@synergy: @KJones: Because everyone around the world uses arabic numerals? Ignorance at its finest. No wonder America is the bane of the educated world. [en.wikipedia.org]

@synergy: A foreigner would have a passport and would undoubtedly be educated enough to read. Odds are the colours are instead for the benefit of illiterate Americans.

Is this really the best design they muster?

[eldib.files.wordpress.com]

I think the choice of colour tones for the US bills leaves a lot to be desired, especially the the goofy pink $50 and the sickly orange $10.

I never get the european/foreigner argument that they can't tell the currency apart. THERE'S A FRIGGIN NUMBER ON THE BILL! Sheesh.

Our money is worth the same as Canadian money... they might as well look the same too.

@All Assuming It Can't Help Those With Vision Problems: So you're going to assume that the people who've already posted comments about the specific conditions this applies to are liars just because you've never heard of it before? It's called Google if it's too difficult to take someone's word for it.

@no.no.notorious: but i would like pretty colorful money. the purple thing doesn't bother me. it's avant garde currency.

Some countries use multi-coloured bills so the illiterate can tell the difference. Considering how bad the US education system is becoming, that's a good idea.

@tgebauer: All of the US currency does not currently have any sort of tactile *anything* on the note. Why is this needed? So blind people and vision impaired folks don't get ripped off. All the bills we have are identical in size, printing method, and color.

British pound notes are of different size for the benefit of the blind. Maybe someone should file a disabilities act lawsuit over this.

I like the purple 5.
US money has always needed to be more colorful.

That said, the new design will help the vision-impaired at a minimal cost during a period when currency was going to get redesigned ANYWAY to counter counterfeiting. So it seems to be win-win.

And can we get rid of the term "legally blind?" Medically, it means nothing. I mean, I'm "legally blind" at 20/400 without my glasses, but I'm 20/20 with them.

I am surprised they didn't take the bill if they suspected it was bogus. We were always told bad bills had to be confiscated, but it was a hassle to do -- paperwork and the inevitable upset on the part of the person losing the bill. Nobody gets reimbursed for a counterfit bill.

So if you have one, don't take it to the bank!!

Not knowing about your kid's particular condition doesn't mean I know NOTHING about visual impairments. Try considering what the information in front of you actually tells you before you take on an insulting tone.

Also, the fact that the government uses paper and inks that the public doesn't have access to has no bearing on the cost of printing. If they can't print the purple in the same pass as the green, it adds to the cost, significantly.

But nice of you to throw that earmarks red herring in there. That really adds to the discussion.

The American dollar used to look so neat, and orderly. Professional even. Now I have a hard time telling the difference between real money and fake money.

Although... come to think of it... I did once take a 5 as a 50 working long hours at a cash register like 10 years ago. So I do know from experience that some people target whoever looks the most tired, and tries to pass off a 5 as a 50. But even so... purple!?

@ViperBorg: I won't be rude enough to call BS, but I will say that your relatives are in the talented minority of the blind and visually impaired, as illustrated by these answers to FAQs and lawsuits: [www.nfb.org] [www.ourmoneytoo.org] [lincmad.blogspot.com]

Interestingly, some bind are against the idea of adding braille to bills because it is a special accommodation rather than universal accessibility. These people do support different colors and different sizes of bills, however.

I find it funny that we're getting more and more color mixed in. It's ugly desperation at thwarting counterfeiting while maintaining our "greenback" heritage. (But really, who cares?). They've tried to stay away from multicolored money for quite some time. It seems that they're beginning to realize that they can't.

Just do it, already. Go to different sizes and different colors, and do it right. This just looks like crap warmed over.

What were we talking about? Oh yeah, the bill...it looks like crap.

P.S.

Dear US treasury,

I would like to do extensive testing on the new five-dollar bill. Please send me several thousand samples.

Sincerely,

Grrrrrrrrr.

Looks like a Peso....... Spends like one too recently....

why doesn't your friend return it to the Treasury, they replace mutilated bills, if they are legit@plustax:

Hockey players aside, it's actually quite a handsome piece.

And since the Bureau of Engraving (I knew that, I swear I did) uses papers and ink available only to them under penalty of federal law, I don't see this as THAT much of an increased cost. Certainly not as much as we spend on any number of ridiculous federal grants sponsored by members of either major political party.

@BaysideWrestling:
Actually, depending on how they're doing it, adding colors to ANYTHING printed can increase the cost of printing significantly. (As it can add steps to the printing process)

@smarty:
People just assume that whatever they're used to is the RIGHT way.
Ask people what the drinking, driving, and voting ages SHOULD be, and most people will say the current ages. Ask them why, and if you get an answer besides "I don't know" it will be something like "because that's the way it is."
People don't just honor tradition, they completely avoid ever questioning it.

;)

@Trai_Dep: Rorschach?

Seriously, has everyone noticed that all new coins and bills are just plain bad design work. They all seem to look fake and amateurish. I am all for counterfeiting countermeasures, but this shouldn't negate the need for asthetic beauty. And we seem to get a new bill every year now so no one really knows what they should look like anymore. While I am ranting, why does the new $10 look like someone scribbled on it and dipped it in Kool-Aid?

Oh no! My bills won't fit in my wallet the same! Blind people might be able to tell them apart without a bill reader! I might be able to get the right bill out of my wallet without a sorting system!

(For some reason, the Bush administration is opposed to any physical change.)

Still, we're lightyears behind Australian, European, and Canadian notes. Those have different sizes, braile-ish dots, strange color patterns, UV and magnetic patterns, and in some cases clear plastic windows in the bill itself. Of course, these techniques tend to reduce durability.

[Our $5 Bill] uses bigger numbers (and braille-like dots) and still manages to have a little dignity. There ya go, Sir Wilfred Laurier looking all sleek and some kids playing hockey on the back.

Counterfeiting is hard, but people are still stupid.

I kind of like the purple/green combination. *shrug*

@coan_net:
@eskilla:
The Mint has nothing to do with paper money, it's the Bureau of Engraving & Printing that's responsible for paper money & stamps.
The Mint makes coins only.

God forbid they make the money harder to counterfit. And as someone pointed out, the new features on the $5 are to keep people from bleaching $5s and printing them like $100s. Yes, that means in a few years there will be a new $1 bill too. Well, except they'll probly just switch to the $1 coins by then. And then you people will whine about that too, won't you?

Finally someone else jumped in with an opinion, took the bill from the manager's hands and rubbed it on a sheet of white paper and the paper was clean. "It's a fake" and hands it back to my employee. He explains that the ink on dollar bills never truly dry and that if you smudge the ink on paper it will always make a mark. My employee tells me the story and am rather surprised they gave it back to her. I thought banks were supposed to call the Secret Service or something whenever they encounter a counterfeit bill. Right now the fake $100 bill with holes punched into it is taped to my employee's window waiting for one of the cleaning people to steal it and pass it at the local liquor store. We can't wait.

@BaysideWrestling: My kid is visualy impared too (has ONH and SOD) and I agree with you about the large number being a good thing.

As for the rest of the bill-- who cares what it looks like? Do you coordinate your wardrobe with your money?

.... and hopefully I don't give ideas to counterfeiters, but why not just counterfeit the older bill designs? People still use the new & old designs, and now that people don't see the old design as often because of the new design, it would probable be easier to slip in a counterfeit bill..... in my opinion

lol to the comment about mixing them up with 50's.
Just don't carry anything larger than a 20 :)

people don't counterfeit $5 bills (it's not worth the cost). counterfeiters take $5 bills, chemically process them to remove the ink & reprint larger denominations on them ($100, $50, $20). that is the purpose of embedding color dyes in the paper for the new bills. the big purple 5 is just so people don't get confused.

That being said, I understand that they need to protect our precious 5 from the evil Chinese and Iranian pressman who churn our currency out all day on their high tech Xerox presses.

But we've been using the same style and size currency now for almost a century, and this "new" design doesn't do any of the crap they actually say it will. There aren't any real designers creating this shite. If they really wanted to create a new design for the currency, they should hire some designers to take care of it. And no, not just to make it look pretty.

It still does not touch on some pretty significant problems that have already been addressed by the currency in other countries. These problems have absolutely nothing to do with "counterfeiting" either. Besides, with the dollar so low, who the hell would want to counterfeit our bills anyway? (sarcasm)

All of the US currency does not currently have any sort of tactile *anything* on the note. Why is this needed? So blind people and vision impaired folks don't get ripped off. All the bills we have are identical in size, printing method, and color.

Back in 2006 there was an interesting comment made by a Federal Judge declaring that US currency "shortchanges" the blind (pun intended, I'm sure). Read the article here: [www.washingtonpost.com]

This is also an issue that has been raised by the design community. Why has our government been so lax on this? It's been conjectured that the psychology of the "greenback" is simply too much to completely change.

The new dollar also has no other technological *anything* in it to protect it from counterfeiting. Sure, you can microprint incantations and use polyurethane/beeswax based ink till the cows come home. But my Big Mac has an RFID in it and can be read by card scanners. Just check out the EURO. [www.fleur-de-coin.com]

But seriously, the current state of the dollar makes me wonder if it's not time for a *complete* refresh. My guess is that this is just a minor update to the currency that's been in the pipe for a while. And what better time to remind us about our money than now, when it's at a historical low?

Where is the poll option for "looks like ass"? Maybe the idea is to make the most horrendous looking bill possible so counterfeiters won't want to counterfeiter it.

Seriously, are there still counterfeiter out there? I thought the "cool" way was identify theft. A lot easier to harvest some stolen creditcards and just go to an atm than get a machine / process of generating money fake money.

@eskilla:

Guy on left is Ulysses Grant (Civil War general / president). Dunno about guy on right.

Oh sure, the gay president gets purple.

Perhaps with less of that charming 'nuclear glow' green. But apart from that, definitely.

If they keep tinkering with the look of currency, it will be increasingly easier to counterfeit. Who can keep up with this?

Counterfeiters today know that cash is not the easier hit -- it's business checks, For $10 you can general checks for any business and use them effectively with trusting people Read: "The Art of the Steal" if you own or are responsible for a business, very informative.

The 1896 $5 and others:
[www.frbsf.org]

I miss how the currency USED to look 10 years or so ago. Now we have all kinds of odd colors & designs. :(

but i would like pretty colorful money. the purple thing doesn't bother me. it's avant garde currency.

American currency will soon be indistinguishable from Monopoly Money.

Protective measures are one thing, but there has to be a better way than making my cash look like a bloody bowling shoe, or like five different kinds of baby food mixed together. Please, do it for Abe.

they don't stay in my wallet long enough for me to notice