Paper Money is discriminatory?

[SLUDoubleDeuce]

While our bills are uniform, we are getting color added to them thanks to efforts to thwart counterfeiting. I prefer the use of colour. I also like the dollar coin concept but I am sure I am in the minority on both.

From my experience travelling overseas, at certain points of the day and night, it is easier to look into your wallet and pull out money by color. When I lived in Australia, a pink ($5AUD) and a blue ($10AUD) was the necessary amount for cab fare at the end of the night. Their bills are also plastic and last longer than US bills, for what it is worth. Oh and they do not use a penny anymore.

The Euro is very consumer friendly. My only issue is with thei 1/2 cent coin, which is smaller than our penny. I have noticed a lot of shopkeepers who horde them in an effort to take them out of circulation, since most dispise them so much. My understanding is that the Germans requested this coin be minted as part of the new currency since they had a 1/2 pfenning coin in the past and are the only ones who enjoy using the small coin.

Still notakers on what unit of US currency has Braille on it, huh? The only hint is that the unit is in general circulation. You possibly have one now in your wallet or on your night stand.

too bad the blind people still cant SEE the colors of the money.

Too bad, cause that was a good movie

[cjwilhelmi]

As far as Ethan's question on which US currency has braile...

Its the edges of coins. The quarter, penny and dime all of ridges on the sides and are all very distinct sizes that anyone (including the blind) can feel. The nickel has smooth sides.

[Sonny]

Don't blind people already use the braille buttons on the drive-thru ATM?

[laxfan25]

Don't blind people already use the braille buttons on the drive-thru ATM?

THAT one always has me puzzled!!
Of course with the new braille buttons on the cruise control it's much easier to drive, and with the new Lexus, it even drives itself!

[KnoxVegas]

Ok, I am for Braille on the bills. My previous post about liking the color of money is personal opinion and also the two currencies I cited have Braille on them, so for the recorded I like my bills to have Braille on them and have color. I prefer the ones made of plastic the best. Australians, all let us rejoice....

The ADA Act should have accounted for the blind but since it did not, I think that the judges ruling is sound.

The edges on the sides of coins are left over from the period of time when coins were made of precious metals and the cut, or milled, edged showed that none of the metal had been removed from the coin.

The Braille on drive-thru ATMs comes from the manufacturers (including Diebold ) only using one set of key pads for their ATMs regardless of whether it is a walk-up or a drive-thru one.

Nice guess with the $2 bill but incorrect.

One more thing, The Color of Money was decent and Mary Elizabeth Mastrontonio was at her peek. She has made other decent movies but 1986 might have been her zenith because, IMHO, Stakeout marked the beginning of the end.

[Tim Whitehead]

From Wikipedia:

The design of euro banknotes include several characteristics suggested in cooperation with organizations representing blind persons. These characteristics aid both persons who are visually impaired (people who can see the banknotes, but cannot necessarily read the printing on them) and those who are entirely blind.

Euro banknotes increase in size with increasing denominations, which helps both the visually impaired and the blind. The predominant colouring of the notes alternates between “warm” and “cool” hues in adjacent denominations (see the chart above), making it still harder to confuse two similar denominations for those who can see the colour. The printing of the denominations is intaglio printing, which allows the ink to be felt by sensitive fingers, allowing some persons to distinguish the printed denominations by touch alone. Lower denominations (5, 10, 20) have smooth bands along one side of the note containing holograms; higher denominations have smooth, square patches with holograms. Finally, the 200-euro and 500-euro notes have distinctive tactile patterns along the bottom edges of the notes: the 200-euro note has vertical lines running from the bottom centre to the right-hand corner, and the 500-euro note has diagonal lines running down the right-hand edge.

It can be useful to fold a note between two fingers and then use the fingers as a length gauge to distinguish one note from another.

Although there have been other currencies predating the euro that were specifically designed in similar ways (different sizes, colours, and ridges) to aid the visually impaired, the introduction of the euro constitutes the first time that authorities have consulted associations representing the blind before, rather than after, the release of the currency.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_banknotes

No braille, but they are easily identifiable by touch. And they even consulted with the blind (what a concept!).

[laxfan25]

As far as Ethan's question on which US currency has braile...

Its the edges of coins. The quarter, penny and dime all of ridges on the sides and are all very distinct sizes that anyone (including the blind) can feel. The nickel has smooth sides.

I don't think the reeding on the coins qualify as braille though!
Still awaiting the answer Ethan!

[peterwho]

A blind person is suing Target because their web site is not visually-impared-friendly, too.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/02/09/BAGQHH5H7D1.DTL&hw

[KnoxVegas]

Tim,
After some of the nights I have spent in Europe, I needed Braille!

Bada Bing!

I stand corrected. I was thinking of the Italian lira which I last used in 2001 whilst in Trastevere. Ah, Roma!

I just got seasons one & two of Trailer Park Boys as an early Christmas present. My wife is the best!

Here is the answer. Who wouldhave thought something so progrssive would have come from a formal rebel state like Alabama:

[laxfan25]

Ta Da!! Great quiz Ethan!

I've never seen Trailer Park Boys - what's it about?
(Never mind - I just googled and went to the BBC America site where they have a recap of season's one and two - I can't beleive I hadn't heard about it! Does it run here in the states on BBC America? That could be a problem - our cable system doesn't carry it)

[Tim Whitehead]

Trailer Park Boys is pretty popular amongst males my age in Canada. It doesn't do it for me, though. They also recently put a movie out here in Canada, so if you guys are interested, you should keep an eye out for that.

When I was in Europe this year, instead of Braille, I could have used a note on the bills that said "REMEMBER, THIS DOES NOT EQUAL A DOLLAR". I kept forgetting that 1 Euro was about $1.50 Canadian, and blew waaay more cash than I intended...