http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/721294 This is a private initiative. However, they came up with some good designs. Here are my favorites:
Would be a good post for the Paper Money forum too! There was another recent thread about this readers might like to catch up on: Redesign of currency
Some very nice designs in the article with a European influence or feel to them. Before the $1 FRN is redesigned though it should be eliminated. Dollar coins are plentiful, or would be, if they circulated freely. Producing both a paper Dollar and a Dollar coin makes little sense.
Over on the 'other' coin board this is a very polarizing subject. Half the folks believe strongly that paper money should be modernized, dollar bills and cent coins be discontinued, and even larger denomination coins be introduced. Very much in the European model. Then the other half want the conservative approach, with a large portion of these wanting silver coinage and copper cents. When these posts come up, they battle viciously. I am conservative. I think it is a terrible idea to "European-ize" our money. Keep it green, keep it cotton-paper, keep the cent and dollar bill. So much of our coinage/currency now is devoid of artistry and just plain bad looking. IMO faces on coins should not be looking at you, for example. Has anyone else noticed that is why the prez dollars look so bad? Or am I the only one that believes coin portraits should be in profile? Just my opinions... your .02 may vary.
Those are two of the best concept bills I have seen. They seem to keep the single color that the US has always used in their designs. I can't stand many of the bills from other countries that look tie dyed or like an easter egg with multiple colors.
I hope whatever they do, they keep the cotton-paper, and keep the bills all the same size. I have spent time overseas, and the 'paper' just feels wrong, and the bills wandering all over the place size-wise is very annoying.
The US has had some pretty amazing Series of paper currency where color is concerned: the 'technicolor note' Series 1905 $20 notes, and 'rainbow notes' LTN Series 1869 notes. It's the modern large and small sized FRNs that are so conservative and lacking in color, save for the seals.
