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Bureau of Engraving and Printing Issues New US$20

jea6 writes "Hot off the Western Currency Facility presses in Fort Worth! The Bureau of Engraving and Printing is issuing the new US$20 note to banks today. The newly redesigned Series 2004 $20 notes have background colors (so long, greenbacks) and improved security features. Ask your bank to send a few your way. Unlike the U.S Mint's "Golden Dollar", these notes will be issued to replace the Series 2001 note. Look for a redesigned Grant in 2004 and a new Benjamin in 2005. The US Government is spending $53,000,000 over the next 5 years to make sure everybody knows that this is a real note, so go get acquainted with one."

64 of 706 comments (clear)

  1. Euro by quigonn · · Score: 2, Funny

    So, when will the USA switch to Euro?

    --
    A monkey is doing the real work for me.
    1. Re:Euro by LordKronos · · Score: 2, Funny

      So, when will the USA switch to Euro?
      Right after our conversion to the metric system.

  2. I Always Liked the Green Bills by Jameth · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I know it's kind-of silly, but I always really liked having all green bills. It makes my money-wads look a lot less messy. I've had money-wads of multi-colored bills, and it just gets ugly. The mass of colors ends up so busy that its irritating to look at.

    Of course, I'm a little obsessive compulsive and my favorite color is green, but it's alright to have a biased position.

    1. Re:I Always Liked the Green Bills by quigonn · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Actually, the colors make sense. When a color marks a certain value, it's easier to distinguish them. With bills all in this greenish color you have to look closely to know which value it has. In fact, this led to a number of tricks to make people believe that they get a US-$ 20 bill, but instead they only got a US-$ 5 bill. So colors do have their advantages. And the Euro proves that colorful bills can look elegant, too.

      --
      A monkey is doing the real work for me.
    2. Re:I Always Liked the Green Bills by RevDobbs · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Doesn't having all green bills contribute to small scale fraud though?

      Sure does... a $2 bill will get you a $20 lap dance from just about any exotic dancer...

    3. Re:I Always Liked the Green Bills by Divide+By+Zero · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I guess I'm in the minority here, but when I'm executing financial transactions (from going to the bank to going out to lunch), I CHECK the denominations of the bills I give and those I recieve. The new-look (not the brand-new-look) currency has a high-contrast, big, blocky, really-hard-to-miss printing of the denomination in one corner, and if I'm overpaying (using a $10 for less than $5, $20 for less than $10), I hand that side to the cashier or whoever's taking my money to make sure they get it.

      I have sympathy for the blind, but no color change is going to help them. Changing the size of the bills here would meet with such outrage as hasn't been seen since the Susan B. Anthony dollar. (Good thing we issued the Sacajawea dollar - everybody's using that, right?)

      But hey. Something's better than nothing, right?

      --
      Dare to Hope. Prepare to be Disappointed.
    4. Re:I Always Liked the Green Bills by Divide+By+Zero · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No, but changing the paper WOULD. And it seems to me that making braille indents into linen rag paper would be difficult to say the least.

      IANA human factors/ergonomics expert, but I think the BoE&P has enough on the payroll that we can safely say that the US is willing to change some ink, design and color to a certain extent, and is unwilling to change the paper stock and the size of currency notes. They can't use things like holograms (and I'd guess plastic derivatives) due to how they stress-test new notes - holograms are notoriously bad in the crumple test. Thus, the green/black metallic color changing ink on the front.

      What gets me is that somehow currency got grandfathered out of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA, for those unfamiliar, basically says that facilities paid for by taxes have to be accessible to, among others, the blind. When I worked for a .gov, our website went through a LOT of testing to make sure it was screen reader compliant. And yet, our money, a bit more pivotal than a seldom-used website, seemingly has no such requirements on it.

      It might just be that changing it would require so many infrastructure changes (every ATM, every change machine, every vending machine that takes paper money, the self-checkout lanes at the supermarkets, every machine that handles money) that Treasury just says "To hell with it."

      US paper currency is archaic. BoE&P is using band-aids and moving the target, but it's not a good solution. Of course, knowing this country, if we redid currency, they'd want to put a smart chip in it or barcode or somesuch. TO PREVENT TERRORISM and oh yeah anonymity in general.

      --
      Dare to Hope. Prepare to be Disappointed.
    5. Re:I Always Liked the Green Bills by nlinecomputers · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I don't recall a ton of outrage over either dollar coin -- merely apathy. The only outrage I've had over the Sacajawea dollar is that the postal service machines will happily issue it, but generally don't accept it (I think my mug is in a database somewhere for abusing the machine after that incident).


      Back in 1979 when Carter tried to issue the dang coins there was a LOT of outrage about it. The plan was to remove dollar bills from use and replace them with the coins and $2 bills. The plan was quickly abandoned when the market refused to use them. The golden dollar was just issued as a political stunt and was never intended to replace $1 bills. So it is met with Appathy or hoarded as trinkets. The government could have said "too bad" use them or do without but as our money system is now unbacked fiat money acceptance is required or the value of the money drops.
      --
      Slashdot, home of supporters of free software, free music, and free speech.Except for Moderators that disagree with you.
    6. Re:I Always Liked the Green Bills by general_re · · Score: 2, Funny
      Good thing we issued the Sacajawea dollar - everybody's using that, right?

      If by "everybody" you mean "the Post Office", then yeah, everybody's using them ;)

      Seriously, that's the only place I see them in regular use - stick a $20 nill into the self-serve stamp machine for a $7.40 book of stamps, and you'll get a half-pound of Sacajaweas and Susan B's back as change.

      --
      ABSURDITY, n.: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion.
  3. I don't get it. by CGP314 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There will be no recall or devaluation of any U.S. currency. Old or new, all U.S. currency always will be honored at full face value.

    So, tell me, if I'm a counterfitter, why wouldn't I just copy the older bills and 'age' them in the washing machine?

    1. Re:I don't get it. by hype7 · · Score: 2, Informative
      So, tell me, if I'm a counterfitter, why wouldn't I just copy the older bills and 'age' them in the washing machine?


      The US government has promised to honour them. Not necessarily Joe Blogs on the street corner.

      What normally happens is that the country's central bank draws a line underneath a certain date, and says "from this day forth, only the new currency is legal tender. If you want to exchange the old currency for new currency, bring it to us or a big private bank".

      Normally, the outlets that accept the old notes have some pretty sophisticated devices for checking whether the currency is legitimate or not, regardless of how old it is. I know my bank took a very long time to check a whole lot of foreign notes I wanted exchanged when I got back. The teller had to take them out back and run them through a variety of tests. This would be no different.

      -- james
    2. Re:I don't get it. by Detritus · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you're a "counterfitter", you would be helping build kitchens, not printing money.

      --
      Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
    3. Re:I don't get it. by dschuetz · · Score: 2, Informative

      And to top that off, I have a bicentenial $2 bill that looks nothing like the other $2 bills out there.

      Huh? They redesigned the $2 bill in 1976, with the "bicentennial reverse" (the painting of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence), but it's been the same ever since. They don't print many (they printed a bunch in the mid 70's and a bunch more in the 90's). The only other reverse I've seen was Monticello, and that was last printed in the 60's (and might have been a US note, not a Federal Reserve note, I think).

      Then there are those mysterious bills that say "sliver certificate". How the hell are we ever supposed to know what is money and what isn't?

      You know by how good they look, how real they feel, how well done the printing is, etc.

      The fun part -- those "Silver Certificates" are still real money. You can buy stuff with them, just as easily as with today's money. But you'd be a fool to do so, and you'd probably have a LOT of trouble getting someone to take it.

    4. Re:I don't get it. by Zachary+Kessin · · Score: 2, Informative

      Not in the US. All money ever issued by the US goverment back to the first coins in the 1790's are still legal tender. In theory if you had a quarter dated 1800 you could spend it.

      This is not true of many countries, When I lived in England they changed the money around from time to time. (And ofcourse they changed it in a major way in the 1960's). Here in Israel we are on our 3rd money unit in 50 some years. We had the Israeli Pound, then the Shekel, now the NEW Shekel. Other countries do other things.

      --
      Erlang Developer and podcaster
    5. Re:I don't get it. by Phleg · · Score: 2, Informative

      The US government has promised to honour them. Not necessarily Joe Blogs on the street corner.

      I suggest you take a closer look at your bills. "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private." The bills must be accepted for the payment of debts, services, etc., by U.S. law. You cannot pick which bills you will or will not accept, under U.S. law.

      --
      No comment.
    6. Re:I don't get it. by Senior+Frac · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I suggest you take a closer look at your bills. "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private." The bills must be accepted for the payment of debts, services, etc., by U.S. law. You cannot pick which bills you will or will not accept, under U.S. law.

      A common misinterpretation of the text. If you think carefully, it implies no obligation for me to accept it. Why can't I pay for my $150 grocery bill in pennies? That's "legal tender."

      No, it's legal tender in that it can be used. Not that it must be accepted.

    7. Re:I don't get it. by DietFluffy · · Score: 3, Informative

      Wrong.

      Source: United States Department of the Treasury

      Question: I thought that United States currency was legal tender for all debts. Some businesses or governmental agencies say that they will only accept checks, money orders or credit cards as payment, and others will only accept currency notes in denominations of $20 or smaller. Isn't this illegal?

      Answer: The pertinent portion of law that applies to your question is the Coinage Act of 1965, specifically Section 102. This is now found in section 392 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The law says that: "All coins and currencies of the United States, regardless of when coined or issued, shall be legal-tender for all debts, public and private, public charges, taxes, duties and dues."

      This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.

  4. Thats a lot of money for... ummm... money. by pi+radians · · Score: 4, Funny

    Only in America will they spend $35 million dollars to promote something everyone already wants, money.

    --

    sin(6cos(r)+5A)
    1. Re:Thats a lot of money for... ummm... money. by teg · · Score: 2, Insightful


      Hardly, i have no numbers, but the EU had a huge programme to educate people about the EURO, i wouldn't be surprised if it had cost more...



      That's a very different issue - a new currency, not just a new bill. The euro was replacing many currencies at different values used by different nations, merging them into one.

    2. Re:Thats a lot of money for... ummm... money. by op00to · · Score: 2, Funny

      Indeed, sir, you are right. The Euro uses a difficult system of numbers to show denomination. Euro bills are also used dramatically different. Unlike the old currencies, which involved giving paper money and coins to a cashier for goods and services, now you give Euro paper money and Euro coins to a cashier for goods and services. Totally different, indeed. No wonder they had to educate everyone.

    3. Re:Thats a lot of money for... ummm... money. by theLOUDroom · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Only in America will they spend $35 million dollars to promote something everyone already wants, money."

      Really, how can they spend that much?! They're acting almost as if they have a license to print money! Who are these people anyways?

      --
      Life is too short to proofread.
  5. pssst: the counterfeiters are winning by ArmorFiend · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In 2001 they released a new bill design, and said "we want to stay one step ahead of the counterfeiters". Before that the bill had been unchanged for, what, 30 years? And now three years later, they're releasing a new bill? Its being kept hush-hush, but this is a clear sign that our currency is being successfully counterfitted.

    1. Re:pssst: the counterfeiters are winning by hype7 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      And the counterfeiters will still keep winning! You know why?

      Because there are so many dumb people out there .

      -- james

    2. Re:pssst: the counterfeiters are winning by Safety+Cap · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Why do that when the government has proven itself utterly incompetent so far?

      Both the Susan B. Anthony and Sacajawea coin were rolled out with great fanfare, but people largely ignored them. Why? Because there was no reason to change, since Uncle Stupid kept printing paper dollars. Look at Canada -- they did the same thing, except they stopped printing the paper. People grumbled at first ("fear change"), but now it is all good.

      Easy recipe for change:

      1. At the next election, add a line item to the ballot: Replace dollar bills with coins or add national sales tax of 1% to cover cost of printing paper money?
      2. When coins wins by 99 to 1, start minting coins to cover supply
      3. Stop printing dollars
      4. "The problem will naturally work itself out."
      5. ...
      6. Profit! (Actually yes, because a coin lasts 20+ years, whereas a bill lasts only 18 months on avg)

      Next, the Metric system: time to join the rest of the planet.

      --
      Yeah, right.
    3. Re:pssst: the counterfeiters are winning by jellomizer · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm not sure why this will help them find counterfitters though. Maybe they just hope to make counterfitting less profitable by making the counterfitters change their process all the time.

      Nah it will always be profitable they just rase the costs to makeup for the losses. 19.99 for every counterfeit 20.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    4. Re:pssst: the counterfeiters are winning by Dun+Malg · · Score: 3, Interesting
      At the next election, add a line item to the ballot: Replace dollar bills with coins or add national sales tax of 1% to cover cost of printing paper money?

      First, in the US, a national sales taxes would be unconstitutional. Second, there's no mechanism for federal level popular referendums-- we have a strictly representative republic. Third, using the threat of taxation to make people feel good about a format change in currency is ridiculous. If replacing paper 1's become that much of a drain on the treasury, then the change to coins will happen. As it is, the Dept. of the Treasury has only made the case that it would make their lives a little easier. We the taxpayers pay 'em to work. Let 'em work. The extra expense is really nothing in comparison to the federal budget as a whole.

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
  6. Think these are good? You should see the .au notes by hype7 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Aussie notes are amongst the best in the world, IMO.

    Different colours for different values.

    Different sizes for different values.

    They're based on Polymer. Put one through the wash, it comes out looking like new. Well, almost.

    Some extremely sophisticated anti-counterfeiting techniques.

    Our Reserve Bank has even been thoughtful enough to worry about those with vision impairment.

    And, they just look cool.

  7. High time by david.given · · Score: 4, Interesting
    At last! Banknotes you don't have to read to work out the denomination of!

    I'm British. I'm used to European money, which is all different colours and different sizes, and in a lot of cases is made out of plastic. You probably don't realise just how weird American money looks to us; it's all the same size, it's all the same colour --- even the material feels odd; thin and papery and not very robust. (Rag paper, isn't it?)

    When I last visited the US, dealing with American money was a continual surprise. Normally when I visit another country it doesn't take long before I can recognise notes by colour and size, which makes it much easier to handle. With American money, I kept having to peer at it to work out what it was I was about to hand over. I got the impression that they were designed by someone who knew about ergonomics, but wanted no truck with the idea.

    Of course, this is mostly just a matter of being used to a different system (I expect that with some practice you get used to looking at the picture rather than the overall design), but I do wonder how blind and partially sighted people manage.

    While this isn't a complete solution, at least the high-denomination notes will look different from the low-denomination notes, which will make it much less easy to, e.g., tip someone a hundred dollars instead of one. (Although whether this is considered a benefit depends which side of the transaction you're standing.)

    1. Re:High time by troc · · Score: 2, Funny

      Heh, the US is the only place I have seen a drive-through ATM (cashpoint) which had braille on the digits for all those, erm, blind drivers.

      Troc

      --
      Troc's dubious podcast and blog: http://www.trocnet.net
    2. Re:High time by warpSpeed · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Being an american I found that, while traveing to Euroup, understaning all the different denominations to be pretty straight forward once you could do the converions back to USD.

      I think it is all what you are used too.

      While this isn't a complete solution, at least the high-denomination notes will look different from the low-denomination notes, which will make it much less easy to, e.g., tip someone a hundred dollars instead of one.

      Well, the various denominations of american money do look different from each other, they just don't use color cues to diffentiate themselves. I can't say I have had a problem accidently over tipping someone because I could not tell what the bill was that I was handing them. When you are used to ir you can tell what notes you are pulling out of your wallet without even seeing the number that is on them

      You will find that, typicaly, lower denomination bills are softer and more worn. I think this is a good function of the paper that is used. I have yet to have a worn $100, and it is not too frequently that I have a crisp $1. (not that I have a lot of $100 mind you...)

    3. Re:High time by Galvatron · · Score: 3, Insightful
      I've got to agree with the other people who say "look at the numbers." It's not our fault if your money gets you in the habit of looking at colors instead. As for it looking "odd," that's the entire goddamn point! We're used to it, so your money looks odd to us, and we don't want to switch (after all, we're the ones who have to look at it every day).

      One thing that is funny, though: dimes do not state their denomination. Nickels and pennies say "five cents" and "one cent" respectively, and quarters are, of course, a quarter of a dollar. But a dime just says "one dime." How useless is that?

      --
      "The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than that of whether a submarine can swim" -EWD
    4. Re:High time by doktor-hladnjak · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Well, I must say the first time I went to Europe (back before the Euro came out), this whole idea of differently sized, multi-color money was very novel. However, later I lived in Germany got very used to identifying the various Mark bills by color and size (and not necessarily reading the number). The best part about the old German money though I think was the people on the bills. The 10 Mark bill had Gauss on it along with the formula for the Gaussian distribution even! Anybody know if any money today still has mathematical formulas on it?

      Even with the Euro today (living in Germany again), I still correlate the color and size with the value: grey-blue is 5, red is 10, blue is 20, and 50 is orangish-brown. Now the Euro is just covered with pictures of bridges and boring stuff like that. I guess that was a necessary sacrifice though. Imagine all the countries fighting over who gets to be on the 500 euro bill.

    5. Re:High time by RealAlaskan · · Score: 2, Insightful
      At last! Banknotes you don't have to read to work out the denomination of!
      [snip]
      ... I expect that with some practice you get used to looking at the picture rather than the overall design ...

      Read? Picture? Overall design? What country's banknotes were you using?

      Here in the US, all banknotes (including the ones which were issued by private banks 100+ years ago) are clearly marked with large, legible numbers, which (follow closely here, this is deep) indicate the denomination. We use a 1 to indicate a one dollar bill, a 20 to indicate a twenty, and so on. No reading, no picture, no overall design.

      If you're blind, you're in trouble. Otherwise, there is no problem .

    6. Re:High time by rk · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, it's confusing. What really bothers me is that a dime bag costs considerably more than a dime. How are we supposed to keep this straight?

  8. and here's where the other $18 million is going by Schlemphfer · · Score: 5, Funny
    From the summary:

    The US Government is spending $53,000,000 over the next 5 years to make sure everybody knows that this is a real note, so go get acquainted with one."

    From the parent post:

    Only in America will they spend $35 million dollars to promote something everyone already wants, money.

    The other $18 million is being earmarked to fight dyslexia. Or was it $81 million?

    --
    I'm generally "Interesting," "Insightful," and even "Funny" here. What the hell happens to me at parties?
    1. Re:and here's where the other $18 million is going by in7ane · · Score: 2

      This is exactly why the multicolored bills are needed - the problem of $02 dollar bills has simply become too big.

  9. Re:Euro - when will the usa adopt? by quigonn · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Euro - what a shitty name for currency!

    Even more creative than "Dollar", because this name was ripped off from the Austrian currency "Taler" that was first established in the 15th century. But Euro on the other side symbolizes unity, a unity of countries with a currency stronger than the dollar (it is way stronger, even OPEC thinks about switching from Dollar to Euro as standard currency).

    --
    A monkey is doing the real work for me.
  10. In an instant... by webrunner · · Score: 2, Funny

    Thousands of peices of clipart rendered obsolete!

    --
    ADVENTURERS! - ANTIHERO FOR HIRE - CARDMASTER CONFLICT
  11. Re:Anybody got... by lorax · · Score: 3, Informative

    B.E.P. must have had you in mind. You can download the PDF file of the new bill here: http://www.moneyfactory.com/newmoney/files/Bill_gl ossies_white.pdf

    Does anyone else think that government sites should have .gov domains? I mean, moneyfactory.com sounds like a scam site to me.

    BTW, they still have green backs.

  12. Stop making our currency so irregular by 91degrees · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's a nuisance having all the notes different colours. They become less uniform. It's bad enough that they have different pictures on them. Can't they all be the same except for the value? Only the laziest of people and those stupid Canucks can't be bothered to read the number.

    What's even more annoying is that small change comes in different sizes. Not only that, but the sizes are illogical. I mean come on! 5c is bigger than 10c! We need to make themn all the same size and all the same colour to remove this confusion.

  13. Did anyone ask teh retailers? by amichalo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The issue I see with this form of anti-piracy copy protection is that the methods to detect fraud take too long.

    When I worked in retail where a typical purchase was about $35, we saw Twenties all day long. The only thing we did was make sure it was put in the drawer facing the same way so the manager wouldn't get upset when he did the count that night.

    For $50 or $100 we had a yellow pen that you ran on the bill and the ink would be brown for a good bill, black if it was not.

    THAT'S IT - there was no using a microscope to read Jackson's lips as he spoke the word "Republic".

    Bottom line is, unless retailers perceive there is a problem to their bottom line because the banks won't accept their cash deposits full of bad cash, the best solution is for the mint to print fewer bills and assume a certain percentage of fraudulent bills are in circulation.

    It woudl save the treasury money on ink and cotton paper!

    --
    I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
  14. Unloved $1 Coins Keep Expensive George Around by 4of12 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    All the big portrait remakes of U.S. currency neglected the one dollar bill.

    From what I understand, paper money costs more to maintain relative to coin over a period of years. Wear and tear means reprinting and replacement over a shorter life cycle for paper currency.

    There's been 2 or 3 attempts to get US to use one dollar coins, and the vending machine manufacturers and the casinos would welcome the move, but people keep wanting to use those $1 bills over the Ike dollars, the Susan B. dollars and I'm not sure what else.

    What's weird is that coins up to $20 denomination were used in the 19th century. And that was when $20 represented something like 2/3 of a month's wages for many people.

    --
    "Provided by the management for your protection."
    1. Re:Unloved $1 Coins Keep Expensive George Around by Bizaff · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If they'd just stop printing the stupid one dollar bills, people would start using the coins.

      I, for one, welcome our new coin overlords. Or something.

  15. How this happened by Eslyjah · · Score: 3, Funny

    It looks like Queer Eye visited the US Treasury.

  16. Re:Good idea by Yorrike · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Nah. The best notes I've come across, and I'm not being biased as I've used notes in lots of countries, is our very own New Zealand notes.

    Made from plastic, but designed to feel like paper, they are practically unforgable. They have transparent windows, water marks, textured areas, the whole shibang. If you ever manage to get hold of one, you'll realise just how impossible a task making a replica would be.

    Just from the link above, here's the security features of our notes (all of which I think are rather cool):

    1. Each polymer note has two transparent windows. One of the transparent windows is oval-shaped and sloping and has the denomination numerals embossed in it. The other clear window is in the shape of a curved fern leaf.
    2. There is a fern immediately above the clear fern-shaped window. When you hold the note to the light, the fern should match perfectly with another fern on the other side.
    3. You should easily be able to see a shadow image of the Queen when you hold the note to the light.
    4. Each note has an individual serial number printed horizontally and vertically.
    5. Polymer notes have raised printing, which stands up on the surface and can be felt when you run your fingers over it.
    6. Tiny micro-printed letters "RBNZ" should be visible with a magnifying glass.
    7. Under an ultraviolet light, the polymer note appears dull. Most commercial papers used in forgeries will glow under an ultraviolet light. However, polymer notes contain special inks, which make particular features glow under an ultraviolet light. For example, the front of each genuine note has a fluorescent patch showing the denomination numerals, which can only be seen under an ultraviolet light.

    --

    Looks can be deceiving. Or CAN they?

  17. Re:Euro - when will the usa adopt? by mblase · · Score: 2, Informative
    Actually, the American "dollar" borrows it's name from Spanish currency, not Austrian. Bumming from naked_ape's accurate writeup at everything2.com:
    The origin of the word dollar comes from the coins that Spanish emperor Carlos I ordered to coin at the beginnings of the XVIth century. They were of silver, (read Webster's wu for more precise information) and they had the same value as the German thaler.

    A century later, when the spanish thalers began to circulate in North America, they were called spanish dollars, as someone wrote "dollars" instead of "thalers".

    When the U.S.A. became a nation, the dollar acquired the category of national currency. In those coins were engraved the Columns of Hercules, the symbol for the Spanish Empire, that ultimately were converted into the sign that epitomizes dollars and money everywhere: $
  18. Hold My Head In Shame by splinterBR · · Score: 2, Funny

    You know, I found I derived more enjoyment and satisfaction from the flash tutorial talking about the new bill than I'll ever enjoy from fondling the real money. *sigh*

    --
    Rooting for the yankees is like rooting for herpes.
  19. As the saying goes.. by Plutor · · Score: 3, Funny

    > US Government is spending $53,000,000 over the next 5 years to make sure everybody knows that this is a real note, so go get acquainted with one.

    Well, you have to spend money to make money..

  20. Next step: Get rid of the US penny by tetranz · · Score: 2, Interesting

    One of the little hassles of life I struck when moving from New Zealand to the US is the greater effort required to empty my pocket of coins. I'd never seen those little boxes of pennies on shop counters. In NZ we gave up our 1 and 2 cent coins long ago and nobody seemed to suffer much. In the US this is the subject of a raging debate. Change (no pun intended) doesn't come easily here. In NZ we also have $1 and $2 coins and prices are usually inclusive of tax so there are fewer oddball amounts to pay.

  21. The Euro is worth more than the US Dollar. by Xenex · · Score: 3, Informative

    Clicky clicky.

    Right now, 1 EUR = 1.17USD.

    1. Re:The Euro is worth more than the US Dollar. by DietFluffy · · Score: 2

      if "1$ US = 1,387,000.0000 Turkish Lira," wouldn't the the Lira be worth millions less and not more?

  22. Sorry for the confusion... by toupsie · · Score: 5, Funny
    As American, I want to apologize about currency and your confusion using it. We should know how confusing numbers are to Europeans. That is why we are releasing European friendly bank notes now.

    On your next trip to America, just remember this simple little mathmatical formula:

    1 is less than 5 is less than 10 is less than 20 is less than 50 is less than 100

    If this still proves to be difficult, just hand over your wallet to one of us and we will audit your currency for you...for a small fee.

    --
    Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
  23. Re:Euro - when will the usa adopt? by MoP030 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    duh, like e2 is a credible source.
    all variations of "thaler","taler" and "dollar" stem from the silver coins produced at the "Joachimstaler Silvermine" (which is named after the village Saint Joachimsthal in the Erzgebirge in what is today Germany) where silver coins are produce since pretty early. You may look that up in your favourite book of etymology.
    You may also know that Austrians speak german (or germans speak austrian, by the time the words came up nations like today didnt even exist).
    So yes the term doller comes a word that is as much austrian as it is german. Just because some spanish guy used the term "taler" to denote something similar to a taler does not make it a spanish word.

    --
    the most sexp i get is my paren-mode.
  24. I guess... by feldkamp · · Score: 2, Funny

    "The US Government is spending $53,000,000 over the next 5 years to make sure everybody knows that this is a real note" ...you have to spend money to make money.

  25. Similar website for euro notes by forged · · Score: 2, Informative
    Very cool notes indeedd. A somewhat similar page exists for the Euro at eurotracer.net. The web site even allows you to enter the serial number of the notes you have in your possession, and will tell you if that note was already recorded at a prior date and give you its location back then, showing how money travels !

    The site is loaded with information on not just notes but coins as well, just browse around.

  26. Re:What they really need to do is... by mrtroy · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh my, you havent entered many establishments off the border of Canada then.

    #1. Girls can "pick up" those loonies/toonies just fine with their orifices.
    #2. If you dont like a stripper, throwing one is both cheap and effective.

    But since I am going to Vegas for my 21st bday...I will have to master the art of giving the ladies the bills...
    I dont think coins go well over there...

    --
    [I can picture a world without war, without hate. I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it]
  27. Re:Vending machines by stevel · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yes, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing has supplied test samples to the makers of recognition devices so that they can update as needed. Current models are software-updateable, but it will be a bit of a pain regardless. There are quite a few machines which accept $20s - I've seen them in Post Offices and at laundromats!

  28. Re:Next step: Get rid of the US penny by RevMike · · Score: 2, Informative
    ... prices are usually inclusive of tax so there are fewer oddball amounts to pay.

    Oddball amounts in the US are not the result of taxes being added to the total. Shopkeepers could easily work backwards to price things such that the taxes rounded off the total.

    Our non-round prices were intentionally set to force cashiers to use the cash register. If prices were nice and easy to calculate in one's head and were likely to come to some round number, a cashier might never key the sale into the register. Since the number was round, the customer might hand over the exact amount. The cashier could pocket the amount of the entire sale.

    By forcing the cashier to key the sale into the cash register, and forcing the cashier to make change, the opportunities to steal are reduced.

  29. Re:What they really need to do is... by Saige · · Score: 2, Funny

    Soon they may have the girls carrying around credit-card scanners.

    Why oh why did I just get some horrible mental imagery of where they'll be having people swipe those credit cards...

    --
    "You know your god is man-made when he hates all the same people you do."
  30. Positive integers no help at the bank by Uncle+Joe+Steel · · Score: 2, Funny

    The problem is my paycheck often has negative, irrational or imaginary dollar amounts.

  31. What the hell kind of by theonetruekeebler · · Score: 2, Funny
    What the hell kind of geek news is this? My money is just a bunch of ones and zeroes (mostly zeroes) flittling from one place to the next.

    The only thing I use paper money for is milk shakes and lap dances.

    --
    This is not my sandwich.
  32. The Fundamental Problem With Bill Revision by istartedi · · Score: 2, Interesting

    When will they get it through their heads that the construction of the bill won't every solve counterfeiting? Anything they can make, others can make too. Last time, the Russian mafia had excellent fakes out almost before most people in the US had the new bills in their pockets!

    The only practical solution is to surveil the money (not the people). What do I mean by "surveil the money?". Well, each bill already has a serial number. You don't have to track every bill either, just most bills. Scanners at banks, convenience stores, and other common cash exchange points would transmit the location of the bill, as well as validate the bill.

    To catch a counterfeiter, just watch for the following inconsistancies: Bills moving at hypersonic speeds accross the US, serial numbers that aren't in the database, two bills with the same number in different locations, etc.

    Then, just pull up the surveilance tapes from the stores where the bills are passed. Match faces. If a suspicious bill is passed by the same person more than once, you have just cause. Get warrant. Search house. You've got them.

    A few crooks would still slip through now and then, but high-volume operations would be extremely difficult because the odds would catch up with these guys. They would have to control the valid bill to prevent the dupe flag from being raised, or conspire to hack the database, or launder money through stores that didn't participate in the system--activities which are much easier to investigate and track.

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  33. Dollar bill forgeries by old_unicorn · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Is it true that they can never change the $1 bill because there it is so easy to forge that there is a vast and unknown amount of forgeries out there, and changing the bill would risk a finacial collapse, if the american government had to 'redeem' all of the forgeries?

    --
    ***You learn something Every day. And then you die.***
  34. Someone file an ADA suit, please by gmhowell · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Someone please file an ADA suit with the fed. How much longer will blind people be stuck with shitty bills? There's plenty of blind people who are perfectly capable of shopping, but can't due to lack of proper currency. No, credit is not a viable option, as there is no way to verify your purchase amount at checkout, and braille receipt printers would be far more expensive than switching the bills to other sizes.

    I mean, even those heathens in Europe have bills with different sizes. Their merchants seem to be able to handle it without trouble. Perhaps the Europeans are smarter than Americans? (Here come the /. Eurotrolls:) Look, how often do you put a $100 bill into a vending machine? Make it larger. Ditto from $20 on up. The only thing that might be a minor bit of hassle is changing the size of the $5 and $10.

    That's the difference between the blind and the deaf communities. The deaf would be marching on DC if they couldn't use currency. The blind just shut up and take it. (Before you blast me or mod me down, my wife is both deaf and blind, so I have experience with both groups.)

    --
    Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon