According to this link a new quarter with Braille will be issued in honor of Helen Keller. This raises a few questions in my mind.
Is the Braille largely symbolic, or is thisgoing to be a new part of our currency? (Considering it’s the Alabama quarter, I’m guessing it’s just a limited issue.) Seems like to me if it’s going to be permenant, they should have started with paper bills. I can reach into my pocket and identify a quarter by touch. Not so with a $20. Why * hasn’t * paper money been marked with Braille before now? (Seems like it would be a simple process.)
Seconly, does anyone else find it slightly ironic that in a time of flag-waving and vehement patriotism we would be honoring a woman who was a passionate socialist?
I’m from Alabama, and ever since this state quarter fiasco got started, I’ve been dreading what Alabama could come up with. Now I must say I’m most pleased! This may be my favorite quarter yet!
However, I think that article sort of misses the point, or at least doesn’t make it clear. The Braille that appears on the quarter does not identify the coin. It merely says, Helen Keller. It’s also way too small to be easily read. See a picture here:
There is little reason to put Braille onto US currency. The coins are already easily distinguishable to blind people. A more sensible alternative to marking bills with Braille would be to make the bills different sizes. The reason this hasn’t happened yet is because Americans hate handicapped people. Well okay, maybe that’s overstating the case, but Americans prefer what is familiar to what is practical when it comes to currency, and this inertia comes at the expense of handicapped people.
This is circular logic. It’s practical because it helps handicapped people and it helps handicapped people because it’s practical.
I certainly don’t wish to hijack this into a GD type thread, but could you explain to me why different sized bills would be practical to the average American?
Sorry, I guess I was unclear, but I don’t see how. It’s practical because it helps people with poor or nonexistent vision, and it helps them because they can tell them apart. It would not be more practical for people with average vision, unless, say, they were working in low-light conditions.
I would think the size difference necessary to distinguish one denomination from another (regarding bills, mind you) would create much confusion on the part of “normal”* people. Coins are one thing, I can tell them apart just fine without seeing them, but bills? How small would they get? How large would a hundred dollar bill be? I don’t see how this could benefit anyone.
*By “normal” I mean “People without any sort of physical disability”, not to imply that these people are not normal members of society…[sub]now where’d my asbestos underpants go…[/sub]
No, I guess I understood you perfectly actually. Your contention is that changing the size of the dollar bill would be practical for the handicapped. Of that we’re in agreement. But your statement was “Americans prefer what is familiar to what is practical when it comes to currency” to which I ask how it is practical for all Americans to change the currency size? To most people, the status quo IS practical.
On another note, when Canadian bills were reissued in the last couple of years they were marked with Braille. Now, I’m not blind and I don’t read Braille, but this seems useless to me. The Braille gets squished or torn very quickly in regular circulation, to the point where I’m sure it’s unreadable. The only time you can notice the raised marks is when you get a fresh crisp just-out-the-bank-machine type note.
So it seems to me that if I were blind, I wouldn’t rely on the Braille markings, because 90% of the time I’d be up the creek. Don’t blind people generally fold their bills differently to distinguish them anyways?
Except that you’re not the only one who uses money. Imagine if you had x-ray vision or something, or something ridiculously contrived such that the way bills were printed, no other human being could read them, but you could. You would know which bill is which, but you couldn’t conduct business with anyone because they wouldn’t. Would you say in this scenario that the money is practical for you?
TheOtherOne: It is possible. Other countries do it. People who are skilled with their hands can tell them apart without huge variation in size.
In millimeters, Euro bills range in size from 120 × 62, for a €5 bill, to 160 × 82, for a €500. All US bills measure 156 × 66.3. For both US dollars and Euros there are 7 denominations (1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100; and 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500). So, it’s doable.
No, it is not.
But you’re right when you say that situation is ridiculously contrived because no government is going to print bills that 99.99999% of the population can’t use. That’s just not being logical.
In the alternative, I would never expect the government to retrofit their entire currency line if I’m the only one who cannot read the bills printed.
So let’s look at actual statistics.
According to this website http://www.afb.org/info_document_view.asp?documentid=1529
approximately 2-3% of the population is blind or visually impaired. The numbers are old, and they may be off, but 7-10 million out of 262 is at least a good comparison. If you have others, that’s fine.
2-3% of the population, that includes those in homes and others who have no need for money in day to day life.
So my question, as it has always been, is whether it’s practical for the other 97-98% of the population to change the bills.
I know that in my personal dealings, I only interact with one blind man. I tell him what bill I’m giving him, he gives me change. It’s a simple process that wouldn’t be sped up through varying bill sizes.
So, would it be practical for everyone else to change. In the alternative, are there any blind interest groups you know of who are lobbying for change?
US Quarters have an indented rim for touch- identification. 5 cents do not. dimes do. pennys dont. One dollar coins, don’t. As you can see there is a pattern.
Ender - I think the point is that changing the size of bills would be practical for blind people and not unpractical to sighted people. It would be of no detriment to sighted people if bank notes changed sizes slightly and there would be benefits for blind people and therefore there’s no good theoretical reason why they don’t. It’s just that most people simply prefer the status quo, which means blind people in the US lose out.
Actually, there would be one question of impracticality for different-sized notes. Mechanical and optical bill-readers would all have to be re-sized, or changed to allow different-sized notes. There’s also the question of vending machines–most machines in the US now take bills of one kind or another, and those would have to be re-sized. (I never saw a vending machine that took bills in the UK, so it’s not really an issue there.)
This is a completely uneducated suggestion, but–would it be possible to produce US bills with slightly raised ink for identification by the blind? I know that US bills are made with slightly raised ink right now, but would it be practical for this to be extended? (I know that eventually, the raised ink would be worn in normal use.)
I think switching to something like the Austrailian currency with the lamanated money would help us in a couple of ways. First of all any braille would remain useful for longer periods of time and second of all we wouldnt have to shred the money after only 9 or 10 months in circulation due to its condition.
And on the political issue of her being a Socialist: So what? She was a hero for many people and has helped mankind in numerous ways, who cares what her political views were? Isn’t our nation based upon the rights of people to have different viewpoints?
It’s my understanding that blind people created their own system of folding bills differently to ID the amount.
Also, I’ve heard that braille is a dying language. Blind people don’t really use it anymore. They use tape, telephone, and other forms of recording to communicate.
That said, I think Helen Keller is swell. I’m glad she got a coin!
Duke - I do realise that it would mean changing the minting machines and bill-readers, which is why I said there’s no theoretical reasons not to adopt a blind-friendly currency. There are practical reasons, and it’s a complicated issue whether the expense would be justified. Considering that there are 3.5 million visually impaired people in the US (according to the cite I gave earlier), I think it would be justified. But I suspect I would be in the minority.
As for raised writing - yes, that’s possible and probably more viable. The writing on UK banknotes is considerably raised, as well as the notes being varying sizes.
Enderw24: Yes, I agree that if it were just a few people who’d benefit, they’d be out of luck. But if you think 10 million people is just a few…
Duke: Yes, automatic bill detectors would have to be redesigned, but I imagine the new ones would be cheaper, since they could detect size, not optical patterns. Do you have any idea how much it cost Europe to adopt a new currency? I don’t, I’m just wondering.
My recollection of the blind bill-folding system is:
Ones are unfolded
Fives are folded in half in the typical way, creating a near-square
Tens are folded in half lengthwise, making a long skinny
Twenties are folded in half twice, into “vertical” fourths
Fifties and larger are uncommon. If used, they’re folded in half on each axis
As for currency detectors, having different sized bills would create a challenge for all users - if the bill is smaller than the slot, which side should it go against? Most people can’t figure out which direction to set a piece of paper on the glass of a copier, so I can’t imagine how confused they’d be with different sizes in their wallets.
I can understand its dwindling for sommunication, but blind people don’t read any more? As an avid reader, I despise books-on-tape. If I were blind I would much prefer to read with the Braille system.
The problem with folding individual bills to identify their demonimations is that you still need a seeing person to tell you what they are. It seems to me that a few Braille dots in the upper corner would eliminate the need to change the size of the bills.
Well, not long ago, the USPS honored a Communist with a stamp. Someone who is for the most part would be pretty much unknown except to the “arts and croissants crowd” were it not for the movie made about her last year–Frida Kahlo.
(My own opinion for the USPS to pick here was not because of her politics, but because they felt that lesbians had been under-represented in previous stamp issues.)
