I'm sure people in the States have seen the new $20 bills by now. I just got my first ones at the bank the other day and feel compelled to share my reaction.
The front isn't bad... in fact the cool blue eagle over the green fade on the left is pretty cool, though the green fade should be contained within the border instead of going all the way to the edges. The two metallic inks used to print the shield and the lower right "20" are nice. But what were they thinking with the wavy, sans serif "TWENTY USA / USA TWENTY" on the right under "The United States of America"?!
The back is more of a nightmare. Instead of enlosing the white house in a border like they do on the new $10 bill, they've opted for an ugly faded vignette. Barf. And what the hell with all the little yellow "20"s scattered all over the back?
And they didn't even have the courtesy to hide a spider in the webbing like on the $1 bill...
I realize that most of these design gaffs are for anti-counterfitting purposes... but I don't accept that as an excuse for bad design.
Posted by Phoenix (Member # 966) on :
According to the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Small Yellow 20s (yes, they get capitals) are "New Design Features". Exactly what they do it doesn't say.
Oh, and that website also also says this:
quote:Appearing on the front of the note are two new American eagle "symbols of freedom."
Which is strange, because I always thought that the eagle was the symbol of empire, as it was used by the Roman Empire, Napoleon and Hitler. Hardly a "symbol of freedom"...
Posted by Wraith (Member # 779) on :
I think they're redefining freedom as slavery.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
It's freedom, Department of Homeland Security-style.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Try making one.....
Crap, I don't care if US money ends up looking like some of the European money, as long as the size stays the same and it spends....
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
Mmm, that would be an innovation wouldn't it? Money that spends itself Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
Finally! Some colour to your money. I don't think I could deal with a wallet full of US money. Its all the same colour! I can look into my wallet and tell by a quick glance at the colours of my bills what denomination they are. Although, the new $5 and $10 bills are a bit whacky. But I am interested in seeing what the new $20 will look like. What do the rest of the Canadians on the board think of the new bills?
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"I can look into my wallet and tell by a quick glance at the colours of my bills what denomination they are."
But, you see, we can read...
The problem I have is that, after they do the $50 and $100 bills, they might do the $5 and $10, and they won't do the $1 (or the $2, but I don't think they've printed those for years, anyway). So, we may end up with three different designs of bills all being "current" designs at the same time. That's just stupid.
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
quote:So, we may end up with three different designs of bills all being "current" designs at the same time. That's just stupid.
The government doing something stupid? Such breaking news. Also coming up on the 11 News, the Pope is Catholic, bears defecate in the woods, most Republicans hate the Clintons, and Siegfried spends another weekend home alone masturbating to midget porn after yet another date rejection.
Posted by Styrofoaman (Member # 706) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mucus: Mmm, that would be an innovation wouldn't it? Money that spends itself
It's called credit-card fees. Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Topher: "I can look into my wallet and tell by a quick glance at the colours of my bills what denomination they are."
Same here. Also, the size differs in our bills so that makes it even easier. And since we have only four bills (500, 100, 50, 20) and four coins (10, 5, 1, �) there is seldom the "pocketful-of-coins" syndrome here.
Come to think of it, I'm glad we won't get the Euro for another ten years, if just for that aspect.
Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
Would I assume correctly then that everything is priced in $.5 increments?
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
More like in �.01 increments. Bloody small change...
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
I have a whole bag of 1 and 2 eurocent coins. Useless.
Posted by Wraith (Member # 779) on :
So that's about 0.6p. VERY small indeed...
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Making a mountain out of a mole hill there...
I've got a pound coin, in the other room there...
Kept it in my wallet for 12 years, then the wallet gave out, but oddly enough I have the damn coin.... My only memento of my trip to Liverpool in '89...
Somewhere in Liverpool is a kid, er, guy now, that has a dollar bill....
Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
I have an ancient Greek coin with the face of one of Alexander's generals on it. A friend of my uncle's gave it to me for the hell of it at a coin show. *shrug*. I have it hidden somewhere in my room (hidden so well I magically can't remember where it is at the moment...)
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
And I have a $20 note in my pocket that I forgot to spend before coming back to the UK. And, er, some US coins, with their silly, silly names. And boring designs. Oh, let's make one a circle. Oh, let's make another one a circle. Oh, let's make another one a circle, and then all go and stick our penises in some kind of giant circle of shitness.
Silly names.
Posted by Ultra Magnus (Member # 239) on :
I am particularily fond of all of the aspects of the five cent piece.
Particularily.
Posted by Wraith (Member # 779) on :
I still think the funniest thing about the Euro is the fact that Scandinavia looks like a slightly deformed penis with Norway removed. But I have a very childish sense of humour.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
Florida, too, for us Americans. But yours is bigger.
As to the names of our coins, why do you find them odd? Quarters are quarter-dollars, dimes are one-tenth of a dollar, nickels are made of nickel. And pennies are pennies on both sides of the pond, for reasons I'm now curious to dig up...
Also, round coins don't have any corners to jab you in the thigh through your pocket when you sit down. And considering how most every country that mints coins tends to make them round, including the UK, I don't see your problem with round coins?
--Jonah
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Liam just can't Lee and Wraith be the only US bashers on the forum today is all
I really do miss the cleaner environment....
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
I miss the 50 cent piece... and the 2-dollar bill. There was somethign cool about the 2 dollar bill. I have the oddest urge to go to the bank and request they change a $20 bill into twos for me. They have to do it. It's the law, you see.
Posted by Phoenix (Member # 966) on :
quote:Originally posted by Peregrinus: Also, round coins don't have any corners to jab you in the thigh through your pocket when you sit down. And considering how most every country that mints coins tends to make them round, including the UK, I don't see your problem with round coins?
Our 20p and 50p coins are heptagonal.
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
As recently as the UK was still using shillings, I don't think they really have room to complain...
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
I hate inflation. Bad idea. Short-term fix to a problem that is never really solved by that mechanism, and making the inevitable end that much more painful...
I miss the gold and silver standard. I miss silver and copper coins. I want more coins, and one of the five bills with Woodrow Wilson on them...
--Jonah
Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
I have a bunch of euro coins that a friend gave me when he was over from Germany. I have a �2 coin, a �1 coin, 3 �.50 coins, a �.20 coin, and 3 �.10 coins. What's up with the �.20 coin? It has notches around it...
Also in my collection is a various assortment of other European coins, with the largest being from the Netherlands. Those .10 coins are tiny! The second largest amount would be from the UK. Other European coins I have include L.500 from Italy, 3 mils from Cyprus, 5 drakmai from Greece, 10 �re from Denmark, 5 francs from Belgium and a deutschemark. Some other interesting coins I have come from Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and my collection of utterly worthless collection of coins from the CCCP. Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
I liked the 2 dollar bills also, a flight attendant named Amanda, working for Pan Am in 1989, was really in to them.... She was going to fly in to Frankfurt and we were going to spend a bit of time together, but the Army decided I needed a world war III drill and sent my happy but to the woods, and plains, and even a few small swamps through out Germany....
Fuckin' military anyway, join up and they think that they own your ass.... But I'm not bitter I tell ya!!!!
Posted by Spike (Member # 322) on :
quote:What's up with the �.20 coin? It has notches around it...
Makes it easier for blind people to identify the coins.
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
quote:.. from the Netherlands. Those .10 coins are tiny!
Try fitting it inside the hole of a CD. It should fit perfectly. That's because Philips (who developed the Compact Disc) actually used a .10 coin to draw the hole 8)
Posted by Alshrim Dax (Member # 258) on :
No one can beat our LOONIE !!!!! -- oh and uh.. let's not forget our TWONIE !!! Speaking of queer names for money!!
I think they should make a 1 million dollar coin!!! We'll call it The Millie - on one side there will be a Picture of Bill Gates on the other - a retro pic of Milli Vanilli !!
Posted by Ultra Magnus (Member # 239) on :
Like the very special episode of Saved by The Bell where Jessie was addicted to uppers.
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
I loved that episode. All of the fine actors and actresses in that episode really gave it their best. It was certainly one of the most emotionally stirring episodes of that series.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
quote:Originally posted by TSN: As recently as the UK was still using shillings, I don't think they really have room to complain...
30 years is recent?
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
quote:Originally posted by Peregrinus: As to the names of our coins, why do you find them odd? Quarters are quarter-dollars, dimes are one-tenth of a dollar, nickels are made of nickel. And pennies are pennies on both sides of the pond, for reasons I'm now curious to dig up...
Because, well, why not call them 25 cent, 10 cent, 5 cent, and 1 cent coins? As Tim has shown, you spend ages saying "Oh, you Brits with your silly names for your coins", but then we change them, yet you still keep to the same silly names. And you are not even consistent. Why not call dimes "small silvers", eh? FOOL!
And, seriously, I'd love to see someone jab themselves with a 20p coin. Because I could smack them in the face for being a moron.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Also, let's not forget the Saved By The Bell where Zack and Slater proved that merely being near alcohol is enough to make you want to drive a car into the only set the show has that isn't Mr Belding's Office.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
I heard on the news yesterday that people are already counterfitting the new twenty. Some chick in South Bend passed two of them the other day.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
That was pretty damn quick....
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Topher: Exactly, everything in Sweden is priced either by .50 Kronor or most oftenly without any decimal at all. I hate the .50-coins, they are impossible to pull out of the wallet and are useless in soda-machines, parking meters or for those little locks on customer carts in malls.
The359: "I have an ancient Greek coin with the face of one of Alexander's generals on it."
It wouldn't happen to be Seleukos, would it? (I'm taking a class in Religion, we're on Maccabeus)
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Yes, it was fast. I didn't listen to the newscast long enough to find out how it tied to Notre Dame, but I'm sure through some rediculous stretch, they found a way to do it.
Posted by Siegfried (Member # 29) on :
Easy, Aban. Notre Dame's school colors are gold and blue. The new $20 dollar bills contain the colors gold and blue. Ergo, there's a Notre Dame link to the counterfeiting chick!
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Then you have these stupid banks....
Deposit $220.00, in cash, midday Wednesday, then have to wait till Friday for it to take.... WTF is that.... I could understand an out of town or out of state check, but 2 days for cash....
I am leaving Rochester State Bank for another, staffed by stupud people with the total ability, an un-dying need to follow, stupid rules....
I may go back to National City, or the Bank of Springfield, or US Bank.... Someone that does cash transactions in real time, like my old credit union....
The rest of my family banks there and has never had a problem, so mayhap it iss just me....
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"As Tim has shown, you spend ages saying 'Oh, you Brits with your silly names for your coins', but then we change them, yet you still keep to the same silly names."
I wasn't complaining about the name "shilling". I was talking about the system they were a part of. I mean, it's bad enough that we don't use metric measurements here. But at least our money has always come in easy-to-handle units. When there's, like, 37 pence in a shilling and 15.86 shillings in a pound, or whatever*, you could spend days just trying to pay for a candy bar with loose change.
*Disclaimer: This is exaggeration. I am aware that the actual system was ever so slightly less confusing than my approximation.
Posted by Da_bang80 (Member # 528) on :
I like the new $5's but not the $10's. They are a little too gaudy for me. I hope that the $20's have a nice shade of green. My mom collects coins, she's got some franc's, and some portugese coins (what are those called?) I think there's a silver dollar in there somewhere's but I havn't seen it.
Posted by Phoenix (Member # 966) on :
There were 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound, making 240 pence in a pound.
It's a perfectly reasonable system, and is similar to how most old-fashioned measurement systems work.
No-one complains that there should be 10 inches in a foot or 100 seconds in a minute, and yet people seem to have a problem with our old money.
Posted by Austin Powers (Member # 250) on :
Well, I recall the mother of an English friend of mine still complaining about the "silly metric system". She prefers the old one.
About the Dollar bills: I never liked that all of them looked exactly the same - in size and color.
Even before the Euro the Deutsche Mark bills came in different sizes and colors which makes usability easier for handicapped people. I am glad they kept that idea with the Euro, yet I think the Euro bills are a tad too large. They don't fit into my wallet properly without sticking out. Oh well, I shouldn't complain, I mainly pay with credit card anyway.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
How about all your nicknames for combinations of currency? I thought pound=bob=quid=guinea for the longest time until I discovered a guinea is actually a pound and a shilling.
--Jonah
Posted by Phoenix (Member # 966) on :
quote:Originally posted by Peregrinus: How about all your nicknames for combinations of currency? I thought pound=bob=quid=guinea for the longest time until I discovered a guinea is actually a pound and a shilling.
--Jonah
And a bob is a shilling.
Then you have a florin (2 shillings), a crown (5 shillings), a farthing (1/4 of a penny, from the word "fourthing"), and the self explanatory names for the small coins (halfpenny, pronounced hayp'ny, twopence, pronounced tup'nce, threepence, pronounced thrup'nce, and sixpence, pronounced sixp'nce).
Oh, and the one pound coin used to be called a sovereign.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Regarding your bank of choice, whatever you do, avoid Bank 1. They are the devil. We hates them. We stabs their eyeses out!!
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
And, of course, no-one under the age of 40 who isn't from some inbred northern town ever uses words like that anyway.
Well, except "quid". But you say "buck". And at least you can work out how much our coins our by looking at them. So there.
Tim is partly right though. It wasn't just the number of pennies in a pound, but the hapennies, half a crowns, and other gibberish that went with it.
People hate change. Even when it is basically good for them. Different countries resist to varying degrees. When they started using centigrade (along with farenheit) for weather reports, everyone complained. And then, a year later, they complained a bit less. And then a bit less. And now, most people who are under 40 who don't live in an inbred northern town understand centigrade perfectly fine. They have more trouble with meters and whatnot because they are not exposed to it on a regular basis.
Same thing with pound coins. Everyone complained, but they took the pound note out of circulation, people got used to it, and now prefer that pounds are coins rather than notes. In America, they'd argue about their constitutional right to having dollar bills and temperature in farenheit.
And that's why we have more widescreen TVs than you. Yes.
[ October 24, 2003, 09:08 AM: Message edited by: PsyLiam ]
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
quote:no-one under the age of 40 who isn't from some inbred northern town never uses words like that
So, everyone always uses them?
[ October 24, 2003, 09:22 AM: Message edited by: Cartman ]
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
Don't be picky. The fact of the matter is...I can watch Buffy and Angel in widescreen on TV, and you can't.
Unless you buy the DVDs, obviously. But can you buy season 6 on DVD? No! Once again I win!
Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
I just wonder if they went and replaced the $5 bill prematurely, or unneccesarily. I heard rumours once that they were going to replace the $5 bill with a coin. Just makes me wonder what it would be called... A pentie? Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
I don;t watch tv, so a new qualifier must be met....
Why woiuld they call it a panty???? Posted by Wraith (Member # 779) on :
I must admit, pounds, shillings and pence aren't actually that hard to work out. And I've never used the things either.
The US names for coins are wierd- do any other countries do anything similar?
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Aban, I didn't like dealing with Bank One when I worked at Colortyme in Port Huron, always had a problem with the night drop, always something they goofed up.... Well, almost always, the one guy took the drop home with him over the weekend, to Flint....
I am going to go back to National City, I think, which makes my banking esier, since that is the bank I am a courier for... I am always at a branch....
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Bank 1 is evil incarnate. When I graduated from college in Columbus, it took them about 4 months to finally close my account. All the time, I was racking up late and overdraft fees. I had to call the office at least a dozen times. And all because the stupid git that "closed" my account before I left town forgot to check if I had written any checks that had not cleared yet. The lady sits there and says, "Do you have any checks that haven't cleared yet?" I looked at her blankly for a second and said, "Ma'am... you have the computer... how would I know if all my checks have cleared?" I guess she forgot to check, because there was a gas bill that hadn't cleared. It then re-opened my account, which had no money in it by now, so I got an overdraft fee... then they ran it again (it's policy) and surprise surprise...NO MONEY!! Overdraft fee number two.
The story gets worse after that.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
quote:Originally posted by Wraith: The US names for coins are wierd- do any other countries do anything similar?
Well, I suppose you could technically make the claim that a 5 penny piece is a shilling, but no-one calls it that.
Brits do say "coppers" to refer to one and two penny coins. But that's fairly easy to figure out, since they are, well, copper.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
National City said I could get a debit card, since Citizens First decided to revoke my debit card there when I closed my account, instead of just not fucking me....
So I am stuck at Rochester State Bank, so I have to learn to plan ahead and not count on cash deposits to take affect for 2 business days.... That is if US Bank and Bank of Springfield deny me also, which I suspect will happen....
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
The Australian 50c coin is a dodecagon (or is it an icosogon?)
And we were the first country to have plastic and multicoloured bank notes.
Ours have little see-through windows in them too. And textures for blind people.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Of course, all Australian's with Disabilities compliant.... Which would work, since the guy taking donations at the Wal Mart yesterday didn't know if I donated a bill of money or a piece of paper, only hearing it rustle. Collecting donation to train guide dogs....
I also like the idea of plastic money, gives us something to do with a lot of land fill...
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
"...Citizens First decided to revoke my debit card there when I closed my account, instead of just not fucking me."
Well, what did you expect? What were you going to do with the debit card if there was no longer an account from which the money would be withdrawn?
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Cancel it, not revoke.... Revoking is a bad thing, cancelling it when an account is closed shows that I did it properly....
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 138) on :
Man I've been out of the states too long, almost 8 months now.
After visiting places like Bahrain, Oman, UAE, and Singapore though and using their money I prefer American currency. I don't like bills that are different sizes, although different colors aren't too bad.
The only thing I don't like about this new $20 would have to be the stupid little yellow 20s.
Posted by Grokca (Member # 722) on :
The eagle on that bill looks like it is jumping backwards after being scared.
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
I bet the old European coins and notes all had nicknames. Guilders certainly had. But the euro hasn't got any widely used nicknames yet, despite the occasional incredibly silly campaign by a miscellaneous pointless organisation.
The silliest coins I've ever had were 10 Czech Heller coins. They're worth �0.003, and made out of something very light. Almost plastic-y, but I guess it was some sort of cheap-ass alloy. (Heh! A quick search on Google finds that 10 and 20 Heller coins will cease to be legal tender on the 31st of October, this year)
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
The US used to have actually plastic coins worth $0.001.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
quote:Originally posted by Harry: I bet the old European coins and notes all had nicknames.
Well, no, because as has been pointed out, British currency doesn't. Except quid, but I half expect that to stay in anyway if/when we switch to the Euro.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
An icosogon is 20-sided. A dodecagon is 12-sided. Not being familiar with Australian coins, which is it?
--Jonah
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
An icosogon is 20-sided. A dodecagon is 12-sided. Not being familiar with Australian coins, which is it?
--Jonah
Posted by Hunter (Member # 611) on :
The Australian 50 cent coin is 12 sided.
Posted by Austin Powers (Member # 250) on :
I prefer round coins personally - if any.
Posted by Ritten (Member # 417) on :
Yes, I prefer large denomination bills over coins, unless they are very thick gold ones, say about two to three ounces.
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