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American banknotes have numbers on them to easily distinguish the different values!
by ahmeneeroe-v2 1y ago
American banknotes have numbers on them to easily distinguish the different values!
- ceejayoz 1y agoNot everyone can see. Australian notes vary in size for this reason.
- rayiner 1y ago[flagged]
- bckr 1y agoThat’s a terribly myopic take
- zahlman 1y agoUnfortunate metaphor in context....
- sailingparrot 1y agoThe unbearable pain of having to handle bills of different sizes, there is not enough empathy in this world to truly pay hommage to your suffering.
- kgermino 1y agoIt's primarily done for security and secondarily a benefit making it easier (for everyone!) to identify denomination by feel
- hollerith 11mo agoWhat security benefit is unlocked by varying the size of the bills?
- ceejayoz 11mo agoFor (very fancy) cloth/paper bills like American ones, some counterfeiters wash the inks out of $1 bills to make $100 ones. Only possible if the $100s are the same or smaller size. https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/counterfeit-currency-warning/3705191/?amp=1 https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/counterfeit-currency-warni... I believe the US made washing much harder with other techniques because of this in recent years.
- knorker 1y agoQuite the opposite. As a fully abled person I find it incredibly annoying to have to flip through US notes instead of just immediately picking out the right one by size and/or color.
- edgineer 1y agoUse a wallet with a divider, and sort your bills. Won't have to flip through until you carry several each of five or more denominations. If you regularly do, then use two dividers.
- knorker 11mo agoIt seems like a roundabout way to reduce the impact of a symptom of a self inflicted problem. It's clearly not a solution, and it seems like it's a suggestion that can only come from a place of "but we've always done it this way" without experiencing a world without the problem. Even if 5s and 10s are the only ones mixed together, I still have to look for a number. In every other currency you just… immediately take the right one. That's not even taking into account that wallets are getting smaller and smaller as people need to bring them less. So adding dividers would be like acquiring George Costanza's wallet. Hell, if they're different size you can even feel the value of a loose note in your pocket.
- dghlsakjg 1y agoDoes the Canadian solution of adding brail to the notes inconvenience you, or is that an acceptable way to make sure that people with disabilities can participate in cash transactions safely? Does having different sized coins strike you as an inconvenience? Why does a feature that can be used by anyone, regardless of disability, strike you as "inconvenient for almost everybody"? What, exactly, is inconvenient about having notes be different sizes?
- rayiner 1y agoDifferent sized bills are harder to stack in a wallet. Braille is a much better way to handle the problem. No cost to the majority, while solving the problem for the minority.
- krior 1y ago> Different sized bills are harder to stack in a wallet. This has never been my experience. What is the challenge?
- dghlsakjg 1y agoIt seems like having equivalent sized notes is just your personal preference, and that you are projecting that as an inconvenience onto "the majority". Based on the comments it seems like even people without disabilities mostly don't care, or actually think that it is a good feature. For my side, even if I did agree with your preference, I am perfectly willing to deal with the incredible hardship of slightly different sized notes in my wallet in exchange for a society where disabled people need not fear being ripped off.
- cestith 1y agoAs long as the largest bills fit and the smallest bills don’t get lost I don’t understand how it’s so much harder.
- extraduder_ire 1y agoI'm used to Euro notes, and having each denomination be a different colour and height in my wallet is very useful for pulling a specific one out. I keep them in order, with €5s in the front.
- ryandrake 1y agoOr put another way: "Deliberately griefing the experience of a small number of people just to make it marginally more convenient for everyone else."
- SkyLemon 1y agoOne thing about accessibility and usability, is that when you design something for the minority it tends to make things better for the majority. Take ramps for example, they not only server those in wheel chairs, but also families with strollers and elderly with walkers.
- cestith 1y agoCrutches and canes can be easier on a ramp, too. Even people with fine balance but limits on movement of the hip, knee, or ankle can benefit.
- RandomBacon 1y ago[flagged]
- rayiner 1y agoI’m in a minority group.
- Arubis 1y agoWhich is great if you are fully abled! But for folks for whom sight isn't as strong, additional aids (different colors, different sized banknotes for different denominations) are super helpful.
- filleduchaos 1y agoSome currencies also have braille-like embossments so that if you're totally blind, you can still pick out the correct denominations.
- zahlman 1y agoBeing fully sighted, I still appreciate it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curb_cut_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curb_cut_effect
- ajmurmann 1y agoFrom dealing with Euro notes, I like being able to look down at the money in the wallet and pull the right notes out based on color. With USD I need to take the bills out of the wallet.
- afavour 1y ago> The United States is the only country that prints all denominations of currency in the same size. The US and Switzerland are the only two countries that use the same colors for all of their various bills. Needless to say, this sameness of size and color make it impossible for a blind person to locate the correct bills to make a purchase without some sort of assistance, or confirm that he or she has been given the correct change by the sales clerk. Even people with partial sight may have trouble distinguishing a $1 bill from a $10, especially if the bill is old and worn. https://afb.org/blindness-and-low-vision/using-technology/accessible-identification-systems-people-who-are-blind-0 https://afb.org/blindness-and-low-vision/using-technology/ac...
- SoftTalker 1y agoIt's a bit odd that the mint doesn't emboss the denomination in braille on each note. I'd think that there would be a way to do that and have it hold up pretty well in circulation?
- Maxion 1y agoBraille does not help everyone. Most people with vision issues are not legally lind and do not know braille.
- whoaoweird 1y agoIt's wild to see you downvoted. Only about 10% of blind people know braille. There are many more people who have visual impairments but are not blind. Braille is not a universal solution (though I would rather have it than not have it).
- justsomehnguy 1y agoBut you don't need to know braille to learn how the most common bills are marked. Just like you don't need to know Japanese to count the exact amount of yen bills.
- 1y ago
- nkrisc 1y agoAnd it would be even easier to distinguish them if they were different colors in addition to the printed numerals.
- IshKebab 1y agoThis is a joke right?