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CCF Master Historian of USA Commemoratives
 United States
12330 Posts |
I came across this United States ("US") paper money article in the US Congressional Record of February 1960 - an idea that eventually saw the light of day (at least in some form). I thought folks might enjoy a trip back in time of 66+ years! Note: The Congressional Record did not include a source reference, so I am not sure of where it was first published.Enjoy! WE NEED MORE COLOR IN OUR CURRENCY(By Michael Shuwarger) "It is surprising that we Americans who welcome changes in almost everything around us have never raised a voice in protest against the eternal sameness of the product we handle most frequently - money currency. We look impatiently toward the unveiling of the new automobile styles, talk excitedly about the latest fashions, queue up !or a look at a model house, but don't seem to mind it a bit that the color of our paper money has not changed for as many years as anyone can remember.
"Ever since the first Treasury notes were issued in 1802 to flnance the Civil War, the U.S. paper currency has always been green on one side. In 1928 the size of the bills was trimmed down to 6-5/15 by 2-11/16 inches, but the color has never been changed. True enough, our main interest in money is its purchasing power, not its visual appeal. Few of us, if any, look at it from the point of view of artistic satisfaction, although the the skill and imagination that enter into the engraving and printing of our dollar bills are on par with the most elaborate works of art.
"Much more important than the aesthetic consideration is the need to increase the visual differences among the various currency denominations. At present all U.S. money, from the lowly dollar bill to the almost mythical $10.000 banknote, is green on one side and grey on the other. Such uniformity makes lf necessary to examine closely every bill to avoid mistakes in counting money. We must look very carefully at every note to make sure that no $5 bill is paid when only a dollar was intended. Errors directly traceable to the great similarity or the various denominations are considerable. In banking firms and other institutions where a tremendous turnover of paper currency is routine, the strain on the clerks counting money is always very heavy.
"Why not keep the green color or the dollar bill as a bow to tradition, but make the $5 denomination, let us say, red, and the $10 one blue? We can use other colors to brighten up bills of higher value, for example, orange for $20, silver for $100, and shiny gold for a thousand-dollar note.
"If the various denominations were distinguishable by colors, the sorting of money would no longer be an eye-blinding task. A bank teller could go through a. wad of paper currency and quickly separate the various kinds of bills. It would be possible to glance into our wallets and without any effort pick out the denomination we want. There is also another benefit to be derived. The introduction of different colors Into our money would make many counterfeiters unhappy. In the past the manufacturing of phony bills often involved no more than the raising of the value of the denomination, such :is the changing of $1 to $10 by adding a zero. The forgers got away with it because few people can remember what men's portraits belong on different banknotes, and those who do hardly bother to look at the exact design. If a $10 bill were different in color from a $1 bill, the simple addition of a zero would no longer do the trick. The counterfeiters would have to design complete plates if they were to stay in business.
"What possible objections could there be to a new look in our currency? Certainly there is nothing sacrosanct about the green color on all our folding money. No Additionnal cost of printing new notes involved, for old plates can be used, and It ls quite obvious that blue or red ink costs no more than green.
"Just a trifle more costly would be another possible improvement in our paper currency. A tiny perforation or an embossment somewhere - J>apcr money which heretofore has had where on the note would make it possible to identify money by touch. This would be an immense boon to the blind or to the people with poor eyesight who are frequently swindled when dealing with conscienceless crooks.
"In some foreign countries the distinction among the denominations is achieved through variations in size of different banknotes. The advantages of easy identification, moreover, are more than offset by the awkwardness of handling paper currency which is hard to fit in a billfold and is otherwise not easy to manage. The American system is much superior to most foreign currencies and could be made nearly perfect if the traditional greenbacks were joined by bluebacks, redbacks, and go!dbacks."For other of my posts about commemorative coins, medals and a bit of currency, see: Commems CollectionCollecting history one coin or medal at a time! (c) commems. All rights reserved.
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