I spend all the old twenties first and save the new ones till last. I prefer the new design. When’s the next state quarter due for release?
The first Geogias are just appearing–my brother got one in Washington, DC. Next after that is Connecticut.
Many European countries have moved to similar, modernist designs, but they’ve made the money more colourful. More importantly, they’ve taken politicians off the bills, and replaced them with great figures from science and the arts. The last idea strikes me as best.
On colored money: as a Canadian living in the states, it took me six months to get in the habit of inspecting the denominations of my bills instead of looking at the colour (and to quit handing over twenties instead of ones: only one merchant ever stopped me; I wonder how many didn’t).
I think most people that think the new bills are ugly will get over it after awhile. I don’t think they’re ugly, just different. The thing that bothers most people, IMHO, is the asymetrical layout on the front. This will just take a little getting used to.
As for getting the taxpayers to make decisions about what design to use, have you taken a really good look at the quality of people we send to the White House? Obviously, our decision making capabilities leave something to be desired.
Carpe hoc!
Even with all the new technology (don’t gorget blue and red fibers woven in to the bill) my friend still managed to photocopy some and pass them off to a pizza delivery man.
Formerly known as Nec3f on the AOL SDMB
Hey, Joey. You might want to be careful about that. The Secret Service doesn’t joke about these things. If an agent reads this, you might be noticing large men in dark glasses and suits everywhere you go.
That’s okay, he already got caught. (Had his room raided for other things and they came across the money). So it would kinda be the double jepordy thing. Besides just think about the scanner thread.
Can you say fedral pen?
Formerly known as Nec3f on the AOL SDMB
The new bills bite – yuppie food stamps, I call 'em.
If they ever change the color, Wotan help us all …
{{{Even with all the new technology (don’t gorget blue and red fibers woven in to the bill) my friend still managed to photocopy some and pass them off to a pizza delivery man. }}}—Joey P
I prefer the new ones myself.
Uh-huh, cheap bubble-jet prints have been passed at the liquor store near me too, along with some made up on a Canon CLC. Now those are pretty damn good! Xerox has nothing on those Canon guys. The owner of the store even tried pawning 'em off on ME once. I showed him all the neat counterfeit detection features that he didn’t bother checking–not to mention the basic feel of the bill–and took my change in Susan B. Anthony’s.
Hope your buddy enjoys his experience with the penile system.
–Kalél
(The Original EnigmaOne)
Common ¢ for all ages.
Hey, Joey P: What is the status about your friend’s case? If his home was searched per a warrant and the counterfeit money was not in plain sight, the police may have violated his Fourth Amendment rights ("…particularly describing the…property to be seized…")
If he has already hired an attorney, I hope the attorney brings this up in court. (Not that I condone counterfeiting…)
Well I’m really not sure about the status. But his family hired a very good lawyer so I’m not to worried. I do know that he has to take weekly drug tests though. (not because if the money, the room was origanally busted because of the smell of pot smoke coming under the door) Also this happened on a college campus in a dorm room if it makes a difference. Luckily I happend to have left the room about 10 mins before the police came in.
Formerly known as Nec3f on the AOL SDMB
>>I still notice merchants doing the old Magic Marker test on the new $20s, so I guess they still don’t trust 'em.
I fully intend to be one of those
<<
ok what is the “magic Marker test”?
I just think it’s kind of disturbing that Kermit the frog is the spokesman (Or as they say, “spokesfrog”) for the new quarters. Anyone see those adds?
Remember- If you’re angry it takes 42 muscles to frown, and only a few muscles to smack the idiot that mad you angry in the first place.
ok look at the back of two 20’s, a new one and an old one. do you notice anything? the “white house” on the back is different!! what the hell?
eggo
Flora McFlimsey posted:
Not an excuse but a very, very good reason for redesigning. It was a mandate given to the Treasury since the U.S. was beginning to loose megabucks to counterfeiters, many of whom represent hostile countries. Given that ‘excuse,’ they better damned well have redesigned the greenbacks or I’d be voting out the irresponsible incumbents who are letting the U.S. be virtually burgled.
What’s quaint turn-of-the-century American Gothic to you is just plain old busy to me. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
However, aesthetics had nothing to do with that decision – anti-counterfeiting measures did. The face was enlarged because people can spot a bad copy of a face easier than they can a bad copy of ornate curlicues.
Ummm, the government does hire specialists in design. They are artists. You don’t think that some paper-pusher did the engraving and layout on a Mac, did you?
The Treasury did, at first, consider radical changes. Then the arguments ensued. If Grant is removed, who should replace him? Kennedy? King? Warhol?
They finally decided it was easier, and, more importantly, more faithful to their original mandate to only make design changes that would spoil counterfeiting, rather than to actually change the currency.
That’s why no color change – there was no anti-counterfeiting reason to do so, especially since most copiers still have a hard time reproducing this particular shade of green.
And, perhaps I may suggest that you may be falling for the old “I like what I know” phenomenon. Before the new bills came out, did you really think the U.S. currency was particularly attractive? The next generation, growing up with the new bills will one day come across an old bill and say, “Wow, that’s ugly. The face is so tiny. And the bill is cluttered with lace. It looks like my Great Grandmother McFlimsey’s bedroom!” 
Peace.
Oh, and eggo – the White House has a front and back. 
>>Oh, and eggo – the White House has a front and back.
<<
oh. damn i hate being shot down. i still say it’s more fun to think they skrewed it up.
Actually, Moriah, I DID admire the old currency. I was trained as an artist, and when waiting in lines would sometimes pore over the old money and think how lovely the engraving was, and the details were. I still say there must have been SOME way to counterfeit-proof them without “dumbing them down.” And from what I hear, fakes are already being distributed hand over fist, so it was all for naught.
Warhol???
Why would the put Warhol on the 20?
And another thing. It really doesn’t matter how much security stuff they put on a bill, unless the cashiers check for it. I’ve seen cashiers take money that doesn’t not look real (infact one was all different colors and had a naked women on the front) and doesn’t even feel real (which is how most people acutally spot conterfeit). So if they’re going to put all this spending into conterfeit proofing the dollar they should offer classes for people to take to learn how to check all of it and tell the difference between real money and fake money. And for that matter they should learn how to do it quickly so they don’t have to do a 10 point inspection on every dollar.
The other thing is people have to learn WHAT to do when they find fake money. So people are to emabarresed to say anything (same as a CC singnature and the customer singnature not matching).
For example my uncle is a cop and he was giving a course to sales people (were talking like teenagers here) what to do about shoplifting). The first thing he did was ask how many people have seen shoplifters. A lot of people raised their hands. Then he asked what they did about it and most people basically just said they did nothing cuz they didn’t know what to do. (BTW same things happend to me, I saw a lady grab two things of breath mints from right in front of me and put them in her purse and I had no idea what to do so I just let it go. To this day that still bothers me)
Formerly known as Nec3f on the AOL SDMB