The United States as well as all other countries that use currency put a very good effort into making physical money look distinctive. Even though money is become more and more electronic as time goes on, plain physical tender is something that won’t ever go away because it’s required in order for a monetary system to work.
My personal favorite as far as US currency is concerned is the 1966 C-Note, as in the 100-dollar bill:
Compare to what we have now:
The old ’66 C-Note to my eyes has a much more distinctive look to it and as far as I’m concerned looks more valuable than the current note.
Something that completely blew me away when I saw it is an artist’s rendition of what future US currency could look like.
The images below are from this gallery where you can see higher-resolution versions.
For the example here I’ve chosen the ten-dollar bill (the gallery contains the 1 and 5-dollar denominations as well).
Front:
Back:
I’ve seen a few renditions of what US currency could look like in the future, but this one absolutely blows me away for two reasons.
First, this is the only artist’s rendition of US currency I’ve seen where the number denomination is very pronounced but does not look tacky. This is a very distinctive note, decidedly American, very modern/futuristic, very cool all around. I would love to have these in my wallet.
Second, I really like the idea of the back of the note being vertical in nature. Why? Because most of us count notes in the hand with them oriented vertically. The back of the note situated as it is makes it easier to handle for everyone.
What do you think? Would US cash look better this way?
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Tacky is a very subjective.
And “looking cool” should not be a consideration of our money, IMO. Distinctive and hard to replicate should be the focus.
I can see the point of vertical bills. However, I’ve never had nor heard of anyone having a problem counting horizontal bills.
Overall, it’s insulting to me every time the subject of redesigning our money comes up. The millions of dollars it takes to accomplish it — especially at a time when our government doesn’t have enough of it to cover the things they NEED to be covering — is excessive and unnecessary.
Tacky defined: Our current 5, 10, 20 and 50 notes. Huge numbers on the rear side of the note that look just plain wrong. Looks like Monopoly money. That’s insulting. We can do much better.
Have you seen the new C-Note design coming (back) that will appear in regular circulation in 2011? Tacky, tacky, tacky.
I’ve seen this guy before the one who makes legal counterfeit money,when I was taking Graphic Communication (“Printing”).We had watch a PBS documentary on counterfeiting. Not how to do it, just about it.
The greatest purpose of the relatively new look of the currency is to make it so that it cannot be reproduced by counterfeiters AND so that the average person who accepts currency can tell if it is real or counterfeit. This is why some of the new feature are as they are…such as an enlarged head of a past President. Does the face look as detailed as normal? …and is there a vertical stripe through the bill? Does it show the denomination through the bill when held up to the light?
I don’t care much the last example of currency. It looks the same as what you would find in most every other country on this planet. US currency has a distinct look that I prefer. I also don’t think the last example is as counterfeit proof as our currency design because of its simple design.
Our currency is fine now. I wish the treasury would put an end to wasting taxpayer money on another design or on something stupid like a two dollar bill or yet one more version of the one dollar coin.
Valid points, all of them – except for the part about coins.
My single largest gripe about US coin currency is that we don’t use it enough, mainly because the denominations don’t go up high enough. All we ever use coins for are for toll gates, purchasing anything under a one-dollar note, or to not break a note (ex: You’d rather pay $4.57 using a five-note and 57 cents of coins to get a 1-note back instead of taking coin change by using a single five-note).
I’d welcome the introduction of 5-dollar and 10-dollar coins. This would give people reason to use 1-dollar coins rather than just for collector’s purposes.
In fact I’d even welcome it if vending machines could accept 1-dollar Susan B. coins such as if you wanted to purchase a bottle of soda that costs $1.25. Instead of dealing with the paper note readers that don’t work right half the time, all that’s required is two coins, a Susan B and a 25-cent, done deal.
I am a fan of coins, but anything over a quarter-dollar is basically unusable. That needs to change (pun intended).
If it really helps prevent counterfeiting, I’m 100% for it. That, however, remains to be seen.
I am 100% against spending one red cent redesigning our money for aesthetics reasons. That’s just ridiculous to say.
Our government is bad enough. No reason for them to start acting like a woman who needs to buy new shoes because the old ones are “out of style”.
The issue is not what it looks like but what it can buy. Debasement of the currency has been palpable. Value is key, never mind the catwalk. If you package a disaster, it still remains just that, so what is the point? Vanity, sheer vanity.
Whatever the Treasury Department does, I hope they remember the importance of maintaining the size of the bill. The back side image looks like the bill has a more elongated shape than current bills. Is it thinner, or longer than the old bills?
Either way, the bill needs to maintain the same width to remain compatible with the millions of machines that take bills right now. The length shouldn’t change too much, as wallets are made to fit our bills the way they are. Have you seen the size difference between a 5 euro and a 100 euro? I always found that annoying. A 500 euro? You have to fold it to fit it in your wallet.
Euro banknotes come in 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 denominations. Each is a different size with 5 being physically smallest and 500 largest. Denominations under 5 are only in coins, which makes perfect sense, because anything that’s supposed to go in a vending machine should be coin-only.
I don’t agree with differing sizes of notes (yes, that is annoying), but I do wish we had far wider use of one-dollar coins. Two-dollar coins would be nice also, much the same way there are 1 and 2-euro coins.
I like the look of those mockups a lot. Very modern. One issue I have with them though, is that nowhere do they say ‘In God We Trust’. Instead, on the back they say ‘Trust in Reason’. US bills have always said the former, and I don’t think that should ever change. To remove it now might be seen as pushing away (in a sense) those of us (like myself) who believe in a God. I do believe that we have a right to believe what we want, but still, removing it now still seems wrong. Kind of edging along breaking the first amendment, which ironically is printed on the back of the bill.
While in Germany, one good point was made for the different size notes: it’s easier for the blind to know how much money they have in their hand. If we ever go this route, it will be a result of an ADA action.
Yes, larger denomination coins would make coins in general more useful. As it is now, coins are just a fun thing for my son to drop into his piggy bank. I don’t like change jingling in my pocket, so I usually don’t use cash anyways.
I have been to Europe and their paper currency looks like this and is very colorful. This rendition reminds me of those nation’s currency. I like the look.
Well that was sexist.
That looks amazing. Such large use of black might be too costly in ink though… When you are printing trillions and trillions per second, it can add up. (print more money to pay for costs…)
There is going to be a redesigned 100 coming out Feb? With the hologram and ink well. I would love to have the all black money though.