# World Currency: Who's on it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 12, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636 "2010-02-12T01:20:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/1 "2010-02-12T01:20:58Z")
There’s an old saying (either that or I made it up…) that if there were to be a world currency it would have Homer Simpson’s picture on it. That got me thinking, what if there WAS a world currency? Who would be on it that would have appeal/recognition to everyone? To make this a bit easier I’ll limit the bills to… 1 5 10 20 50 100 500 No change yet…maybe we will get to that depending on how popular this thread is 😛 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/2 "2010-02-12T03:38:12Z")
Newton, Copernicus, Galileo, Darwin, Borlaug, Jenner. Lotta Brits there, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/3 "2010-02-12T03:48:23Z")
Gandhi & Mandela. ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/4 "2010-02-12T04:29:17Z")
No one, in my opinion. _If_ there’s a world currency, it’ll almost certainly have to be without faces. One persons hero is anothers villain. The few people who aren’t villains to some people are too long dead to have enough popular support world wide, and only have their support in their home countries, really. ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/5 "2010-02-12T04:34:52Z")
It won’t have faces on it, it would more than likely be corporate logos. So Coke might have one, MacDonalds, Microsoft, etc. ---
**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:** [February 12, 2010, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/6 "2010-02-12T04:51:37Z")
Shakespeare. Yes, he wrote in English, but his works have been translated and performed in many of the world’s languages and locations. Beethoven or Mozart. Music is universal, and I’d suggest that these two are well-known around the world for their compositions. Ferdinand de Lesseps. Designed and built the Suez Canal, and laid the groundwork for the Panama Canal. In other words, thanks to him and his vision, sea voyages were made shorter and safer and less-costly for all nations. Sir Sandford Fleming. First to propose a system of standard time for the world. Sir Isaac Newton. His theory of gravity allowed us to understand such things as orbits. His work allowed us to launch spacecraft into orbit and to the Moon, and to send spacecraft out to explore the solar system, helped by the gravity of the bodies they were passing. He taught us much about the physics of the universe we live in. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/7 "2010-02-12T06:09:48Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > No one, in my opinion. > > _If_ there’s a world currency, it’ll almost certainly have to be without faces. I agree. I can’t see countries ever agreeing on whom to put onto the notes. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/8 "2010-02-12T06:23:41Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I agree. I can’t see countries ever agreeing on whom to put onto the notes. Indeed, when the designers of the Euro bills faced a similar problem, they didn’t put faces of people on the notes. Instead, they put architectural elements representing the various styles of buildings in Europe. The 5 euro bill has the earliest type of archicture; as the bills get bigger the archictecture gets more modern, passing through stages such as Gothic and Renaissance. The largest bills (500 euro?) have modern architechture on them. ---
**Author:** ![BMada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/96bed5/32.png) [@BMada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMada)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/9 "2010-02-12T06:38:04Z")
why does a face need to be on a bill of currency? all you need is the denomination, some sort of design that’s hard to counterfeit and all the other anti-counterfeiting measures. Personally, i think having the Seven Wonders of the World might be a decent idea. Or perhaps just a world map on it and only the denomination and color of the bill changed. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/10 "2010-02-12T08:53:11Z")
Einstein, Shakespeare, Gandhi, Darwin… ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/11 "2010-02-12T10:41:39Z")
Gandhi would be veteoed by Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, Nepalese and half of India. ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/12 "2010-02-12T11:00:21Z")
Save to say that if the intrinsic worth of the denomination - what you can buy with it - is near to that of the US dollar and Euro, there will not be a 1 _worldy_ (for lack of a better word) note, there will becoins. So they’ll probably be 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and maybe 500 (which the Euro has). What faces is concerned, there might be some difficulties there. I know the Euro has important buildings on their notes instead. Also, every nation has its own ‘heads’ side of the coins. So while a german 1 euro coin has a different ‘heads’ it can still be used everywhere else. i just checked, of the 7 coins I have in my pocket rigt now 2 are french, 1 is belgian, 1 is german, 1 is spanish and of two others I can’t tell. And I live in the Ntherlands. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/13 "2010-02-12T11:06:53Z")
> [@Todderbob](#): > > No one, in my opinion. > _If_ there’s a world currency, it’ll almost certainly have to be without faces. One persons hero is anothers villain. Well I think Newton, Darwin and Einstein would pass the test here. Or to be more accurate, those who consider Darwin and Einstein villains SHOULD be marginalised. And I still can’t think who Newton would piss off. LaRouche, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/14 "2010-02-12T11:23:04Z")
…the conqueror ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/15 "2010-02-12T11:53:04Z")
I think a Mt. Rushmore-like assemblage of several themed faces/busts on each denomination would be good - maybe four faces on each note, rotated in and out of a larger (and extensible) pool for each category. No living humans (sorry, your Majesty) or fictional characters (sorry, Mr Holmes) so… 1 - People who made a significant contribution to music & entertainment 5 - People who made a significant contribution to literature, poetry and art 10 - People who made a significant contribution to sciences broadly, or that aren’t covered by other categories 20 - People who made a significant contribution to astronomy/cosmology 50 - People who made a significant contribution to medicine 100 - People who made a significant contribution to technology 500 - People who made a significant contribution to peace and human rights ---
**Author:** ![Booker57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Booker57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Booker57)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/16 "2010-02-12T11:58:23Z")
> [@BMada](#): > > Personally, i think having the Seven Wonders of the World might be a decent idea. Or perhaps just a world map on it and only the denomination and color of the bill changed. This is my vote. Can any one think of a natural wonder that is well known from each continent? ---
**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:** [February 12, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/17 "2010-02-12T13:40:47Z")
The Great Wall The Pyramids Machu Picchu The Grand Canyon The Colosseum Ayers Rock or just landmarks, I suppose The NYC Skyline The Sydney Opera House The Forbiddden City The Taj Mahal Kilimanjaro Mt Fuji St Basil’s Cathedral Notre Dame Westminster Abbey Christ the Redeemer from Rio de Janeiro Chichen Itza I like the idea. And it could be rotating so every five years new ones can be nominated! Let’s make it happen! ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/18 "2010-02-12T14:23:19Z")
I think it should be important inventions instead, things that people all over the world have benefitted from. Starting with the wheel and progressing through windmills and printing presses to the modern era with transistors and communication satellites. ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/19 "2010-02-12T14:33:34Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > I think it should be important inventions instead, things that people all over the world have benefitted from. Starting with the wheel and progressing through windmills and printing presses to the modern era with transistors and communication satellites. I like this idea. And the micro printing on the bill could give background information on the invention and its uses. Eyeglasses should be on one of them with all the people’s lives they’ve improved. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636/20 "2010-02-12T14:35:55Z")
Eyeglasses would be useful to read the microprinting as well. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-currency-whos-on-it/528636.md?page=2)