Paper Money = Discrimination to the Blind

[IDrinkaRum]

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_...20115409990001

U. S. Money is going to have to be revamped again because of this lawsuit.

As a sighted person, I never thought about it, but it does make sense. Not all strangers are going to be honest with the blind about what kind of denomination they're handing over & will not be honest about the returned change. (I'm not saying all cashiers/CSMs are dishonest, but let's face it, we've known a few who are/were).

[Boozy]

I can't get the page to load for some reason, so maybe the article answers this question: Why don't US bills have braille?

Seems like a really simple thing to do. Canadian notes have it. Although they do get worn down over time.

One of my customers is blind, and she just keeps her denominations in different compartments in her wallet. But she also has a sighted husband at home whom she can trust who does this for her.

[IDrinkaRum]

Boozy - the US doesn't have braille on their bills. At all. The Treasury sounds like they really don't want to redesign the money. They've just redesigned the $5 bill - it now has a huge purple 5 on the back. The treasury says it's for the vision-impaired. But for the blind who can't see at all? (I'm almost legally blind with my sight being 20/200 and legally blind is 20/400 where you don't see complete darkness but your vision is so bad without something to correct it, you might as well be blind).

I don't know what should the solution, but it needs to be something.

[AFPheonix]

It really wouldn't be a huge expense to redo our money supply, as we have to replace bills every 2 years anyways.
I'd love to go to polymer bills like AUS has. Plus, making bills in different sizes, with perhaps different margins and in a variety of colors would make it easier for sighted and non-sighted people to differentiate between bills more easily, not to mention make life more difficult for counterfeiters.

[DesignFox]

It's not the re-doing of the money itself that is the problem. It's the re-doing of all vending machines, registers and cash dispensers that becomes expensive.

Think about it, those machines have to know what kind of money is coming in and out somehow. They'd all need to be re-built and reprogrammed each time the money changed.

That's why the $1 bill has not been changed despite all the changes on higher denominations. It would be far too expensive to replace all those vending machines.

[AFPheonix]

True, although vending machine technology can already deal with funky non-paper bills in Europe and Australia.
I still think overall it would save money in the long run and be better for everyone involved.

[miffed]

Maybe the treasury could make distinct fancy cuts on the corners of bills, so a blind person would only have to run their finger along the corner of a bill. It wouldn't even have to be all sides, just one corner so maybe vending machines could still use with them. Although that might not work out in the long run since corners could be easily damaged, or if someone was set on cheating a blind person they could cut the corners.

[DesignFox]

Phoenix- I agree that it would be best for everyone involved. I don't know if it would save money long term, I just know it's expensive for us to implement right away. I think that's why all the changes are taking place so gradually.

Miffed- If someone cut the corners of the bills, I'm sure the blind person would notice. Unless you meant that someone would actually take the time to cut the corner to the precise patterning of a different denomination in an attempt to defraud someone...but I don't think most people would take that kind of time to do that...

I mean, I've only ever met one person that was legally blind. I've never dealt with a blind customer before...assume I'm a total scumbag and want to cheat blind people, the odds are incredibly low I'll ever even deal with one...it would be an awful waste of my time to sit around cutting patterns into the corners of dollar bills in the off chance I'll get the opportunity to cheat someone!

I think your solution has some merit on the surface...I'd be more worried about the corners getting ragged and losing shape than someone altering them.

[rahmota]

Well I've always thought american money was too bland and boring anyhow since I saw foreign examples. Maybe make different sizes for each denomination. Like a 1$ gets to stay the same size and shape and all so the vending machines can still handle them whiel a 5$ gets a 1/4" increase in every direction a 10 gets a 1/4 shrink and maybe thicken the paper or plastic they are printed on to be able to incorperate the corner cutting (ala battlestar galactica) and braille.

Or how about this idea: Make the bills all out of solid plastic laminate 1/8" thick. Braille can be incorporated, the plastic can be different colors and textures and dimensions to make sure they can be differentiated in the dark. or scented so people can smell the denominations (5$ bill smells like oranges, 10s smell like bannas it could make workign in a bank rather interesting.)

Or how about this idea: do away with paper money altogether anyhow and just go with coins.
1$ = stnd sacajawea style coin so the vending machines can still take them.
5$ triangular silver
10$ = square silver
20$ = pentagonal gold
50$ = toroidal gold (keep your eye on the doughnut and not on the hole)
100$ = gold (pressed latinum) rectangle.

Yeah might mean a return to the idea of a coin purse or belt pouch but hey thats not such a bad thing.

Just some ideas.

[AFPheonix]

Ugh, all coins would be too heavy and inconvenient. A polymer bill would save us money in the long run as they'd last longer in circulation than the paper bills we have now.
They'd also save us money as far as trying to detect, catch, and prosecute counterfeiters as the act of counterfeiting would be a lot more difficult than it is now.

[DesignFox]

Rahmota's idea to keep the $1's the same and just change the sizes or shapes of the higher denominations seems like a pretty solid idea...

A better material than paper just might be a good step, too... might take longer to incorporate though...we'd still need a material that can fit in a tri-fold wallet to be convenient...Otherwise we may as well be using coins.

[anriana]

To be completely selfish, I am really anal about cash lining up correctly. It would drive me crazy if they made everything different sizes.

I don't think increasing the size of bills would be a good idea because everything is already set up for the current size. Minimizing or halving would be better.

[IDrinkaRum]

See, I like the idea of varying sizes of bills. I have OCD and one of the triggers are the different sized envelopes I mail out about once every 2 weeks (some of my bills I can't set up for Online Payment, so I still have to send them checks). Anyways, I always make a pile of the envelopes from the shortest in the front to the tallest in the back. This would be perfect for me in terms of money, as long as the $1 is the shortest and the others get taller or something like that. Okay, yes, I'm babbling - no coffee yet.

[Boozy]

To be completely selfish, I am really anal about cash lining up correctly. It would drive me crazy if they made everything different sizes.

I'm a little bit OCD about that myself. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

All the talk about switching to coins reminds me of a story my friend told me years ago. Canada had just switched the $2 bill to the $2 coin, adding to the $1 coin already in circulation. It was hard for people to get used to.

Anyway, my friend worked in an MP's office (sort of like a congressman for our American members). She took a phone call from an irate constituent, who was angry about some sort of new regulation in the trucking industry. He spent about 20 minutes shouting at her, and finally, when he was out of steam, he screamed into the phone, "AND I'VE GOT TOO MUCH GODDAMN CHANGE IN MY POCKET!" And hung up.

She and I would end our phonecalls with each other like that for the next 3 months.

[the_std]

Ah, yes, the advent of the toonie. Everyone I knew hated it when it came out, but I think we've grown to love it. I would much rather have a two-dollar coin than a two-dollar bill. (Plus, it makes buying things at Timmy's so much easier. :P)

The one big thing about toonies was freezing them and popping out the gold part on the inside. I had a friend who did it and showed it to another friend's dad, who was a cop. Kid (who was eighteen) got a huge reaming out from the cop and started crying.

I wouldn't be adverse to all coins, but I can see how they'd make life difficult. Varying sizes is an awesome idea. I also love the coloured money we have in Canada. It makes things so much easier.