# How do blind people tell the difference on US Dollar bills? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 11, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449 "2009-06-11T15:10:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/21 "2009-06-11T23:13:59Z")
I’ve read that an experienced bank teller, or perhaps someone skilled in the art of detecting counterfeits, can tell a fake bill just by rubbing it between two fingers. So the question is: What is the variation in thickness of the printed features on a bill, and to what sensitivity can human fingers detect such changes in thickness? More practically, you could simply try to train a blind person to classify different bills based on trying to feel for identifiable surface features. I have a feeling this will work. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/22 "2009-06-11T23:24:29Z")
I wonder if a tactile device would have trouble passing the BEP durability tests. In the past, potential currency innovations have failed because of them. The BEP insists that bill designs be able to survive some fairly ridiculous abuse in those tests. The “crumple test” is one often cited, in which the bill is rolled up, stuffed into a tiny tube, and crushed into a little pill by a piston. Several times. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/23 "2009-06-11T23:33:12Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > The notes may say “Federal Reserve Note” but they don’t actually _make_ the bills. Hell, the Treasury doesn’t even make the bills, it’s the [Bureau of Engraving and Printing](http://www.moneyfactory.gov/), while the US Mint makes the coins. Total clusterf\*ck. It’s because of political resistance to a central bank in the early history of the United States–which is also the reason why currency is signed (so to speak) by the Treasurer and Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, rather than the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and/or the FR district bank president or cashier. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/24 "2009-06-11T23:43:14Z")
> [@This\_Just\_In\_2](#): > > Not very often since they’d get screwed over. But if I were a blind person I think I would want to be able to go out and buy something if I wanted to, without having to take a leap of faith with every transaction. > > It would be so easy for the Fed’s to make colorful money, indented paper, different sized paper. Most other countries do these things. > > I’ve seen people who can see well mistake an American 1 for a 10 just because they look the same. In other countries you don’t have to _read_ a bill to tell what it is, you just look at it and see what it is based on colour and/or shape. So if the bills are different sizes how would that help a blind person from buying canned peaches and not olives? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/25 "2009-06-11T23:47:25Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > The notes may say “Federal Reserve Note” but they don’t actually _make_ the bills. Hell, the Treasury doesn’t even make the bills, it’s the [Bureau of Engraving and Printing](http://www.moneyfactory.gov/), while the US Mint makes the coins. Total clusterf\*ck. I forgot to mention also that this sort of thing used to be standard procedure everywhere. Technically speaking, only the coins are “money” as such, while the currency is a negotiable promise to pay money. In the days when coins used to be made of precious metals, particularly gold, you could bring uncoined gold that you possessed to a mint, and it would be made into coins. The coins would then be given to you, less a processing fee, and were yours to spend or save or whatever. This was how new coins entered the economy. Paper money was issued originally by commercial banks as receipts for money deposits, but the right to issue banknotes was, over time, restricted to government central banks nearly everywhere. The manufacture of silver coins was probably similar in principle to the manufacture of coins today: For much if not most of American history prior to 1965, the metal value of the silver in the coins was a lot less than their face value, so you couldn’t just bring silver to a mint and have it transmogrified pound for pound into silver coins. In any event…paper money came from banks, and coins came from mints. It was perfectly natural to assign the two roles to two different organizations. Beyond all that, it doesn’t matter much who actually operates the printing press. There is, or was, an “American Bank Note Company” which used to print currency for most of the Western Hemisphere. It doesn’t affect the notes’ financial significance at all. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/26 "2009-06-11T23:52:46Z")
I wonder if it’s common for local business to keep blind people’s credit card or bank info on file, so they can just put things on their accounts? Then they could verify the transactions with their banks by telephone. ---
**Author:** ![This\_Just\_In\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@This\_Just\_In\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_Just_In_2)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/27 "2009-06-11T23:54:33Z")
> [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > So if the bills are different sizes how would that help a blind person from buying canned peaches and not olives? Are you implying that because some items in a store feel the same it is pointless to do simple basic things to make it easier for them to be a consumer? From anything I’ve ever read blind people adapt and don’t just sit at home waiting for help to do anything. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/28 "2009-06-11T23:55:03Z")
I once knew someone whose wife was blind and asked the same question. He said that she only carried ones and fives. That made it impossible to shortchange her. She kept the bills in two separate sections of her wallet. ---
**Author:** ![This\_Just\_In\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@This\_Just\_In\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_Just_In_2)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/29 "2009-06-11T23:56:06Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > I’ve read that an experienced bank teller, or perhaps someone skilled in the art of detecting counterfeits, can tell a fake bill just by rubbing it between two fingers. > > So the question is: What is the variation in thickness of the printed features on a bill, and to what sensitivity can human fingers detect such changes in thickness? > > More practically, you could simply try to train a blind person to classify different bills based on trying to feel for identifiable surface features. I have a feeling this will work. As I mentioned in post 3 of this thread, this already has been shown to work - in Canada. > **[Canadian currency tactile feature](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_currency_tactile_feature)** > > The Canadian currency tactile feature is a feature on the Canadian Journey and Frontier series of Canadian banknotes to aid people who are visually impaired to identify the notes. The feature indicates the banknote denomination in the upper left corner of the face side of the bill using a series of raised dots. It was suggested by Bruno Thériault, an administrator for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, and designed by Susan Lederman, a professor of psychology at Queen's University. Al... ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/30 "2009-06-12T00:43:26Z")
At two courthouses I’ve been in, the concession stands were staffed by blind people. It was always a treat to see them work. I first experienced it as a child and was just flabbergasted. It was quite a busy stand. So not only do blind folks figure out ways to exist in a sighted world with non-blind friendly money, some even work with money a lot. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/31 "2009-06-12T01:08:57Z")
In [a 2006 decision](http://www.acb.org/press061129.html), a federal judge ruled on behalf of the American Council of the Blind that U.S. currency illegally discriminates against the blind, which was [upheld](http://www.acb.org/press-releases/final-edit-paper-currency-ruling-080520.html) by the federal appeals court last year. I can’t find anything on if the issue will be taken to the Supreme Court (if the federal government chooses to appeal the decision), but conceivably U.S. currency will be made to change in some way. (Although the decisions appear to be based on federal statutes, not on any constitutional principle, so even if the American Council of the Blind won at the Supreme Court level, Congress could presumably override the decision by passing a new law.) ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/32 "2009-06-12T01:58:25Z")
> [@ChrisBooth12](#): > > How often are blind people out buying something buy themselves? Believe it or not, quite often. It’s not like they all just sit around all day waiting for some sighted person to do everything for them. :rolleyes: It’s called independence. People find their own ways to do things. I bet the money thing isn’t nearly as big a deal these days what with debit cards. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/33 "2009-06-12T02:06:44Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > I’ve read that an experienced bank teller, or perhaps someone skilled in the art of detecting counterfeits, can tell a fake bill just by rubbing it between two fingers. > > So the question is: What is the variation in thickness of the printed features on a bill, and to what sensitivity can human fingers detect such changes in thickness? > > More practically, you could simply try to train a blind person to classify different bills based on trying to feel for identifiable surface features. I have a feeling this will work. As an experienced bank teller, I can usually feel a fake. But I can’t be certain… sometimes really new money feels fake or money that has some sort of chemical on it (a lady brought in money covered in hairspray once, with the excuse that her bottle leaked… where was she keeping her money?). But even so, a real $20 will feel the same as a real $10. I also work with foreign currency at my bank, and I’m amazed by all the ways other countries make denominations different. Some have a window of translucent material in different places on the bills. Some have braille-ish bumps, others have the different sizes. Some have rounded corners on different places. Some have strips of another material on the bill (like a glossy strip in the midst of a paper bill). And on and on. It’s amazing that the US and all its anti-counterfeiting work hasn’t taken up on ANY of those measures, not to mention the assistance to those with disabilities. ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/34 "2009-06-12T02:47:44Z")
> [@This\_Just\_In\_2](#): > > As I mentioned in post 3 of this thread, this already has been shown to work - in Canada. > > [Canadian currency tactile feature - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_currency_tactile_feature) That’s similar to, but not the same as, what I am suggesting. I am suggesting that in the absence of explicitly added accessibility features such as braille a blind person might be able to learn to distinguish between very fine printed surface features that were never intended to be used as such. In other words, using currently issued US currency. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/35 "2009-06-12T03:20:05Z")
Not to take anything away from blind people, but I think by the time they become adults most have figured out their own ways to deal with things like this. Going to regular grocery stores, banks and what not, but also for having their own methods of finding olives vs. pickles. As for myself, if I were a cashier and I knew the person was blind, I would announce their change. (Not the actual coin change, I can figure that out for myself) But rather, say something like “here’s your change - one ten, one five, two singles and your (coin) change” as I handed it to them. In that order. They can then sort it out by whatever system the person has. Not because they’re blind, but just as a courtesy. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/36 "2009-06-12T05:43:10Z")
> [@Serenata67](#): > > As an experienced bank teller, I can usually feel a fake. But I can’t be certain… sometimes really new money feels fake or money that has some sort of chemical on it (a lady brought in money covered in hairspray once, with the excuse that her bottle leaked… where was she keeping her money?). But even so, a real $20 will feel the same as a real $10. I’ll agee with this. I worked retail (strictly cash) for some years, and you get to be able to “feel” what is legit and what is not. How does a bill feel? Is the printing raised the way it should be? Is the printing as sharp as it is supposed to be? I won’t get into the specifics, but the feel was definitely part of the determination. > [@](#): > > I also work with foreign currency at my bank, and I’m amazed by all the ways other countries make denominations different. Some have a window of translucent material in different places on the bills. Some have braille-ish bumps, others have the different sizes. Some have rounded corners on different places. > Some have strips of another material on the bill (like a glossy strip in the midst of a paper bill). And on and on. It’s amazing that the US and all its anti-counterfeiting work hasn’t taken up on ANY of those measures, not to mention the assistance to those with disabilities. Yes, I was always surprised at the reluctance of the US treasury (or whatever body was in charge) to implement anti-counterfeiting, change-of-design measures. Here in Canada, we redesign our currency every twenty years or so; total redesigns, and though we never devalue anything, people who try to pass bills with old designs are immediately suspect. When I worked retail, and a customer wanted to use US currency (which we accepted, although at an extortionate exchange rate), we had to know whose signatures were current, what president was supposed to be on the bill, and which federal reserve bank was allocated which alphabet letter. In short, US currency was a pain because it had been the same for years, and we’d sometimes refuse it (there is no Canadian law that says we had to accept it) because it was too much of a PITA to verify. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/37 "2009-06-12T08:01:10Z")
> [@This\_Just\_In\_2](#): > > As I mentioned in post 3 of this thread, this already has been shown to work - in Canada. > > [Canadian currency tactile feature - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_currency_tactile_feature) Huh. I’m surprised they have the dots configured the way they do. Think about it: Let’s say I wanted to rip off a blind person, and have figured out a way to add additional braille cells to the bills. If I wanted the blind person to think I was giving him a $20, I could just counterfeit 2 extra braille cells to a $5 bill, and he’d think he got a $20. To fix this, they should have set the order up backwards. The lower denominations would have more braille cells, since you would think it’d be harder to flatten or make the bumps disappear. Of course, this is probably a rare sort of counterfeiting (if ever), but still, it’s pretty vulnerable as it stands. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/38 "2009-06-12T14:54:17Z")
My step-father’s grandson is an autistic teenager. One of the things he can’t do is count money. When he has to pay for something, he just hands all his money over and asks the to count it for him. However, according to my stepfather, he has fewer incidences of getting incorrect change than your average person. Maybe because the clerks take extra time to make sure it’s correct. StG ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/39 "2009-06-13T04:48:35Z")
> [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](#): > > As for myself, if I were a cashier and I knew the person was blind, I would announce their change. (Not the actual coin change, I can figure that out for myself) But rather, say something like “here’s your change - one ten, one five, two singles and your (coin) change” as I handed it to them. In that order. They can then sort it out by whatever system the person has. I have a friend who is blind, and she says that if the cashier does not do this on their own, she asks them to do it. Explaining that she has to get each denomination separately, so she can put them away in the right way in her billfold. They always do it, and often apologize for not doing it at first. If she’s out with some of us sighted people and is paying, she often asks one of us “Is this a twenty?” before paying with it. She blames this on the fact that she isn’t as careful about keeping her bills separated as some other blind people are – she says she’s too old to worry about that! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449/40 "2009-06-13T15:23:59Z")
The reluctance to change the currency has a lot to do with the black helicopter crowd. There was a tremendous hue and cry 20-ish years ago when they first changed the $20 bill to make the portrait larger and off-center. it’s all a plot to render the old currency unusable, so the Zionists and one-worlders will take your frreedom. Or something like that. I could never make heads nor tails of the screaming. But there was lots. And that was after 15 years of the BEP trying to prepare people for the idea that the currency had to change to defeat more modern counterfeiters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-blind-people-tell-the-difference-on-us-dollar-bills/499449.md?page=3)