# Another redesign of US currency?!? Arrgh! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 22, 2002, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483 "2002-06-22T19:55:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![red\_dragon60](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@red\_dragon60](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/red_dragon60)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/1 "2002-06-22T19:55:50Z")
I read in the paper that the Bureau is planning on releasing new bill designs in 2003. I was just getting used to our monopoly money! I had just found the secret “United States of America” in Grant’s collar! I like the new old money! Have counterfeiters defeated all the security measures already? ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/2 "2002-06-22T20:23:56Z")
While were at it, it’s a new century, lets have some new faces… George Washington can stay on the $1, and Lincoln on the $5, but honestly I am not sure who some of those other guys are…and I’m a History major! Since the French once put art and artists on their Francs, lets continue that tradition. $2 - since it’s barely used, someone ‘underground’ or ‘edgy’ how ‘bout **Lenny Bruce** , with "Just Two Lousy Fuckin’ Dollars" printed on the reverse side. $10 - **Jackson Pollack** on a note splattered with purple red, orange, and green dye. $20 - \*\* Otis Redding \*\* $50 - \*\* Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin \*\* and \*\* That Other Guy They Hung out With \*\* with cocktails. $100 - Andy Warhol’s \*\* Marilyn Monroe\*\* portrait. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/3 "2002-06-22T22:26:39Z")
I think it’s about time we put Martin Luther King on some money. Also Howard Stern. And a special collectors series devoted to deceased porn stars. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/4 "2002-06-22T22:36:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > \*\*And a special collectors series devoted to deceased porn stars. \*\* Yeah, but you’d never get the John Holmes $20 to fit in your wallet. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Big\_Kahuna\_Burger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Kahuna_Burger)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/5 "2002-06-22T22:36:36Z")
Frankly, **cuate** , the 1 and 5 are getting stale too. For the 1 I imagine a psychadelic Jimi Hendrix, and for the 5 should be a tableau of Darth Vader telling Luke he’s his father. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/6 "2002-06-22T22:37:27Z")
**red\_dragon60** , you better get used to it. The plan is to introduce new designs every 7-10 years. According to the [Bureau of Engraving and Printing](http://www.moneyfactory.com/document.cfm/10/63/1666), the new design will include “subtle background colors.” Soon we’ll have cartoon money like the rest of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/7 "2002-06-22T23:23:07Z")
Does that mean when we go to Canada we can a loonie and a toonie for a wabbit? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/8 "2002-06-22T23:29:57Z")
It is in the national interest for the BEP to stay 1 step ahead of the counterfeiters. **cuate** knows who Alexander Hamilton and Andrew Jackson are (I hope). (S)he also knows who Grant and Benjamin Franklin are. Still, I wouldn’t mind finding a new mug for the $50. And the $20 for that matter. I hope that Hamilton stays on the $10 though - he reminds us that the US’s commercial character goes back to its earliest days. Also, the $2 bill rocks. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/9 "2002-06-22T23:52:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cheesesteak \* > **Yeah, but you’d never get the John Holmes $20 to fit in your wallet.** Maybe not, but on the plus side, if you passed a sexy young lady it would turn into a $200 bill! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2002, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/10 "2002-06-22T23:57:24Z")
Well, even if we keep the $2 bill let’s promote Jefferson to something a little more widespread. Jeez, he gets no respect. Bounce Hamilton and put Jefferson there. Maybe put John Adams on the $2 or something. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/11 "2002-06-23T00:50:39Z")
But will they still be big head bills? I like big head money. It’s like having a think tank in your pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/12 "2002-06-23T00:56:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Biggirl \* > \*\*But will they still be big head bills? \*\* The John Holmes one will be. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c2a13f/32.png) [@The\_Man\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_Who)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/13 "2002-06-23T01:16:34Z")
I was reading something yeasterday about a group that is trying to get Ronald Reagan onto the 10 dollar bill. Most likely the same group that is trying to get something in every county in the US named after him. -Myron ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/14 "2002-06-23T02:41:39Z")
It would be ironic if an early advocate of fiscal responsibility and the “sinking fund” was replaced by the President who presided over the greatest increase in peacetime budget deficits the US had ever seen (downturns excluded, just to be safe). ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2002, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/15 "2002-06-23T06:23:24Z")
The BEP’s rules forbid putting living people on currency. So we have to wait for the Reagan $10 bill. > [@](#): > > The law prohibits portraits of living persons from appearing on Government Securities. Therefore, the portraits on our currency notes and coins are of deceased persons whose places in history the American people know well. The designs shown on our coins have changed at different times for different denominations. ---
**Author:** ![Opus1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/858c86/32.png) [@Opus1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opus1)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2002, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/16 "2002-06-24T04:36:26Z")
> [@](#): > > The BEP’s rules forbid putting living people on currency. But Reagan’s only half-alive! Maybe if we only put him on the back or something… d&r… ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/17 "2002-06-28T02:08:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Opus1 \* > \*\* > > But Reagan’s only half-alive! Maybe if we only put him on the back or something… > > d&r… \*\* Well, if he’s half-alive, they could put him on the 50¢ piece. Anyway, why do people get so upset over this issue? I couldn’t care less if they printed money on tree bark with the lyrics to “Hungry Like the Wolf” on the back and a picture of a monkey fucking a porcupine on the front. As long as it’s good, so what? ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/18 "2002-06-28T17:11:15Z")
> [@](#): > > you better get used to it. The plan is to introduce new designs every 7-10 years. How will this affect the little dollar bill readers on video games and change machines? Dammit, I already know of one that will only accept old fives not new ones. Chaos, I tell you, chaos! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/19 "2002-06-28T17:58:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > \*\*Anyway, why do people get so upset over this issue? I couldn’t care less if they printed money on tree bark with the lyrics to “Hungry Like the Wolf” on the back and a picture of a monkey fucking a porcupine on the front. As long as it’s good, so what? \*\* How does a monkey fuck a porcupine? Very, very carefully. 😃 Personally, I would like us to move to a system of anonymous digital cash. Then we could have customized e-cash cards with whaterver we wanted on them. ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2002, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483/20 "2002-06-28T18:05:20Z")
My understanding is that they have already re-designed the bills and are now do vigouros fold testing on them to see what kind of hidden images there are. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-redesign-of-us-currency-arrgh/115483.md?page=2)