# WTF? it's freakin Orange **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 26, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375 "2006-04-26T23:01:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/101 "2006-04-28T18:22:55Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Perhaps it’s a strategy intended to make the money change hands as frequently and rapidly as possible, thus boosting the economy. OK, Larry Niven thought of it before me. Well, that also occurred to me. But it happened to be dinnertime, so I’m sure that the ugliness of the bill wasn’t the only factor. 😃 I’m fine with changes in the design of money. It’s just that the changes are often bad ones. Instead of getting lovely, rainbow-colored money like other countries have, we end up with this hideous _Trading Spaces_-style currency. I am quite fond of the state design quarters, although they may not be different enough. My favorite is the one with the big tree–the Charter Oak, I think it is. It’s so pretty. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/102 "2006-04-28T19:27:31Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > What happened in Canada is that in the 9 year period between the adoption of the dollar coin and the adoption of the $2 coin is that the $2 bill became much more prevalent. It lost its stigma as “bad luck” quite quickly, although it gave way for basically the same reason as the $1 bill. When and where was the Canadian $2 bill ever considered as bad luck? It never was in Ontario in my experience (i.e, since around 1970, when I started to handle money). > [@JRDelerious](#): > > …and hell, no, I ain’t gettin’ no change purse until I’m officially issued one at age 70! Change pouches are a mark of the elderly where you are? Here, they’re just unusual. Still, using a change pouch is better than what I used to do: use a baggie. 🙂 This was because I had holes in my pockets from all the stuff in them. Then I became less broke, and could afford to fix my pants. > [@JRDelerious](#): > > Also a lot of people seem to be concerned that if we establish the $1 coin as the norm, The Man will take advantage of a psychological sense that coins = “small” change (blame several generations passing since the abolition of gold and silver coinage), and set things up so that by everything gets rounded up not just to the next .75, but to the next whole dollar. They still want to hold on to the idea that the whole-unit of our currency is something significant enough to warrant a banknote, and that you should think twice about making us part with another one. Coins need not be “small” change. I think of small change as “the fiddly coins that get in the way”. Since I need quarters and loonies for the laundry, small change to me is dimes, nickels and pennies. Quarters are just “change”. Fifty-cent coins would also be “change”, I think, if there were enough of them in circulation that we enountered them often. I’ve started to think of loonies and toonies as ‘big change’. 🙂 As I mentioned in that thread on the effects of rising gas prices, the prices of things like cans of cola and chocolate bars have started to rise here. The company caf is now charging $1.07 for a can of cola, instead of $1.00, for example. Likewise in the vending machine. This seems to be creating a change in patterns of coin movement. Two weeks ago I had trouble giving away extra pennies to the cashier, but today they were in demand, and I now have only quarters and big change left in my pouch. Of which I just spent two toonies for a box of Girl Guide cookies. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/103 "2006-04-28T19:30:32Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > When and where was the Canadian $2 bill ever considered as bad luck? It never was in Ontario in my experience (i.e, since around 1970, when I started to handle money). In the west, Alberta especially, there was a habit of cutting off the corner of a $2 bill to “let out the bad luck”. I’m not saying it made any sense. Anyway, it was a bill that was sort of eyed funny until it became convenient to use with the disappearance of the $1. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/104 "2006-04-28T19:36:10Z")
> [@Little Plastic Ninja](#): > > Sigh… I really miss Toronto. Enough that I’m seriously considering a trip up there sometime this summer… ☹ Any good excuse for a TronnaDope! It’s been a while since we’ve had one. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/105 "2006-04-28T19:52:50Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > This particular item is a [security feature](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EURion_constellation). That’s pretty neat, but… doesn’t it mean that now we can’t print that web page? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/106 "2006-04-28T20:30:24Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Any good excuse for a TronnaDope! It’s been a while since we’ve had one. 🙂 Certainly that would add justification to the $400+ of airfare plus I don’t know how much for a hotel since I don’t have anyone to stay up there with anymore! Though I would need someone to help me navigate the subway/bus system. Not that it’s so very arcane, because it isn’t, but I’m easily confused in big cities. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/107 "2006-04-28T21:20:27Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > Well no wonder! The name is worth more than the coin! Not to mention it it seems like it should sound like “Sack o’ Jaweeah” which is nonsensical – and plus, nobody wants to carry around anything they have to refer to as a “sack of.” > > “Loonie” sounds silly, but at least it’s easy to say. Sackie. > [@Mindfield](#): > > So much so that when the $2 coin was introduced featuring a pair of polar bears (like we didn’t have _enough_ “great white north” stereotypes) we called it a “toonie” (or “twonie”) because “polarbeary” stumbled off the tongue like a 2 A.M. pub crawl. Moonie. The Queen with a bear behind. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/108 "2006-04-28T21:26:20Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > I’m looking forward to red, white and blue 5’s. The $5 bill will not be changed. However, the new 50 already is red, white, and blue. > [@panache45](#): > > There’s another (miniature) Liberty’s torch on the other side of Hamilton. WTF? This series, the first redesign of American currency since 9/11, has a symbol of freedom on each bill- in large form in the background, and also miniature next to the portrait. The 20 has a large eagle in the background, and a small eagle next to Jackson’s portrait. The 50 has an American flag in the background, and a small blue star next to Grant’s portrait. The 10 has the Statue of Liberty’s torch in the background, and a small torch next to Hamilton’s portrait. > [@panache45](#): > > Also on the back is a swarm of tiny, enigmatic 10s. This appears on all of the new notes- the 20 and the 50 as well (only they’re 20s or 50s, of course). Why, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/109 "2006-04-28T21:32:49Z")
Ew. I just got a $10 today for the first time. It _is_ kind of ugly. However, no major complaints from me, since I’m not going to frame it and hang it on my wall. I’m more likely going to exchange it for prettier or tastier goods and services. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/110 "2006-04-28T21:33:24Z")
> [@mobo85](#): > > The $5 bill will not be changed. However, the new 50 already is red, white, and blue. Namby, pamby pastels. Goddammit, when I say red I mean Goddamn red. And when I say blue I mean bluer than the thumb of a cross-eyed carpenter (Jack Benny. If your are going to plagiarize why not from the best?). And when I say white I mean a white that makes brand new snow look shabby. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/111 "2006-04-28T22:16:15Z")
I can’t find who said it - but someone in here said that they didn’t think there was a significant population of people other than tourists, who had problems distinguishing the notes apart. Well, first of all, let me acknowledge that as a tourist I have found them the worst currency in the world that I have ever used due to their sameness. However, let’s think a bit more about who might find them tricky to use - that’s right, people with eyesight problems. So we have the full gammut of people ranging from the blind to people with a reading problems. So, if the majority of people over the age of 40 need reading glasses, add in to this people who have much worse sight impairment, and I think we have a very large group of people. Especially, given our aging population. I cannot for the life of me understand why the US sticks to this crappy money - the rest of the world seems so much more user friendly and enlightened when it comes to money. YOU MAKE THEM ALL DIFFERENT COLOURS and YOU MAKE THEM DIFFERENT SIZES! As for coins, we have a gold $1 and $2 coin, the rest are silver - they are all different sizes. God, I feel progressive. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/112 "2006-04-28T22:37:11Z")
> [@MelCthefirst](#): > > I cannot for the life of me understand why the US sticks to this crappy money - the rest of the world seems so much more user friendly and enlightened when it comes to money. YOU MAKE THEM ALL DIFFERENT COLOURS and YOU MAKE THEM DIFFERENT SIZES! I believe the dull US money partly involves a powerful psychological block about how staid and boring = serious and respectable. And of course there’s the inertia factor of having all the notes the same size easing processing, packaging and shipping, and a huge preinstalled based of uniform-sized cash registers and the like. They did accommodate, minimally, the less-sharp-eyed by taking at least one of the corner numerals in each of the denominations and making it bigger, bolder, and higher-contrast. But they are way short on tactile-ID features. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/113 "2006-04-28T22:52:31Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Sackie. I’m suddenly in the mood for japanese rice liquor… > [@](#): > > Moonie. The Queen with a bear behind. Hey! I like that one! Except I might be confused for a drunkard trying to say “money” or an airport Hare Krishna… ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/114 "2006-04-28T22:56:14Z")
> [@MelCthefirst](#): > > YOU MAKE THEM ALL DIFFERENT COLOURS and YOU MAKE THEM DIFFERENT SIZES! The different size part would seriously offend my anal sense of organisation. I like same-sized bills. They’re easy to stack, fold and count. Different sizes would be a major pain in the tuckus. (For those of us that aren’t blind anyway, which is the real reason for the size differences of nations that employ this strategy. I think we had braille on the corners once, but being paper they tended to flatten out, making the concept a little pointless) Different colours though, yes. But then I’m used to that much. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/115 "2006-04-28T23:23:40Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I don’t mind the color, but the design really sucks (and I know, 'cause I’m a designer). Can I add: It would really look a lot better if Hamilton were looking inward towards the centre of the note, not outward. ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/116 "2006-04-28T23:40:28Z")
> [@Mindfield](#): > > The different size part would seriously offend my anal sense of organisation. I like same-sized bills. They’re easy to stack, fold and count. Different sizes would be a major pain in the tuckus. (For those of us that aren’t blind anyway, which is the real reason for the size differences of nations that employ this strategy. I think we had braille on the corners once, but being paper they tended to flatten out, making the concept a little pointless) > > Different colours though, yes. But then I’m used to that much. Oh please - I can tell you now that folding a bunch of notes of slightly different dimensions is no different than folding a bunch of notes exactly all the same. You really are stuck in the anal stage of psychosexual development! I know change is hard for most of us, but really America, live a little - it’s hardly the same as starting a new job or moving to a new town etc. ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/117 "2006-04-28T23:41:52Z")
oops - sorry, I see you’re Canadian - please don’t include yourself in some of the above response. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/118 "2006-04-28T23:57:50Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Can I add: It would really look a lot better if Hamilton were looking inward towards the centre of the note, not outward. He’s looking for a way off the note, or maybe hoping that someone nearby can pinch-hit this one for him. Sweet Jesus, even guys who have been dead since 1804 know how ugly our new money is. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/119 "2006-04-29T00:22:21Z")
> [@MelCthefirst](#): > > Oh please - I can tell you now that folding a bunch of notes of slightly different dimensions is no different than folding a bunch of notes exactly all the same. Yes, but counting them from one hand to another or – worse – flipping the corners – is more awkward when you have to constantly adjust your finger positioning to grasp the variously-sized bills properly. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2006, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375/120 "2006-04-29T00:28:24Z")
But when the denominations of the notes are readily identifiable visually by colour and size, it becomes really easy to quickly sort them into a stack arranged from largest to smallest size/denomination; this makes counting/adding the values quite a bit easier and quicker. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wtf-its-freakin-orange/354375.md?page=7)