Would you like fries with that order, sir?

[Tannin]

"... to eat here, please."

"Would you like fries with that order?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Would you like fries with that order, sir?"

"Fries," I say - quite expressionless.

"Yes, fries."

"Fries?"

"Yes sir." He points. "Would you like some fries with your burger?"

"Fries? Fries? Fries?! Those are not fries!"

"Uhh, then it's just the ..."

"Those small slivers of potato with an excess of saturated fat and an overdose of sodium, young man, are not fries!"

"Unnnh ... I'll just get you the burger and ..."

"You see where I'm pointing, young man? Those yellow-white objects with the 83 percent retail markup?"

He looks.

"What are those things?"

"Fries".

"Are you sure?"

He remains remarkably polite, considering the circumstances.

"Yes sir, those are our french fries, fresh up just this minute."

"Here, let me show you one." I pluck a stray sliver of fried carbohydrate out of the tray of the woman standing in line next to me, hold it up to the light.

"Let's try it again, shall we? What is this?"

"A french fry."

I break it open. Very, very slowly and clearly, I say "A ... french ... fry?"

He nods, bewildered. "Yes."

"This is not a fucking french fry!" I scream at him at the top of my voice.

The whole place has stopped to watch this conversation, all except for one of the anonymous clones of the female gender working behind the counter with him, perhaps a little older than the others, who is a quick thinker. She deftly plucks two garish, red-painted cartons from the stainless steel dispenser - the largest of the three sizes - pops them open one-handed, fills them with hot, fresh-cooked slivers of potato, and slips one onto my tray, another onto the tray of the woman beside me, who is glancing left and then right, at me and at the counter hand, at me again.

"These are on us," the girl says, smiling bravely, "enjoy your meals."

He is a little slow on the uptake.

"Was there something wrong with the fries, sir?"

"Those are not fucking french fries!"

He just stands there.

"Look out the bloody window, you fool. What suburb can you see?"

"Unh, Nunawading?"

"Yes. Nunawading. Part of the City of Melbourne, is it not?"

"I think so, sir."

"And the City of Melbourne is part of which country? Is it Australia?"

"Yes sir."

"What's your name, son?"

"Bruce."

"Is it indeed! Well good for you!" I exclaim, very pleased. "You know, it's a real pleasure to meet a fair-dinkum Bruce in amongst the faceless hordes of Justins and Jasons and Damiens and bloody Nathans everywhere. I'm Tony, Bruce. Pleased to meet you."

We shake hands.

"So where were you born, Bruce?"

"Wollongong. It's in New South Wales."

"Quite right, son. Wollongong is in New South Wales. And the last time I checked, New South Wales was also a part of Australia, if my memory serves me correctly. Is that right Bruce?"

"Yes sir, part of Australia."

He thinks he has worked out how to deal with me now. He gives me the same sort of tentative smile he might produce for a large dog who seems, at least for this moment, to be peaceably inclined.

"And the potatoes, where were they grown? Did they teach you that?"

"Tasmania, sir."

"Tasmania, yes. Well done, Bruce. Or possibly Ballarat - they grow them in both places, you know. And the cooking oil, do you know where that comes from?"

"Truck comes every Tuesday, sir."

"But you don't know where it's grown? Where the seed comes from? Well, no matter, neither do I. But let's just take a guess and say it's Western Australia, shall we? Lot of oil-seed country out there."

"Sure."

"And the salt? I believe that comes from Altona or Geelong. And the gas that powers the cooking vat is from the Bass Straight oil field, yes?"

"I guess so."

"All part of Australia, yes?" Once more I hold up a little sliver of oil and potato. "And what is this, then?"

There is a long, long pause. No-one moves. No-one speaks. There is only the hissing of the gas flame and the distant roar of the exhaust fans.

Still he does not answer.

Almost whispering, I encourage him. "You can do it, lad, come on, you are nearly there. Just one more question and you've got the gold!"

He's trying. I can see it in his eyes. He really wants to get this one right.

"I'll give you a hint, Bruce. Tell me the country we are in; the place where the potatoes and the oil and the salt and the gas come from, and indeed your good self too."

"Australia?"

"Yes! So far, so good. You are doing fine."

For the first time, he ventures an original thought.

"And the company ... the company is from America, isn't it?"

"Yes. Not just the company, Bruce, but the operations manual that sets out the exact procedures that you follow every day, and the building design, and the ceaseless, mindless bloody advertising - do you know we are not even allowed to make our own bloody ads any more? - they all come from America. And all the machinery, the shake machine and the coffee maker and the electric grill and the fish fryer - all American. And, of course, the menu ... right down to this ... little ... item .... here. What is it, Bruce?"

"It's ... not French?"

Slowly, I shake my head, smiling. "No. Not French. Maybe it's Australian, maybe it's American - that depends on how you see it - but it's definitely NOT French. Now for gold, Bruce, one last question. You ready?"

"Yes". He nods confidently. He is bright-eyed, almost eager.

"What am I holding?"

"A fry."

AGGGGGGGGAAARRGH!


"It is NOT a bloody fry! "

"This is not TV! This is not New York or Boston or Chicago! My God, you are not even called Damien or a Justin - you're a Bruce, a fair-dinkum bloody Bruce from Wollongong, you work in bloody Nunawading and all your bloody customers come here from Dandenong and Frankston and Geelong and Ballarat and Essendon and Port Adelaide and bloody Noosa if they can be bothered driving far enough!"

Softly now, I go on.

"See that thing up there on top of the pole? It's a flag, Bruce. It might have a tiddly little Union Jack up in the corner, but it's an Australian flag. Why don't you just go take a piss on it? You are an Australian, Bruce, I'm an Australian, we are all bloody Australians here."

I spin around, raise my again, sing out "Is there anybody here who is not Australian?"

Sheepishly, a middle-aged couple in the back of the restaurant raise their hands, and admit to being English, and over in the corner there is a young couple; backpackers by the look of them.

"I am from Sweden" she says, hesitantly (as if her accent hasn't told us that already), and my friend, he is from Austria."

"So", I cry, "can you tell me what this thing is I am holding? These ... Australians .. seem to be unable to speak ordinary English."

I'm not sure that she followed that, especially not the way my voice dripped such scorn when I got to the word "Australians", but she reaches to her tray, holds up a twin to it.

"It is like this?" she asks, pointing.

"Exactly like yours", I confirm.

She frowns down at it for a moment, looks up at me again and shrugs.

"It is a chip?" she asks doubtfully.

"Yes! , I scream, ponding on the stainless counter in my excitement, "it is a chip, a bloody CHIP - C .. H .. I .. P - a bloody CHIP for chrisake., IT IS NOT A BLOODY FRENCH FRY!

"CHIP CHIP CHIP CHIP", I screamed, "CHIP CHIP CHIP CHIP!"

Two of the kids over against the far wall - they looked like twins, maybe eight years old and there with their family - started beating their hands in time and chanting with me. Their mother laughed and started chanting too. Soon everyone was doing it.

"CHIP CHIP CHIP CHIP", we yelled, "CHIP CHIP CHIP CHIP!"

One of the kids was standing on his table now, conducting, holding a rather squashed bit of spud in each hand like a pair of batons; the grillman was pounding his spatulas on the stainless like a drummer.

Eventually, someone handed me a cup of something brown and fizzy. I drained most of it in one gulp, went to sit down, get my breath back.

By the time the police arrived, order had been more or less restored. I had finished my double serve of chips and was chatting to the backpackers when the silence fell.

They had that special walk that only policemen can do right. It took them to the counter just like any other walk though.

"Someone call reporting a disturbance?" the Senior Constable asked.

I stood up, started to walk forward. It had been fun while it lasted.

Bruce looked blank, shook his head, stonewalling.

The older girl, who seemed to be in charge of the place, sang out "Not here. Perhaps it was the Noble Park store."

Bruce caught my eye, with the tiniest nod of his head motioned me back to my seat. None of the others moved.

"No, it was definately Nunawading", said the older copper. "Well, if it's a false alarm, we might as well have ... ahh . .. two cheeseburgers and a large fries."

I had my back to them at the time. In the end, they never did find out who threw the quarter pounder.

[Buck]

Thank goodness there are thousands of miles between us.

[Groltz]

Well guys, I guess this is it. We had better pass the hat around to take up a collection for brother Wilson's Xanax prescription.

[flagreen]

Would you like some "Ketchup" with that sir?






Note; That's "catsup" to my fellow old timers out there.

[P5-133XL]

and a cookie isn't a biscuit either.

[timwhit]

Is that a true story or has our dear friend Tannin gone completely crazy? Time to commit yourself Tony?

[flagreen]

and a cookie isn't a biscuit either.
Nor is a hood a bonnet, or a trunk a boot. And it's "color", not "colour"! A highway is a highway and not a stinking "carriage-way"!

And what's with putting vinegar on your "bloody" "chips"? Huh?

[Vlad The Impaler]

Excellent! I have the same problem over here in Blighty. "Would you like fries with that?" " No, I would like chips please." "So, small fries then?" "Grr, no small chips please." "Whats that grinding noise?" "That'll be my teeth then". Etc etc. Anyone seen that Michael Douglas film 'Falling Down'? That will be me in a McLifebeingsuckedoutofyou in a few years time..... :evil: :evil:

[flagreen]

This is all very humorous though I do understand the frustration behind the humor. But why go in McDonald's at all? The last thing one should do if he doesn't care for a business is patronize it.

[Tea]

Huh? Flagreen, you read all the way through to the end of that, and you are still thinking in terms of ratioinality?

[Will Rickards WT]

<bait>I don't get it</bait>

[jtr1962]

Anyone seen that Michael Douglas film 'Falling Down'? That will be me in a McLifebeingsuckedoutofyou in a few years time


A number of years ago I did a close repeat of that scene where he asked for breakfast in a fast food place after they had stopped serving it. In fact, I think that scene in the movie is based on my outburst. :wink: It made Tannin's tirade look like child's play(we New Yorkers are unbelievably nasty when we don't get what we want). It wasn't so much that fact that they didn't serve breakfast foods after a certain time that annoyed me, but rather the dumb, scripted way they responded to me when I asked. Nobody bothered calling the cops, either, although with the high crime rates of the time it probably would have taken them an hour to come, and I wasn't breaking any laws anyway(I wasn't armed). I think they were too scared, which I found amazing because I'm physically not very threatening(5'9", 165 lbs). :o

Oh, and there was that time in my college financial aid office where they didn't want to refund me my money for a meal plan that I never used(because I was commuting and eating at home). They changed their minds after I threatened to tear the place apart. I also vaguely remember mentioning something to the supervisor about how I had relatives in the Mafia(a complete lie, the Mafia doesn't exist), and that he "would never feel safe in his world again". They quickly granted my "requests" after that, and were quite happy to see me leave, even though I was very polite from that point on. Never underestimate the power of anger, especially if nobody has ever seen you get angry before, as I'm sure Tannin knows. :wink:

P.S. Lest anybody get the wrong impression of me, I'm not very prone to these sorts of outbursts, except after I've repeatedly tried reasoning and polite persuasion and have gotten nowhere with it. After that point, my anger quickly escalates. Cleo the cat(my alter ego) is even worse in this regard.

[Prof.Wizard]

You're really mean Tony even if this story is only 10% true... :lol:

[Tea]

Prof, the story is not even the slightest bit true. But it ought to be.

[flagreen]

It is a good story Tony. You ought to submit it to a suitable magazine if one exists. How's that book coming along?

[Mercutio]

Eons ago (1994-1995) when I ran the most-popular Taco Bell web site on the internet (Taco Bell did not have a web site until 1999), I had dozens of stories from employees (trading soft-shell tacos for weed, working while under the influence of several different drugs, overcharging drunken customers at 1:00AM...) and customers (again, most of the really funny stuff either involved drugs or scams to get free food).

One of them was a story that I think was emailed to me, although I don't know whether my site originated it. (http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/maddog/stuff/twodollar.html)

I also had original Taco Bell verse and music. Such were the consequences of working across the street from a Taco Bell, on the graveyard shift at the multimedia PC labs...

[Tea]

A weird story, Mercutio. Ahh, are two dollar bills rare or something? You know, I think that if I lived in the States, I'd have huge trouble getting used to the money. I mean, who ever heard of having the $1 and the $100 the same colour?

[Mercutio]

$2 bills are exceedingly rare. Cash drawers don't have a space for them, even. Half-dollar and dollar coins are also rare.

The first paycheck I ever received - $40 for installing a new motherboard and a hard disk in someone's old PC - I rode my bike all around my town (30,000 residents), looking for a bank that would cash it in $2 bills. I had never seen one at that point. I never did find a bank that had 20 $2 bills, but I do remember that the very last place I went had three of them. I still have all three.

[timwhit]

I don't think that $2 bills were always rare. My grandma always used to give me them when I was younger. Unless she just collected them over many years. I still have most of them somewhere. I should probably hang onto them, I don't think they are being made anymore.

[Handruin]

I have a ton of $2 bills. (maybe not a ton, but probably 10-15 of them) I also collected 1/2 dollars and full dollar coins, both the susan B.'s and the really big ones.

After a long time of saving the 1/2 dollars, I had saved up enough to put a dp on a newer used car. I had about $800 worth at the time!

[Handruin]

I don't think that $2 bills were always rare. My grandma always used to give me them when I was younger. Unless she just collected them over many years. I still have most of them somewhere. I should probably hang onto them, I don't think they are being made anymore.

I think they still produce them. Some of the $2 bills I have look very very new. Unless someone else collected them and decided to spend their $2 fortune. :)

[Handruin]

<-- 1001 post woo hoo just noticed (nobody cares)

[timwhit]

Check the date on them Doug. A lot of the ones I have also look really new. Most paper money is used and put out of circulation within 2 years. However, with $2 bills people are less likely to spend them so they probably just appear more new.

I could be totally wrong on this though. This is all made up, but it sounds right so I will go with it.

BTW, Congrats on reaching 1000 posts! Keep up the good work.

[flagreen]

<-- 1001 post woo hoo just noticed (nobody cares)
Congrats Doug! Everyone will remember exactly where they were on 9-11 from now on Doug!




Sorry - Couldn't resist. :)

[Handruin]

<-- 1001 post woo hoo just noticed (nobody cares)
Congrats Doug! Everyone will remember exactly where they were on 9-11 from now on Doug!




Sorry - Couldn't resist. :)

It's funny you say that... I've posted the image I made last year at this time on the front page. I modified it slightly. I can take it down if it offends anyone for expressing a feeling on this date.

http://www.storageforum.net/img/wtc2.jpg

[flagreen]

I can't imagine why it would offend anyone. We who wish to honor the day as we choose to should be shown the same respect and courtesy as those who choose not to honor it.

[Mercutio]

Yay Doug!

[Handruin]

Merc, you're way up there with 1500+:

What is this storage? 1
Learning Storage Performance 100
Storage is cool 500
Wannabe Storage Freak 1000
Storage Freak Apprentice 1500
Storage Freak 1750
Storage Is My Life 2000

(ps sorry for posting off-topic in this thread)

[Tea]

Quite so, gentlemen.

[Tea]

Any very well posted indeed, Doug.

[time]

:bow: Doug.

[jtr1962]

Prof, the story is not even the slightest bit true. But it ought to be.

Too bad. :( I was LMAO thinking of Tannin doing those things. He didn't mention what you were doing the whole time. Perhaps hiding under a table pretending that you didn't know him?

[slo crostic]

That was an excellent story Tannin, and not just because it was having a go at the golden arches.


And what's with putting vinegar on your "bloody" "chips"? Huh?
You're absolutly right flagreen, they're much better with mayonaise :mrgrn:



$2 bills are exceedingly rare. Cash drawers don't have a space for them, even. Half-dollar and dollar coins are also rare.
Why are they hard to come by? Have they been replaced with coins like in Australia or are they just gone? I think just about everyone in oz kept half a dozen two dollar notes when we changed over so they're probably worth less than $2 now anyway. :P


It's funny you say that... I've posted the image I made last year at this time on the front page. I modified it slightly. I can take it down if it offends anyone for expressing a feeling on this date.

That's a great image Handruin, I love the way the curves of the flag blend into the lights of the buildings. A much nicer memorial than a photo of two burning buildings..........again :roll:

[Prof.Wizard]

If I recall correctly Tony's photo... he has a face for such kind of discussions (with poor Bruces...)! :drnk:

[flagreen]

That was an excellent story Tannin, and not just because it was having a go at the golden arches.


And what's with putting vinegar on your "bloody" "chips"? Huh?
You're absolutly right flagreen, they're much better with mayonaise :mrgrn:
I'll let you in on a little secret but don't ever tell Tannin I said so - I actually like vinegar on my bloody fries!

[Tea]

And I'll let you in on a little secret, Flagreen: if you were to stop calling them "fries" and start calling them "chips" I would be very disappointed in you. "Fries" is the correct word in your native language, which is American. (Which, of course, is closely related to but certainly not the same as English. "Australian" is, to my way of thinking, close enough to "English" English to be regarded as a dialect, rather than as a completely different language. "New Zealand" is closer still. But one can make a case for drawing these lines in various ways. It's a matter of taste really.)

And speaking of taste, there ain't nuffin like the taste of chips with salt and vinegar. You can try this at home, but it won't work. Here is what you do: buy some chips (or make your own). Not those anemic little McChucks style of thing, real ones, like you get from a fish and chip shop. They should be about 1.5cm square. Now, go to your kitchen cupboard and pour some vinegar on them. Taste. White vinegar or brown, it doesn't matter. Yuk!

The secret is, you have to do it the same way they do it at the fish shop: you put it on while they are still really, really hot, and you wrap them up and let the flavour seep right through. That's the first part. The second part is, you have to think like a fish shop owner. These guys never buy vinegar. Why should they pay for it when those great big jars of pickled onions that sit on the counter, once you take the onions out, are full of vinegar? That is the vinegar you use. That, and only that, will give you the proper flavour.

The anemic McChucks style of chip, by the way, tastes best with tomato sauce. But you can call it ketchup if you prefer. :)

[Buck]

I showed this story to an Aussie friend of mine and he has felt the same way. He said that he wouldn't be suprised if it was true.

[i]

You can get information about US paper currency from the United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing (http://www.bep.treas.gov/).

Images of the fronts and backs of all current US paper bills, including the $2 note, are available here (http://www.bep.treas.gov/section.cfm/4/26). (That's a very convenient page actually.)

Yes, $2 bills are very rare ... and off hand, I can't remember whether they're still being actively printed. I'm sure the answer is somewhere on that site though.

Interestingly, sometime in 2003 the United States will finally be introducing COLORED paper bills.

Yes, you read that correctly.

The reason (which COMPLETELY escaped an entire Slashdot discussion a while ago) is because the US will be changing the designs on the paper bills every 3 or so years in an effort to reduce counterfeiting. As a result, they are introducing color into the paper they use so that, regardless of what image is printed on the note, there will be some form of consistency (i.e. "oh, I've never seen this image before, but the paper's red, so it must be a $50 bill," etc.). I couldn't believe that, out of the hundreds of posts to the relevant Slashdot discussion a few months ago, no one clued into the reasoning behind the change to colored paper.

Anyway ... also take note that you can buy paper currency from that site, including uncut sheets of $2 bills.

If you're interested about US coins (which, by the way, are also going to undergo changes in the years ahead), you need to visit the United States Mint website (http://www.usmint.gov/) (coins and paper currency are handled by two different entities.)

It used to be that you could buy the US one dollar coins from their site in 2000 coin bags ... which cost, not surprisingly, about $2000. And that didn't include the shipping cost for something that weighed so much.

Now it seems they've developed some cents (hah), and offer rolls of 25 $1 coins as well, right here (http://catalog.usmint.gov/wcs/wcs_command/0,,cginame_a=CategoryDisplay&querystring=cgmenbr;1000+cgnbr;3000,00.html).

[SteveC]

The original $2 bills were only made in 1976, AFAIK. However, they're worthless as a collector's item, since everyone horded them when they came out. I think they did reintroduce it in the mid-90s, but in very limited quantities. The latest attempt at making a dollar coin has failed after wasting $500 million on it. No one was using them, so they're going to stop making them. It suffered the same fate as the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin because it had the same two flaws: it's the same size as the quarter, and they didn't stop producing dollar bills.

Steve

[Buck]

$2 bills are only rare in that they are seldom used. Go to your bank and ask for some $2 bills, they'll have them. I even paid a friend off in 100 $2 bills (most seemed to still be in uncirculated condition and had some contiguous serial numbers). United States currency presently uses blue and red threads in their paper in order to catch counterfeits. Moving to colored currency and then changing it every 3 years sounds like a counterfeiters paradise to me. The more variety there is, the easier it would be to introduce some phony notes.

Acquiring bags of coins always seemed attractive to me because of the quantity, until you realize the premium that you pay for coins that are only in uncirculated condition (and already scratched because of being loose in the bag), plus they have very poor investment returns.

[Tannin]

These days here in Oz we have:

Coins:
5c
10c
20c
50c
$1
$2

Notes
$5
$10
$20
$50
$100

That's it. Remember that our $100 is worth about US$50. Nobody misses the old 1c and 2c coins, and everybody likes the $1 and $2 coins. Brilliant little things: you chuck some loose change in a jar every now and then, and one day to go to look how much there is and it's lots. Enough to pay your monthly credit card bill, buy a new hard drive, whatever you want.

$5 notes are getting to be a pain. 50c coins are great heavy things and people tend not to like them. The old 50c coin was a real silver coin - made with actual silver. After a while, the price of precious metals shot up and they had to replace it with the many-sided current thing in nickel-somethingorother, because there was a dollar's worth of silver in the 50c coin. It's not legal to melt the coin of the realm down to extract the metal from it, of course, but you can see their point.

For some reason, there are never enough $100 notes. I'm forever having people hand me a great wad of $50 notes for a $2400 system. But the bit that bugs me is that there isn't a more useful size of note than the $100. A $1000 or at least a $500 is way past due.

What denominations do other countries have in common use?

[Tannin]

For some reason, unfamiliarity no doubt, people get a bit funny about handling largish amounts of cash - anything over $1000 or so. I don't mean the security side of it, they get embarrased about it, it's like they are buying naughty pictures or something. If you just sit there, count it, and put it away, they go all squirmy on you. They never say anything, but you could almost see it with your eyes shut: they don't start feeling comfortable again until you have finished and put it away and enough other events have taken place for the bad feeling they have to be washed away in other thoughts. And with those stupid damn $50 notes, it takes a while.

So I often say something to head that feeling off at the pass. For example (borrowing a little of Tea's idiocy) if it's, say, $1680 and they hand me $1650 in fifties plus two twenties, I'll say "Hmmmm... 32 yellow ones and two orange ones. What if I give you a blue one and we call it square?" That always works. Plus you get to see the little wheels working in their head while they try to work out how much 32 yellow ones is. :wink:

[i]

Thanks for posting the Australian denominations. No 1 cent coin (a great idea) and only 20 cent coins (as opposed to 25 cent) was a surprise.

I was living in Canada at the time the $2 coin took over from the paper bill. One thing I noticed was that the number of losers on the street asking for (and occasionally demanding) spare change increased a year or so after the transition.

At the same time, I noticed that it was as if having been converted to "just" a coin, somehow it was easier for people to just casually give up $2 as spare change (which I guess it was).

Now that I've been back here in the US for a few years, if I stop to ask myself what I would do if some street-person asked for spare change, I think I'd be a lot less likely to give them a paper bill - even if it was "only" a dollar - than if I happened to have a lot of one dollar coins with me. Interesting.

[Mercutio]

If you buy stamps from the vending machines in our postal offices, you'll get dollar coins - either Susan B. Anthony or the new one, but dollar coins nonetheless. I just found that out.

Also, I've been told that in addition to the supply of $2 bills delivered to the federal reserve (for distribution to banks), the other primary means to distribute them is as change for purchases at Thomas Jefferson's estates in Virginia (a national park).

[Tannin]

We use to have 1c and 2c coins. But they were utterly useless before too long, and I don't think anybody misses them. Just add up as normal and round up or down to the closest 5c. Only if you pay by cheque or plastic does the odd cent count.

Maybe Coles miss them. (Coles = huge supermarket chain.) It is the law here that if you, as a retailer, use the word "special" it must actually be a genuine, honest reduction from the normal price. Advertising your normal price as a "special" is a good way to get in a lot of trouble - and rightly so. Well, Coles put out one of their monthly flyers, the crap they put in your letter box, and screamed in the headline "SPECIAL: chickens, $5.98" Then it came out that the regular price was $5.99. Either way, you hand over a ten and you get $4 change.

They were prosecuted, and got off on the technicality, but it took them a long, long time to live down the bad PR. Talkback radio stations were full of it for weeks.

I think the 25c coin is a bit of an American oddity, i. I bet Canada has one, but most places go 5, 10, 20. Or possibly our 20c is the odd one and I've just mindlessly assumed that the whole world is like us all my life!

[Tannin]

Names for coins:

Old money:
0.25d farthing (dropped before I was born, I think)
0.5d: ha'penny, halfpenny
1d: penny
3d: thrippence (I used to get that much for my weekly pocket money!)
6d: sixpence, a deaner
12d, 1s: shilling
2s: florin
10s: ten-shilling (note)
20s, 1l: pound (note)
21s: guinea (long obsolete as coinage - they were pure gold - but the unit was still used for rather posh transactions, such as buying art or a luxury car, or anything to do with real estate, right up until decimal currency came in in 1966. Naturally, one did not actually pay for these things using long out-of-circulation gold coins with Queen Victoria's head on them, one wrote a cheque, but the price was quoted in guineas.)

new money
1c: one cent
2c: two cents
5c: five cents
10c: ten cents
20c: twenty cents
50c: fifty cents

Pretty boring, huh?

US currency =?

5c: nickel?
10c: dime?
25c: quarter

Any others?

[Bartender]

In some circles 50 cents is referred to as half-dollar. We'll even refer to the coin by a description such as a Kennedy Half dollar (JFK portrait); or if I mention a Eisenhower, some will know that it's a dollar. But that is not the norm.

[Tannin]

My great uncle Roland (my father's uncle) used to sign the banknotes for a while, when he was something-or-other at the Reserve Bank. He died when I was about 12.

Funny that, why ain't I rich?

[Buck]

My great uncle Roland (my father's uncle) used to sign the banknotes for a while, when he was something-or-other at the Reserve Bank. He died when I was about 12.

Funny that, why ain't I rich?

Do you at least have one of the notes that he signed?

[Tannin]

Nope. They are readily available at dealers though. Let's see if I can steal a little bandwidth ...

http://au.image.sold.yahoo.com/users/9/1/2/0/micky88.sold-img600x299-1031428401zsastar.jpg

[Buck]

That is a beautiful note.

[Tea]

I like the green ones better. :)

[Buck]

Let's abuse more bandwidth and show more notes.

[flagreen]

Yikes are those Christian crosses? Who is the Gentleman pictured?

[James]

The reason (which COMPLETELY escaped an entire Slashdot discussion a while ago)
Go figure. A Slashdot discussion missing the point!

[GIANT]

A weird story, Mercutio. Ahh, are two dollar bills rare or something?

No, they're not all that rare -- just uncommon. I see or receive them about once a year or so. They are definitely around, along with another somewhat-uncommon USA currency the $1 coin called the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin. They can be pretty common when you get around public transportation.



You know, I think that if I lived in the States, I'd have huge trouble getting used to the money. I mean, who ever heard of having the $1 and the $100 the same colour?

Well, guess what, Tea. The USA will finally have money in different hues besides green -- as per denomination. This will happen in about 8 ~ 10 years or so, I believe, along with an embedded wire as well on the larger denominations.

[Pradeep]

I thought some US bills already had the wire? Aus notes are all plastic with see thru windows now, a real bugger to churn out with a laser printer apparently :)

Merc, how much did Taco Bell pay you for the domain?

[GIANT]

"CHIP CHIP CHIP CHIP", we yelled, "CHIP CHIP CHIP CHIP!"...

Believe it or not -- as I was told once sometime back -- that if you were to go back in time roughly about 60 years in the USA, what is currently called "french fries" were called "chips." However, McDonalds and other fast food places of the early 1950s came up with the completely loony name "french fried potatoes" (the French never ever created "french fries"), which was almost immediately abbreviated to "french fries." The shape of the fried potato was also long -- almost like shoestring potatoes -- instead of the usual rounded shape. About that same time, Frito-Lays came up with ultra-thin fried potato "chips" that were crisp. So, nowadays, potato "chips" are thin crisp fried potatoes and "french fries" are long stringy fried potatoes.

McDonalds? I believe the last time I was ever in a McDonalds was sometime in the late 1970s, though I keep thinking I may have went into one in somewhere in Utah the mid-80s to piss.

[GIANT]

I thought some US bills already had the wire?...

I don't believe there are any yet ($100 bills ???). The places that actually manufacture USA monetary instruments (er... money) also print a lot of different world currencies. These printing plants are owned by the US Government and have incredible security. The money printing plants in the USA, Europe, and presumably Japan get contracts with many smaller countries to print their paper money and mint their metallic coins. The USA plants have had the capability to print coloured money for some time, as they have been doing so for other countries, but the US Treasury Service has been hesitant to break the more-than-one-hundred-year-old design tradition ("the greenback") -- until recently. Counterfeiting of USA money worldwide in the 1990s had reached proportions that the US Treasury Service simply could not ignore.

The first to get a makeover was the US$100 bill, which was about 6 years ago. Since then, all but the ubiquitous US$1 bill have received a makeover.

The USA $1 lives on for now, but it *will* go away at some point in the next 20 years because it costs too much to maintain $1 bills. That's why the $2 bill was forced back on the USA populace in the 1990s -- after about a 30 year absence -- along with the Susan B. Anthony $1 coin. There should be a next-generation USA $1 bill that actually has a *xerographically* produced back side (!) and a standard printed front side. This will reduce production costs. The US$2 bill is disliked by many American retailers because it can be somewhat easily confused with a $20 bill. How'bout a $3 bill? :D

[timwhit]

There already is a 3 dollar bill.

http://www.timwhit.com/pictures/3dollarbill.jpg

http://www.timwhit.com/pictures/3dollarbillback.jpg

[Tannin]

Tea seems to be making a numerical, as opposed to an aesthetic judgement, I think. :(

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~enigman/images/poly100r.jpg

[Buck]

Another beautiful note.

[SteveC]

I thought some US bills already had the wire?...

I don't believe there are any yet ($100 bills ???).

All of the redesigned bills have the wire in them. It's in a different spot for each denomination. For example, hold up a twenty to the light, with the front facing you. You'll see the wire going down the left side in between the 2 and the 0 of the bill.

Steve

[bahngeist]

I think the 25c coin is a bit of an American oddity, i. I bet Canada has one, but most places go 5, 10, 20. Or possibly our 20c is the odd one and I've just mindlessly assumed that the whole world is like us all my life!
Canada also has a 25c piece--it has a picture of a cariboo on the face.

Loved your story, reminds me somewhat of my first visit down to the States and asking for fish and chips in a restaurant. What I got was fish and potato chips--whereas what I wanted was 'fries'. I got what I wanted fairly quickly, but the looks I got were interesting.

On the same note you should try poutine sometime (a quebecois dish): it is loads of gravy and cheddar cheese curds on fries -- something to clog your arteries with.

The only way that the US gov't will ever get the American people to accept a dollar coin is if they do what Canada did: stop producing the dollar bill, and have the banks return the circulating bills to the Dept. of Treasury to subsequently be taken out of circulation. Most Canadians didn't like this tactic, but we did get used to the Loonies ($1 coin) fairly quickly. However, I don't see this going over as easily in the States.

[GIANT]

These printing plants are owned by the US Government and have incredible security...

And here I go quoting myself...! Anyway, just to complete the sentence above that I seemingly didn't complete and a sentence that I also forgot: These printing plants are owned by the US Government and have incredible security and accountability, so other (small) countries feel secure in using the USA mints to produce their paper currency. The Netherlands is another large contractor of printing currency and minting coinage for small nations.

In my opinion, The Netherlands produces the finest looking currency in the world (art-wise). They have also pretty much been the cutting edge on anti-counterfeiting technology front.



...All of the redesigned bills have the wire in them. It's in a different spot for each denomination. For example, hold up a twenty to the light, with the front facing you. You'll see the wire going down the left side in between the 2 and the 0 of the bill.

Danke! I just checked out a fiver, and sure as can be I saw the wire on the left. Also, at some point later, allegedly all US currency will also get a little hologram.

[Buck]

Here is a bust for some of the new Euro coins: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2251152.stm

[Sol]

I somtimes miss the old one and two cent coins... When disgruntled customers heckel me about getting charged $20.05 for thier $20.03 of petrol... It's not that I care about the two cents of course but I tend to have a bad habit of getting a bit unco-operative after people start calling me a scum-bag...

[Pradeep]

Sol, sounds like you need a can of cheap deodorant, and a lighter. The possibility of being turned into a burning pyre often makes people remember their manners. ;)

[i]

I thought some US bills already had the wire?...

I don't believe there are any yet ($100 bills ???).

All of the redesigned bills have the wire in them.

The redesigned US bills weren't the first to have the embedded strip embedded. They've been around for years - even in the "old" bills!

I've got an "old" style $5 bill right here (printed in 1995) that includes an embedded strip.

Anyone know when they were first introduced? I'm tempted to say 1989 for some reason, but I can't remember for sure.

[Handruin]

I remember them fro long ago. I used to make a habit of pulling the strip out of the $5, and $20 dollar bills. I don't know if you've ever tried, but you can pull that strip out if you are careful. :wink:

[i]

I was a year off.

Those embedded strips have been in US paper currency ($2 bills and up) since 1990.

From http://www.bep.treas.gov/section.cfm/7/35 :

"A security thread is a thin thread or ribbon running through a bank note substrate. All 1990 series and later notes, except the $1, include this feature. The note’s denomination is printed on the thread. In addition, the threads of the new $5, $10, $20 and $50 notes have graphics in addition to the printed denomination. The denomination number appears in the star field of the flag printed on the thread. The thread in the new notes glows when held under a long-wave ultraviolet light. In the new $5 it glows blue, in the new $10 it glows orange, in the new $20 note it glows green, in the new $50 note it glows yellow, and in the new $100 note it glows red. Since it is visible in transmitted light, but not in reflected light, the thread is difficult to copy with a color copier which uses reflected light to generate an image. Using a unique thread position for each denomination guards against certain counterfeit techniques, such as bleaching ink off a lower denomination and using the paper to "reprint" the bill as a higher value note."

[i]

I remember them fro long ago. I used to make a habit of pulling the strip out of the $5, and $20 dollar bills. I don't know if you've ever tried, but you can pull that strip out if you are careful. :wink:

Heehee! You realize that's probably an actual federal offense. :roll:

I do know that some people used to (still do?) believe that the "security threads" were part of a government conspiracy to keep track of how much cash people had on their person anytime they went through a metal detector (airports, courthouses, etc.).

(This is why I only carry one dollar bills. :wink: )

[Platform]

There already is a 3 dollar bill....


Ha ha ha! The joke's on you now. THERE REALLY WAS A $3 BILL ONCE (really!)...


Three Dollar Notes

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing has never been authorized to print a $3 note. However, during the early 1800's, banks operating under Federal or State charters issued notes of that denomination. These notes were printed by private contractors and were not obligations of the federal government. There is a permanent exhibit about the $3 bill on display in Philadelphia's Independence Hall.


http://www.moneyfactory.com/document.cfm/5/44/126/128

[Onomatopoeic]

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/graphics/clinton_sexdollars.jpg

[Tea]

That, I take it, is New Zealand money.

[Platform]

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/graphics/clinton_arkansasquarter.jpg

[flagreen]

:lol:

[slo crostic]

For some reason, there are never enough $100 notes. I'm forever having people hand me a great wad of $50 notes for a $2400 system. But the bit that bugs me is that there isn't a more useful size of note than the $100. A $1000 or at least a $500 is way past due.

Didn't they try a $200 coin back in the late 80's? I remember hearing about it but I never saw one.

[i]

Tannin, I meant to ask you this when you first posted your story - can you post a copy of it to your webpage somewhere? I know some people who would find it a great read, but would find its location here confusing.

[Tea]

Hmmmm .. it's supposed to be a commercial website - i.e., to generate business for Red Hill. But what the hell? Why not?

[Tannin]

I thought I got to make the decisions around here? Oh well. Another weekend job for Tannin. At least I'll get to fix a couple of minor errors.

[Jake the Dog]

in case anyone really wants to know -

these are our coins: http://www.ramint.gov.au/making_coins/default.cfm?DefaultPage=coin_designs.cfm

info and images on our notes: (the scanned images are a not dark and lack the colour and depth of the real notes but it's close enough :) ) http://members.ozemail.com.au/~enigman/australia/five_dol.html#5

[Tea]

Damn it, Jake, I just followed those links, became engrossed, and lost twenty minutes. Now I'm late for work!

[Buck]

Thank you for the links Jake. The RAM has some good pictures and information, as well does the Perth Mint. The other site describing each character memorialized on Australia's banknotes is good reading. I like the $5 banknote with Andrew Barton Paterson and the $100 banknote with Helen Porter Mitchell. Besides the excellent illustrations on those two notes, the stories are fascinating.

I think I’ll work in a sample of those two notes the next time I work on my international note collection.

[blakerwry]

hmm.. are those people senators.. prime ministers.. presidents... or just important figures in history?

The only non president on a paper note of ours that I can think of is Benjamin Franklin ($100 US)... I think all the rest are dead presidents...

Aparently we have/had a $100,000 bill although the most I've ever heard about was a $10,000 bill. The largest I've personally ever had was a $100, but I've seen a $1,000. Banks will normally give you amounts in $20's if you don't specify... even if you're withdrawling several hundred dollars. (this has been my experience using 2 diff. banks)

Although there are a few non-presidents on our coins

1c .... Abe Lincoln (16th president i think)
old 5c Indian chief (actually a composite of 3 indian chiefs)
5c .... Tomas Jefferson i think... president
old 10c ... Mercury (the mythilogical god)
10c Frank Roosevelt (president
25c George washington (1st president)
50c John F. Kennedy (president)
non round $1 Susan B Anthony
old large $1 Dwight Eisenhower (president)
Morgan dollar $1 Lady Liberty
new $1 Sacagawea

You will probably not see the old 5c and 10c coins in circulation anymore, but you can still get them at cost through dealers and occasionally find them around. Morgan dollars are pretty rare, although the proof $1 silver coins that the mint makes now might actually be based of the same design.

[Cliptin]

Don't forget the Indian head penny.
http://www.iglou.com/btreasure/p1863.html

[Cliptin]

oops. Must preview next time.
http://www.iglou.com/btreasure/p1863f.jpg http://www.iglou.com/btreasure/p1863o.jpg

[blakerwry]

oh yeah... there is the VERY old indian head penny.. but there is also a penny that has wheat on it similar to the one pictured.... I ahvent seen one in at least a year, but when I worked as a cashier I saw them all the time.

[Cliptin]

The wheat penny was a Lincoln front and wheat back coin.

[blakerwry]

Has anybody noticed that the newer pennies are less orange becasue of the smaller amount of copper they use in them? I have a couple 1982 pennies and they actually looks strange because of their color

[P5-133XL]

Sorry, The mint has not changed the amount of copper. What you are seeing is an oxidation process. All pennies eventually turn dark brown, but there are some intermediate colors that can occur. My favorite are red pennies. One see's red in old copper pennies that have been stored such that oxygen has not had access to the penny for a long time (in a sealed holder)

[Sol]

I could probably explain exactly what chemical reactions cause the whole multi-coloured effect in transition metals (like copper).
But unfortunatly my group made fart-gas out of the chemicals used in that prac instead... We were very proud...

Theoretically though it should be possible to turn those pennies both blue and green by storing them with sulfur or other common chemicals just after giving them a good clean...

[Tannin]

Fart gas out of pennies? That's interesting. We always used to make it out of beer. Or sometimes Mexican pizza.

[blakerwry]

What you are seeing is an oxidation process

That's not correct.

One of these pennies was in mint condition and was left open. The other was uncirculated and was sealed in original packaging.

Upon scratching at the surface of the metal you can tell that the color is, in fact, not the same as todays pennies.

Either the mint changed the color of the metals or they changed the mix. I was told that they changed the amount of copper they use.. I believe this was second hand information I got from an employee of the mint.

[Explorer]

...And speaking of taste, there ain't nuffin like the taste of chips with salt and vinegar. You can try this at home, but it won't work. Here is what you do: buy some chips (or make your own). Not those anemic little McChucks style of thing, real ones, like you get from a fish and chip shop. They should be about 1.5cm square. Now, go to your kitchen cupboard and pour some vinegar on them. Taste. White vinegar or brown, it doesn't matter. Yuk!

The secret is, you have to do it the same way they do it at the fish shop: you put it on while they are still really, really hot, and you wrap them up and let the flavour seep right through. That's the first part. The second part is, you have to think like a fish shop owner. These guys never buy vinegar. Why should they pay for it when those great big jars of pickled onions that sit on the counter, once you take the onions out, are full of vinegar? That is the vinegar you use. That, and only that, will give you the proper flavour...


Tea:

The actual secret is to use MALT VINEGAR. Do NOT use any other vinegar for chips, meaning wine vinegar or apple-based vinegars.

[Tea]

I take it, then, that malt vinegar is the stuff they use to pickle onions in?

[mubs]

I've been in the U.S. 17 years, and have never seen a $2 bill. If i hadn't posted the link to the Bureau of Engraving, I'd never have believed it really exists......

[.Nut]

Didn't they try a $200 coin back in the late 80's? I remember hearing about it but I never saw one.

Are you talking about the South African Krugerrand?

http://store4.yimg.com/I/rarecoins_1721_1227000.jpg

[.Nut]

I take it, then, that malt vinegar is the stuff they use to pickle onions in?

A Professional Pickler probably uses malt vinegar to pickle onions, but then again, except on rare occasions, I don't eat pickles of any kind.

Malt vinegar is normally a pretty strong (acrid) clean vinegar. Wine vinegar and apple vinegar are both pretty tame vinegars in comparison, and usually have something added like a spice or even sugar.

[slo crostic]

Didn't they try a $200 coin back in the late 80's? I remember hearing about it but I never saw one.

Are you talking about the South African Krugerrand?

http://store4.yimg.com/I/rarecoins_1721_1227000.jpg





The coin I was thinking of was a $200 gold coin released in the mid 1980's in Australia, although I don't think it ever ended up in circulation.
After doing a bit of a search I came across this (http://www.kelleyscoins.com/gold/aussie/index.asp) site.
The gold Australian kangaroo, at the bottom of the page, looks like the coin I was thinking of, but there doesn't seem to be any information about when it was first minted.

[blakerwry]

I've been in the U.S. 17 years, and have never seen a $2 bill. If i hadn't posted the link to the Bureau of Engraving, I'd never have believed it really exists......


If you work in a place that takes in alot of cash like a department store you will get one almost everyday.

[fool]

The perfect chip; secrets thereof.

Its got to be cut from a great big King Edward potato.

It’s got to be deep fried, no ovens allowed.

Fried, moreover, at between 180 and 190 Celsius in beef dripping, (best veggie alternative I’ve found is ground nut oil).

If you don’t get this right then not even malt vinegar can rescue the chip,
of course when you’ve got chips like these its almost sacrilegious to sully them with any condiment other than malt vinegar or my ex-girlfriends home-made garlic and lemon mayonnaise ( she never would give me the recipe :( ).


from
Mr. Fools big book of didactic cooking ordinances :wink:

[fool]

The perfect chip; secrets thereof.

Its got to be cut from a great big King Edward potato.

It’s got to be deep fried, no ovens allowed.

Fried, moreover, at between 180 and 190 Celsius in beef dripping, (best veggie alternative I’ve found is ground nut oil).

If you don’t get this right then not even malt vinegar can rescue the chip,
of course when you’ve got chips like these its almost sacrilegious to sully them with any condiment other than malt vinegar or my ex-girlfriends home-made garlic and lemon mayonnaise ( she never would give me the recipe :( ).


from
Mr. Fools big book of didactic cooking ordinances :wink:

[fool]

:oops:
there are some days when my isp makes me wanna reprogram their servers with an axe. :frusty:

sorry for the repetition

[Buck]

No problem fool, I'm sure we've all made that error.

[Bartender]

What would you like to drink with those fr . . . . chips, sir. :D

[Mercutio]

:oops:
there are some days when my isp makes me wanna reprogram their servers with an axe. :frusty:



As someone who knows the remote access passwords for several large boxes at his ISP that say "Cisco" on them, let me just say that "reprogramming servers" isn't as much fun as it sounds. At least with IOS 10.2.

I quit doing that sort of thing a long time ago, though, once I almost made a really big "oops" that would've required some poor schlub re-loading the default config...

[Tea]

Zpeak for yourzelf, Buck

[Tea]

Zpeak for yourzelf, Buck

[fool]

maybe not with IOS 10.2 but I was thinking more along these lines (http://www.manufactum.co.uk/mhp2/cgi-bin/kataloge.mehr_info?pSession=1091323414174848217433 4&pnrKatID=287&pnrSpoID=27324&pnrKeyPar=21749&pnrPos=1&pnrJava=1&pstrurlZurueck=kataloge%2Esortiment%5Fmain%3FpSess ion%3D10913234141748482174334%26pnrjava%3D1%26pnrK atID%3D287%26pnrKey%3D14308%26pnrPos%3D16) he he.[/url]
should my sig on this post read
if it aint broke, it soon will be?

[skeet]

Hands up all those people who got there little achievements badges, wore their little uniform, said "Any drinks with that" and colluded in the chip crime.:excl:

[Tannin]

Complete the following verse:

I was wheelin down the freeway at just the cruising power
The state trooper clocked me at 90 miles an hour
.....

[blakerwry]

Complete the following verse:

I was wheelin down the freeway at just the cruising power
The state trooper clocked me at 90 miles an hour
.....

He tried to pull me over so I stepped hard on the gas
It's too bad this Ford pinto can't go very fast

[Dïscfärm]

By the way, the US Treasury Department will be releasing $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, and god willing, $2 notes in various hues sometime next year. I can't wait to see a blue $20, a yellow $5, or a pink $50.

[blakerwry]

By the way, the US Treasury Department will be releasing $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, and god willing, $2 notes in various hues sometime next year. I can't wait to see a blue $20, a yellow $5, or a pink $50.




That's too bad...

[Buck]

By the way, the US Treasury Department will be releasing $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, and god willing, $2 notes in various hues sometime next year. I can't wait to see a blue $20, a yellow $5, or a pink $50.


They're actually going ahead with the $10 and $5 change too. That was just under consideration previously. I was under the impression that the $2 and $1 notes were not included in the NexGen series.

[Dïscfärm]

That's too bad...

Well, it should have a long time ago -- like, yo, the 1950s.

Nonetheless, the US retailers *will* quickly take a liking to this colourful "innovation" <snicker> because they will be able to sort and count their paper money like never before -- guaranteed.



PS: Dutch paper money is the best.

[Dïscfärm]

...I was under the impression that the $2 and $1 notes were not included in the NexGen series.

Correct, the $1 will never be part of this elite group. Quite some time ago I heard that the $1 note would actually use xerographic technology for the reverse side image (!) instead of traditional plates with ink. Otherwise, the $1 note ("bill") would've been history right about now, due to the cost of manufacturing it.



...They're actually going ahead with the $10 and $5 change too. That was just under consideration previously.

That's a $10 and $5 coin (assuming change ± = "loose change"), correct?

I have not heard a peep from anyone about $5 and/or $10 coinage. I get those "bronze" $1 coins every now and then -- which is a bit more often than $2 notes. Will the $5 and $10 be larger in size or will they actually contain some real precious metals?






Navigation ist wenn man dennoch ankommt

[Buck]

...They're actually going ahead with the $10 and $5 change too. That was just under consideration previously.

That's a $10 and $5 coin (assuming change ± = "loose change"), correct?

I have not heard a peep from anyone about $5 and/or $10 coinage. I get those "bronze" $1 coins every now and then -- which is a bit more often than $2 notes. Will the $5 and $10 be larger in size or will they actually contain some real precious metals?
Navigation ist wenn man dennoch ankommt


For my part, that should've read: "They're actually going ahead with the $10 and $5 banknote update too?"

[Dïscfärm]

For my part, that should've read: "They're actually going ahead with the $10 and $5 banknote update too?"

Well, that's a bit of relief. I'm not too hot on carrying around such "expensive" coinage, if you know what I mean (There's gold in dem couches!).

<putting on my conspiracy cap>
But, then again, I wouldn't be surprised if they *were* planning $5 and $10 coins so that they could then eliminate 1¢, 5¢, and 10¢ coins AND RAISE THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING SO THAT THEY CAN GET MORE TAX MONEY.
<taking off my conspiracy cap>

Maybe the Treasury Department should introduce a $3 "bill" and make this one pink. The required dead person for the front should be a cross-dressing J. Edgar Hoover. :erm:

[iGary]

For my part, that should've read: "They're actually going ahead with the $10 and $5 banknote update too?"

I'll finally answer your question:

Yes, eventually *all* USA banknotes -- except $1 and $2 notes -- will contain some hue on the front side other than green & white. It will be stretched out at least as long (likely longer) than the last exercise.

[iGary]

I thinks I was fading fast the other night when I wrote that....





For my part, that should've read: "They're actually going ahead with the $10 and $5 banknote update too?"

I'll finally answer your question:

Yes, eventually *all* USA banknotes -- except $1 and $2 notes -- will contain some hue on the front side other than green & white. It will be stretched out at least as long (likely longer) than the last exercise.

Yes, eventually *all* USA banknotes -- except $1 and $2 notes -- will contain some predominate hue on the front side other than green & white. The switchover to the new generation paper currency will be stretched out at least as long (likely longer) than the last exercise.

[Buck]

Isn't the $20 banknote the first to be released in this NexGen project next year?

[.Nut]

Isn't the $20 banknote the first to be released in this NexGen project next year?

I don't believe that's been announced yet. If I were to be which one would be first, it might start off with the $100, then the $50, then the $20, etc.

[iGary]

I just now accidentally ran across what I was talking about a while back...


http://money.cnn.com/2003/03/05/news/money/20_BILL_NEW_COLORS.JPG


NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The federal government will unveil a new $20 bill that will introduce a predominant but subtle color into the background, marking the first time in modern history that a U.S. bill will feature a color other than green...


http://money.cnn.com/2003/03/05/news/money/index.htm

[Buck]

Thanks for the link iGary. Since the new $20.00 bill has been unveiled, does anyone know exactly what it looks like? I couldn't find a sample at the BEP yet, just the current 1996 run.
http://www.bep.treas.gov/uploads/new20.gifhttp://www.bep.treas.gov/uploads/new20b.gif

[e_dawg]

Are the Aussie notes the ones that are made out of vinyl?

[SteveC]

Thanks for the link iGary. Since the new $20.00 bill has been unveiled, does anyone know exactly what it looks like? I couldn't find a sample at the BEP yet, just the current 1996 run.

I couldn't find anything either. The only thing Google turned up was pages saying that the changes would be announced on March 27.

[Howell]

FMoreI, http://www.bep.treas.gov/newmoney/main.cfm/media/releases
no pictures.

[Buck]

But Howell, we want pictures! :)

[Howell]

Yes, well we don't always get what we want when we want it. On the BEP site you can sign up for an email notice when there is "movment". I'll keep you apprised.

[Buck]

Thank you kind sir.

[iGary]

I'm pretty sure that the hues portrayed in pictures of the banknotes below is someone's joke over at CNN (i.e. -- Monopoly money).

http://money.cnn.com/2003/03/05/news/money/20_BILL_NEW_COLORS.JPG

[Buck]

I'm pretty sure that the hues portrayed in pictures of the banknotes below is someone's joke over at CNN (i.e. -- Monopoly money).


That was my assumption too.

[Howell]

The Bureau of Engraving hasn't said what color it will choose for the new $20, but think of the possibilities. :lol:

[mubs]

The pastels for currency notes would make it look like Monopoly money! Yuck.

[Howell]

The pastels for currency notes would make it look like Monopoly money! Yuck.
Pastels in general make me want to vomit.

[time]

Are the Aussie notes the ones that are made out of vinyl?
Yes. They actually have a transparent 'window'. Kind of hard to counterfeit. :(

[Buck]

I need a sample of these aussie notes. Time, could you send me a few?

[Buck]

A descripton of these polymer based notes can be found at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. (http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/currency.html)

[time]

Certainly Buck!

http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/images/dollar.jpghttp://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/images/dollar.jpg
http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/images/dollar.jpghttp://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/images/dollar.jpg

Is that enough? :mrgrn:

[Bartender]

Indeed Time. It serves Buck right, asking for free handouts like that. You should see the tab he's accumulated here at the bar - always asking for something free.

[Howell]

The Department of The Treasury And The Federal Reserve System Announce "The New Color of Money: Safer. Smarter. More Secure."

On May 13, 2003 The Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve System will unveil a new design and updated security features for the $20 bill that will be issued in late 2003. Because counterfeiters are turning increasingly to digital methods, and as advances in technology make digital counterfeiting easier and cheaper, the government is staying ahead of counterfeiters by updating the currency every 7-10 years.

The new $20 notes will be safer, smarter and more secure currency: safer because they will be harder to fake and easier to check; smarter to stay ahead of tech-savvy counterfeiters; more secure to protect the integrity of the U.S. currency.

Be sure to visit our campaign Web site at www.moneyfactory.com/newmoney/ on the 13th to see the redesigned currency and learn more about the New Color of Money.

PS. It's a good thing we have a search feature or I'd never find any old discussions.

[GIANT]

...Safer. Smarter. More Secure.

Smarter? Hmmmm.... Either Andrew Jackson's eyes will "come alive" for novelty purposes, or there will be tracking features in each note.

Of course, neither of these indicate any sort of real "intelligence," unless they are talking about intelligence as in data collection.
Now, what if "new cash registers" could talk back to the central bank(s) and check to see if a note is possibly counterfeit??? http://www.storageforum.net/forum/images/smiles/idea.gif

But, then again, maybe their PR person is just an idiot that thought a third point was really needed to somehow balance out the description of this new currency.

[SteveC]

The new bill:

http://www.moneyfactory.com/newmoney/images/currency/big_bill_front.gif

http://www.moneyfactory.com/newmoney/images/currency/big_bill_back.gif

http://www.moneyfactory.com/newmoney/main.cfm/media/05132003

[Groltz]

Thanks for sharing that, Steve.

Also:----> Interactive $20 bill (http://www.moneyfactory.com/newmoney/flash/interactivebill/index.cfm) (Macromedia Flash)

[blakerwry]

what's with the small yellow 20's on the bill's reverse?

[Howell]

what's with the small yellow 20's on the bill's reverse?

The flash animation of the yellow 20s made me think of the Joker's costume from the Adam West Batman TV show. Dunno why. Maybe the same font.

[Bartender]

I like the new colored currency.

[honold]

I like the new colored currency.
it's currency-american

[Howell]

I like the new colored currency.
it's currency-american
:o Oh, that's bad. :)

[Bartender]

I like the new colored currency.
it's currency-american

:salut:

[honold]

i think you missed the joke bartender :)

[mubs]

Sheesh, I spent so much time looking for this thread, with a totally OT thread title....

New US $10 being released.

Yahoo Noose. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20060302/ts_csm/qmoney)

BoEP (http://www.moneyfactory.gov/newmoney/)

Can't seem to get an image to display.

[ddrueding]

what's with the small yellow 20's on the bill's reverse?

EURion Constellation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EURion_constellation)