6 ms·

> 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 t

> 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 ago
It'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 ago
  Braille does not help everyone. Most people with vision issues are not legally lind and do not know braille.
  - whoaoweird 1y ago
    It'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 ago
      But 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.
    - axiolite 1y ago
      Chiming in to complain that a good, working solution to a problem just doesn't happen to solve ALL PROBLEMS is just banality or perhaps pedantry. Unless it was also proposing an alternative that might do better... Braille on money also doesn't help dyslexic quadrplegics with dysesthesia... Checkmate.
      - whoaoweird 1y ago
        I think that's an extremely ungenerous read here. The thread is about how different size bills and different color bills solve a lot of problems with people who have low vision. Adding braille solves the same problem, but for a subset of people that different sized/color bills solves. If you have a good, working solution that's widely used worldwide, and someone suggests a worse solution that works for fewer people, it's more than fair to point out that "your solution is worse, less common, and works for fewer people". Your last sentence is a low effort strawman, I'm not sure why you felt it necessary to include.
    - Maxion 11mo ago
      Hackernews is filled with you healthy 20 year olds who do not understand that many will by the age of 30 have reduced vision. Society is not supposed to be engineered for young single healthy 20 year old males.
  - justsomehnguy 1y ago
    You need a week of low-key exposure to learn how each bill is marked.
  - yesfitz 1y ago
    Anyone able to feel the dots could learn to distinguish bills this way without learning braille beyond that, regardless of their vision. Anyone who didn't find the feature useful could ignore it.
  - sequoia 1y ago
    In canada it's "one cluster of dots = $5, two clusters = $10, three = $20" and so on. You just feel the number of dot clusters & count, no braille involved.
- wasabi991011 1y ago
  I think I've seen that blind people in the US have a little machine that they can use to add the braille themselves. Also from a quick google search there's also electronic bill readers that can be provided to blind people for free if they qualify. In Canada the bills are embossed with braille by the mint. There may be other accommodations too, but I haven't looked it up.
  - macintux 1y ago
    > I think I've seen that blind people in the US have a little machine that they can use to add the braille themselves. That solves half the problem, but you still don't know whether you're getting correct change.
  - zahlman 1y ago
    Not braille; see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45904000 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45904000.
varun_ch 1y ago
Switzerland has same colors for all of the various bills? As far as I can tell, that has never been true
- HansHamster 1y ago
  This also confused me. The current ones have very distinct colors and also all the previous series used different colors as far as I can tell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Swiss_franc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Swiss_franc
JJMcJ 1y ago
The ten dollar bill has a somewhat different color than the other currency, somewhat yellowish.
nayuki 1y ago
> The United States is the only country that prints all denominations of currency in the same size Let me assure you that all Canadian banknotes are the same size too, 6.00 inch × 2.75 inch (152.40 mm × 69.85 mm). I'm not sure how the article got this fact wrong. As a side note, Canadian banknotes don't have braille, but have an ad hoc system of bumps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_currency_tactile_feature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_currency_tactile_feat...
- zahlman 1y ago
  > Although similar in appearance to braille, it differs because standard Braille was deemed too sensitive. Yes. This system is more resistant to wear and tear.
- axiolite 1y ago
  > Let me assure you that all Canadian banknotes are the same size too [...] not sure how the article got this fact wrong. Because Canada is just part of the U.S. (flame away)
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - nayuki 1y ago
    > Because Canada is just part of the U.S. As a Canadian, I'm amused to hear this because it is basically true as a first approximation. Random factoid - Canadian coins ($2, $1, $0.25, $0.10, $0.05, $0.01 (withdrawn)) come in almost the same denominations as US coins ($1 (uncommon), $0.05 (rare), $0.25, $0.10, $0.05, $0.01), and they are the same diameter and thickness, but maybe having different weight and magnetic properties. It's kind of scary that Canadian coins are essentially state-sanctioned counterfeits of US coins. Another weird thing is that the National Basketball Association (NBA) has 29 American teams and 1 Canadian one... making it more of an international basketball association. I think another sports league with "national" in its name also crosses national boundaries. If you take a random person and teleport them between a random mix of Canadian and US cities, I think they'll find it hard to tell the two countries apart. The primary language is English, the accent is the same, the streets and buildings look the same, people watch/listen/read much of the same media, and so on. One party trick that I practice when traveling in America is to not volunteer information about where I'm from, and see how long I can blend into groups of people and conversations until someone suspects something or asks a direct question. Needless to say, I can last pretty long, and even debated things like US federal politics. The internal diversity of people within the US (e.g. skin color, accent, beliefs) really helps an outsider like me blend in. Also note that there is a one-way relationship going on. Canadians know more about the US than what's necessary for life. Heck, even the state broadcaster CBC will put out entire news segments (e.g. 5 to 20 minutes) on US-specific issues. Knowing about the US - whether it's major companies, cities, TV series - is unavoidable to Canadians. But ask the average American about anything related to Canada, and you'll likely get a blank stare. However, some of the differences between Canada and the USA include: Guns(!), personal and state violence, healthcare, social safety net, political polarization, income, prestige, number of big companies, French language, atmospheric climate.
kbolino 1y ago
All U.S. bills in common circulation (all denominations except $2) have been different colors for 20 years.
ebruchez 1y ago
> The US and Switzerland are the only two countries that use the same colors for all of their various bills. Factually absolutely incorrect for Switzerland, and easy to verify. Swiss bank notes are and have been some of the most colorful (and pretty, I should say) around, and all have different sizes.

SoftTalker 1y ago

It'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 ago
Braille does not help everyone. Most people with vision issues are not legally lind and do not know braille.
- whoaoweird 1y ago
  It'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 ago
    But 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.
  - axiolite 1y ago
    Chiming in to complain that a good, working solution to a problem just doesn't happen to solve ALL PROBLEMS is just banality or perhaps pedantry. Unless it was also proposing an alternative that might do better... Braille on money also doesn't help dyslexic quadrplegics with dysesthesia... Checkmate.
    - whoaoweird 1y ago
      I think that's an extremely ungenerous read here. The thread is about how different size bills and different color bills solve a lot of problems with people who have low vision. Adding braille solves the same problem, but for a subset of people that different sized/color bills solves. If you have a good, working solution that's widely used worldwide, and someone suggests a worse solution that works for fewer people, it's more than fair to point out that "your solution is worse, less common, and works for fewer people". Your last sentence is a low effort strawman, I'm not sure why you felt it necessary to include.
  - Maxion 11mo ago
    Hackernews is filled with you healthy 20 year olds who do not understand that many will by the age of 30 have reduced vision. Society is not supposed to be engineered for young single healthy 20 year old males.
- justsomehnguy 1y ago
  You need a week of low-key exposure to learn how each bill is marked.
- yesfitz 1y ago
  Anyone able to feel the dots could learn to distinguish bills this way without learning braille beyond that, regardless of their vision. Anyone who didn't find the feature useful could ignore it.
- sequoia 1y ago
  In canada it's "one cluster of dots = $5, two clusters = $10, three = $20" and so on. You just feel the number of dot clusters & count, no braille involved.
wasabi991011 1y ago
I think I've seen that blind people in the US have a little machine that they can use to add the braille themselves. Also from a quick google search there's also electronic bill readers that can be provided to blind people for free if they qualify. In Canada the bills are embossed with braille by the mint. There may be other accommodations too, but I haven't looked it up.
- macintux 1y ago
  > I think I've seen that blind people in the US have a little machine that they can use to add the braille themselves. That solves half the problem, but you still don't know whether you're getting correct change.
- zahlman 1y ago
  Not braille; see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45904000 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45904000.

varun_ch 1y ago

Switzerland has same colors for all of the various bills? As far as I can tell, that has never been true

HansHamster 1y ago
This also confused me. The current ones have very distinct colors and also all the previous series used different colors as far as I can tell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Swiss_franc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Swiss_franc

JJMcJ 1y ago

The ten dollar bill has a somewhat different color than the other currency, somewhat yellowish.

nayuki 1y ago

> The United States is the only country that prints all denominations of currency in the same size Let me assure you that all Canadian banknotes are the same size too, 6.00 inch × 2.75 inch (152.40 mm × 69.85 mm). I'm not sure how the article got this fact wrong. As a side note, Canadian banknotes don't have braille, but have an ad hoc system of bumps: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_currency_tactile_feature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_currency_tactile_feat...

zahlman 1y ago
> Although similar in appearance to braille, it differs because standard Braille was deemed too sensitive. Yes. This system is more resistant to wear and tear.
axiolite 1y ago
> Let me assure you that all Canadian banknotes are the same size too [...] not sure how the article got this fact wrong. Because Canada is just part of the U.S. (flame away)
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- nayuki 1y ago
  > Because Canada is just part of the U.S. As a Canadian, I'm amused to hear this because it is basically true as a first approximation. Random factoid - Canadian coins ($2, $1, $0.25, $0.10, $0.05, $0.01 (withdrawn)) come in almost the same denominations as US coins ($1 (uncommon), $0.05 (rare), $0.25, $0.10, $0.05, $0.01), and they are the same diameter and thickness, but maybe having different weight and magnetic properties. It's kind of scary that Canadian coins are essentially state-sanctioned counterfeits of US coins. Another weird thing is that the National Basketball Association (NBA) has 29 American teams and 1 Canadian one... making it more of an international basketball association. I think another sports league with "national" in its name also crosses national boundaries. If you take a random person and teleport them between a random mix of Canadian and US cities, I think they'll find it hard to tell the two countries apart. The primary language is English, the accent is the same, the streets and buildings look the same, people watch/listen/read much of the same media, and so on. One party trick that I practice when traveling in America is to not volunteer information about where I'm from, and see how long I can blend into groups of people and conversations until someone suspects something or asks a direct question. Needless to say, I can last pretty long, and even debated things like US federal politics. The internal diversity of people within the US (e.g. skin color, accent, beliefs) really helps an outsider like me blend in. Also note that there is a one-way relationship going on. Canadians know more about the US than what's necessary for life. Heck, even the state broadcaster CBC will put out entire news segments (e.g. 5 to 20 minutes) on US-specific issues. Knowing about the US - whether it's major companies, cities, TV series - is unavoidable to Canadians. But ask the average American about anything related to Canada, and you'll likely get a blank stare. However, some of the differences between Canada and the USA include: Guns(!), personal and state violence, healthcare, social safety net, political polarization, income, prestige, number of big companies, French language, atmospheric climate.

kbolino 1y ago

All U.S. bills in common circulation (all denominations except $2) have been different colors for 20 years.

ebruchez 1y ago

> The US and Switzerland are the only two countries that use the same colors for all of their various bills. Factually absolutely incorrect for Switzerland, and easy to verify. Swiss bank notes are and have been some of the most colorful (and pretty, I should say) around, and all have different sizes.