · · Score: 4, Informative

      ... But who the hell needs a doctor (or silly coins) to tell them that they're color blind?

      Most red-green folks don't know, as they've spent their entire lives subconciously developing coping mechanisms. My brother-in-law was well into grade school before someone noticed that he had an odd fascination with red-green combinations. (actually, he had a bloody nose and was watching the blood drip into the lawn. When asked why, he said it was cool to watch it disappear.) Most colorblindness is subtle -- you don't see the world like a black and white movie, you just don't have all the hues that a healthy visual system has.

      Coined money is a public service, but that's ridiculous. Ease in differentiating coins should have been higher on the Europeans' To Do List than testing for MS.

      Nobody ever claimed that the EU designed the coins as a colorblindness test. The researchers here got published for noticing that the diff between the gold-ish-colored coin and the copper-ish-colored coin happened to map onto the red-green area that matters for one type of colorblindness.

  6. bad design by pagercam2 · · Score: 2

    This seems pretty typical, ignoring the color issue for the momment, you want to be able to put your hand in your pocket looking for a dime and find a dime without pulling out all the coins and sorting. Dimes aren't the easiest to sort from pennies, or at least I get pennies as often as dimes but atleast I can feel and tell that I only have quarters or nickels. So the same size was a poor start. The color comparison is OK only if the coins are new and the user isn't color blind, what are these coins going to look like in 5 years, there is a huge variation between a new shiny penny and a 6 month old one and then as they get older they get very dark, the change in the life of a penny is 10 time the difference shown between the 20 and 50 coins shown in the photo. The idiot that did this should be fired, from a very large cannon, the color of the cannon shouldn't matter ;^).

  7. Canadian $2 coin by cheezfreek · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, this type of thing also happened a few years ago in Canada, with the $2 coin. It had an inner, gold coloured part and an outer, silver coloured part. Coins from the first press could have the middle part punched out fairly easily (without needing to put them in the freezer). You can (and I know someone who does) wear the outer part on a chain around your neck, as a souvenir of the Canadian Mint's ineptitude.

  8. So I'm not color-blind after all? by jahalme · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I was diagnosed with a red-green color-blindness of moderate severity during my military service. I just couldn't make out the correct numbers hidden in the test plates with dotted images. However, I have absolutely no problems whatsoever separating 5 and 10 cent coins from one another.

    I tried taking the two coins to my hand, shaking them around a bit and then putting them on a table. As soon as I pull my hand from over the coins, I can tell which is the 5 cent one and which is the 10 cent one. I tried this in a few different lighting conditions but the result is always the same.

    The spanish euro coins shouldn't be different from finnish ones, so either I was misdiagnosed or the research is inaccurate. As the plates by Dr. Ishihara are supposed to be a very reliable test, I can't place much credibility on the results of the abovementioned research.

  9. Score one for Denmark by SgtChaireBourne · · Score: 2
    Denmark's coins are easily discernable by color, size, shape, texture, and sound. Not only that, they're stylish.

    Sweden's notes are distinguishable by size, aspect ratio, and color.

    For nice to look at money, Finland's now defunct Markka was a good example.

    Great for blind, color blind or the disoriented, drunk tourist. The EU money clearly suffers from designed by committee syndrome. The committee should look more closely at the good examples when they have to redo the design of the money.

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