I’ve always thought that artistically, the New Zealand notes shaded the Aussie ones. The current issue polymer notes of NZ (along with other country’s currency) are produced in Australia by Note Printing Australia .
I understand that they have made regular presentations/submissions to the US Treasury but so far tradition holds sway.
Yeah - here’s another vote for Aussie cash. (Even if the currency is worth less than the plastic it’s printed on!) It’s bright, easy to tell apart, much easier for foreigners, the poor-sighted, etc.
However I didn’t find it so tear proof - once a note had a tiny nick in it it would literally slice in two.
A friend of mine was on a flight from Atlanta to Sydney, and a young American girl grew restless (go figure.) The girl strolled around a lot, talking to passengers. An Australian woman decided to occupy the girl for a little bit by showing her Australian currency. “See?” she said. “The £5 note is purple. They’re all different colours; that’s how you can tell them apart.” Then the woman asked the stumper: “All your country’s money looks the same. How do you tell one note from another?” The girl replied, “You just look at the numbers.”
I’ve never found the uniformity of American currency to be problematic. The bit about looking at the numbers has always worked for me. I’ve dealt regularly with the currencies of five other countries before, all of which featured varying colors and sizes, and I’ve never found this to be advantageous. When I lived in Strasbourg, France, it was typical for me to have at any given time francs, marks and dollars in my wallet, jumbled together. I guess if you’re not used to uniformity, it’s more of an issue.
I also have to say I like the way our currency looks, and the phasing out of the official-looking green-white-and-black, uniformly sized bills saddens me. That said, I have to say I’m all for the colorization of American currency, and have been for years. I’ll remain nostalgic for the classic US currency, but the colors are the way to go, particularly if it helps in the struggle against counterfeiting. I do think the government should recall the existing bills, though. If we’re really worried about counterfeiting, we should start off with a clean slate. I also advocate making the bills various sizes. It wouldn’t inconvenience anyone and would only help the visually impaired.
I also support the phasing out of the $1 bill. I think the US $1 bill is about the coolest-looking piece of paper money, because of the Great Seal on the back, and I would miss it. But the dollar coin is just so much more practical. Plus they’re cool as hell, too. I love that flying eagle with the seventeen stars on the back. Being the poster boy for the Sacajawea dollar, I always have a few in my pocket, and I spend them regularly. But that’s another thread…
Dammit! I used the pound symbol for Australian currency! I know damn well they use dollars there! Sorry about that! It’s just that I was being cute and using the British spelling for the Australian woman’s speech, and… Well, sorry.