http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030513/capt.1052841063.money_makeover_wx102.jpg

I stole the image from Cam's website, and lord knows who he stole it from, but there it is.

Our money's starting to look more European every time we redesign...

Let me get this straight. The Feds, in their infinite wisdom, spent billions of dollars putting out all new currency to thwart (that's a funny word, thwart) counterfiting but instead, counterfiting goes up 40%?

Originally posted by Anrhydeddu
Let me get this straight. The Feds, in their infinite wisdom, spent billions of dollars putting out all new currency to thwart (that's a funny word, thwart) counterfiting but instead, counterfiting goes up 40%?


Wouldn't you agree that as the government's technology gets better, so does the counterfeiters?

coins are hard to counterfeit

now where'd i put that $20 coin?

Originally posted by Fritz
coins are hard to counterfeit

Good point. I'd like to see a greater variety of US currency in circulation as coins.

Originally posted by Anrhydeddu
Let me get this straight. The Feds, in their infinite wisdom, spent billions of dollars putting out all new currency to thwart (that's a funny word, thwart) counterfiting but instead, counterfiting goes up 40%?

Hmmm. Did counterfeiting go up 40%? Or did we catch more counterfeiters because of the safeguards? You decide.

all this stuff they do to coins does not matter becaus the average idiot (myslef included) will take nearly anything that looks like money. The new bills mean the way you distribute the couterfeits have to change.

Also, I think the rise is counterfeiting has little to do with the money we use. I think it has a lot to do with digital technology and affordable quaity printing.

Originally posted by Franklinnoble
Good point. I'd like to see a greater variety of US currency in circulation as coins.

I think it's sad that the US never has had success with a $1 coin. You think that people could look and say ... oh its gold ... that's a $1, not 25 cents.

Originally posted by Fritz
coins are hard to counterfeit

Coins are the devil...

Originally posted by JeeberD
Coins are the devil...

Well... aside from my first wife, I've never seen a very good counterfeit satan.

Did you know that if Bill Gates cashed in his net worth and took it all in pennies, the load would be heavier than the Great Pyramid of Egypt?

Originally posted by Craptacular
Did you know that if Bill Gates cashed in his net worth and took it all in pennies, the load would be heavier than the Great Pyramid of Egypt?

bah! imagine if he went for rupies or ruples or something like that

Originally posted by Anrhydeddu
Let me get this straight. The Feds, in their infinite wisdom, spent billions of dollars putting out all new currency to thwart (that's a funny word, thwart) counterfiting but instead, counterfiting goes up 40%?

I think i read that "digital" counterfiting went up 40%. To me it sounded like a certain variety of counterfeiting had increased, and the number was abused in a few articles.

And I can't wait until they stop printing the 1 dollar bill. Watch how fast the $1 coin catches on then.

Originally posted by mrskippy
I think it's sad that the US never has had success with a $1 coin. You think that people could look and say ... oh its gold ... that's a $1, not 25 cents.

It would probably be more successful if the introduced the coins and stopped printing the bills at the same time.

Coins are a waste. No one wants to carry them.

well if they'd make some coins that are light and fold nicely into my wallet i wouldn't mind carrying them

Imagine going to the strip club without paper money, you'd have to wear suspenders to keep your pants up!

Coins suck ass, especially pennies

I have an Estonian coin that has been phased out of circulation. As of now, it's worth about a third of a penny. It's a cute little thing. :)

I think there would be a lot of lawsuits in strip clubs if we only had coins instead of ones. "hmmm, now let me put that coin in your slot..." I mean, its not like they could keep it in their g-strings.

It does surprise me we haven't gone to $1 coins. They worry people won't except them, but just do what some European countries did...make them and stop circulatiing the notes. Don't give people a choice and they'll get over it. I think coins would be easier, I always prefer them when I travel. Better than trying to stuff a bunch of crumpled ones in your wallet.

As far as the $20 goes, it is funny that it was just changed within the last few years and they are changing it again. The more colorful bills with the water marks and all will help reduce counterfeiting. We do have some of the most boring looking money, not that it matters really.

FWIW, I was always pretty down on the notion of $1 & $2 coins. That's was past tense, following several days in Canada a few years ago. Actually using the coins for a few days pretty much turned me into a big fan of 'em, a heckuva lot easier than having to dig out my wallet, search for singles, etc, etc.

Of course, counterfeiting is so successful and popular because people are so stupid. I did a story once in my journalism days on counterfeiting and the types of money people passed that clerks accepted: $3 bills, money with the wrong president on them, money printed on horrible paper, money printed in wrong colors, money with words misspelled. The list goes on.

hmmm... maybe if teachers would teach kids stuff like "who was Benjamin Franklin" they might grow up to be adults who recognize a $100.

sorry... threadjack of my own. I'll go back to being a right-wing annoyance in other threads.

BTW, the new $20's look like they've been drenched in cat pee. Not good times.

Anyone notice that with the disproportionate head, it looks as if Andrew Jackson is sitting on top of a Hawaiian volcano?

Originally posted by McSweeny
well if they'd make some coins that are light and fold nicely into my wallet i wouldn't mind carrying them

Yeah, that's a great idea. Hey! We could make those coins out of paper!

Originally posted by Easy Mac
I think there would be a lot of lawsuits in strip clubs if we only had coins instead of ones. "hmmm, now let me put that coin in your slot..." I mean, its not like they could keep it in their g-strings.

A buddy of mine has some porno playing cards we play cribbage with, and one of them has someone inserting a gold coin or token into the slot. I bet that makes for an interesting jackpot.

Originally posted by Fritz
coins are hard to counterfeit

Actually, I think that coins would be easier to counterfit. Not for the general joe schmoe, but for someone who really knew what they were doing. The problem is that it is not profitable because coins arn't worth enough. If you started making $20 coins people would start making fake one.

I like the change in the $20. OK, the color is ugly, but 7 years in malaysia taught me to appreciate how much easier it is to find the correct bill you are looking for if they are all different colors (and different sizes are nice too, especially for the blind).

This thread reminds me of two Seinfeld episodes...first, the one that I watched last night, where Kramer tries to pay for a calzone with all coins. The second the one where Jerry buys $100 worth of Chinese gum because he couldn't recognize a $100 bill while wearing coke-bottle glasses.

I once had a 1 000 000 zlotys bill (Polish money). It was like having Monopoly notes. FYI it was worth 400 French Francs at the time, so about 60 $...

Originally posted by Easy Mac
I think there would be a lot of lawsuits in strip clubs if we only had coins instead of ones. "hmmm, now let me put that coin in your slot..." I mean, its not like they could keep it in their g-strings.

Ok, I am jumping on this topic late, but up here, with our $1 and $2 coins, the strippers have turned it into a flicking contest. You can win things, usually posters, by flicking a $1 coin off there...well...you know, with another $1 coin...

Has made for some interesting situations, as I have heard of guys who hold the coin to a lighter before flicking...