Since 2004, the and an enhanced security thread that will help businesses and consumers validate the new bills,” says the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. The biggest difference for the new $5 bill is the light purple in the middle, small “05”s that appear on both sides in the background, and a giant purple “5” on the back.
The government has justifiably been a large proponent of redesigning our bills over the past years in order to make our currency safer, smarter, and more secure. But what about making it safer for all of our citizens to use easily? We have moved beyond our bills being all green and carrying just the traditional text. At what point is it appropriate to consider changes such as making bills different sizes or including raised marks on parts of the bills?
Many other currencies have already addre
ssed this issue. For example, the euro features large, raised numerals and different values have different note sizes.
A reasonable concern with using Braille on paper money is that many have not had the opportunity to learn it, and some cannot distinguish the dots in the standard Braille spacing.
Hopefully, the Treasury Department will begin research and analysis to be able to make improvements to make the design of our paper currency so that it is as functional as possible for all in the upcoming years.
Additional sources:
NPR article: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90916767
CNNmoney.com article: http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/20/news/money_blind/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories
U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing: http://www.moneyfactory.gov/
Color and Design Blog: http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2007/09/21/the-new-colors-of-us-money/
“It’s Our Money Too!”: http://www.ourmoneytoo.org/solutions.php
No comments:
Post a Comment