The US Dollar has always held it’s down in terms of design. It has changed over the years but nothing significant. When the Euro was put into circulation is was tauted as a great design that is pleasing yet efficient. It is easy to recognize and hard to fake.
Most countries also have a greater range of currency. The United States only a rather limited range of coins and notes which are: $0.01 coin, $0.05 coin, $0.10 coin, $0.25 coin, $.50 coin (very rarely used), $1.00 coin (even more rare), $1.00 note, $5.00 note, $10.00 note, $20.00 note, $50.00 note and $100.00 note. There is a $2.00 coin I believe, but it is very rarely used … if it even is real. So, that makes a total of 12 possible ways to pay, with the 1cent coint being pretty much useless and used only as a cookie jar filler.
Let us compare that to what the Euro coins and banknotes: 1c, 2c, 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, €1 and €2 coins; €5, €10, €20, €50, €100, €200 and €500 banknotes. Thus a total of 15 possibilities. The €200 and €500 are not used as much do to their high value. These ranges of currencies are only slightly larger, but their spread is much more useful. For example, the 2 cent coin albiet small has significant used when buying at traditional markets or smaller stores. The 20cent coin is even more useful! Trust me, if you ever go to a European country that used the 20 cent coin (or the like) you will see how usefull it can be (unlike the pesky penny).
The Dollor Redesign project aims to fix problems with the design in the current US dollar and bring forth a more useful range of currency. The currencies will be more silimar to the new (awesome looking) Euro while having a very useful range. The suggested range eliminates the 1 cent and 2 cent coins along with the $500 bill and having a $200 bill. This can be a good idea though I do not think it is entirely practical.
As much as I dislike the 1 cent coin, I believe it is required as a small denomination. Sure, the 1cent is not as widely used as the 1 cent in any EU country but it still has it’s uses. For one, it allows greater ‘detail’ of money management. Doesn’t make it easier but you can get more accurate prices from it. Let’s say you are buying something that is only worth 5c, but you don’t need the whole thing only half … well, you’re not going to pay 5 cents for something that isn’t worth 5 cents. The 5 cent, while a good starting point is simply too large to be useful as the smallest denomination.
I also believe that while the $500 note is large and will probably not be useful much, I can forsee good applications of it. So do not see a reason to not use it.
Overall I believe this to be a good project to bring to our governments attention (with a few modifications).
Dollar ReDe$sign Project via posterous.com [http://richardsmith.posterous.com/dollar-redeign-michael-tyznik]
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