Color Comes to the $5 Bill
September 20th, 2007The US Government has been planning a redesign of their currency bills, and in doing so, looks to move away from the monochrome format that has been the inspiration for the colloquial synonymity between the color green and money (the world over). Changes were first implemented in 2003, with pastel colors appearing on the $10, $20 and $50 bills. However, the $5 bill is going to see a much more significant makeover - with splashes of purple and gray to liven it up.
US currency notes have had a long standing dubious distinction of using the same size and color schemes regardless of value, and I’m sure many a tourist has been confused between a ‘smackeroo‘ and a ‘Benjamin‘.
The confusion has not been relegated to tourists alone, for confusion is the primary factor that the redesign is looking to eliminate.
“We wanted this redesigned bill to scream, ‘I am a five. I am a five,”‘ Larry Felix, director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We wanted to eliminate any similarity or confusion on the part of the public between the $5 bill and the $100 bill.”
Of course, the design will also be incorporating additional state-of-the-art security features, giving counterfeiters a run for their money (sorry, couldn’t resist).
The next bill to get a makeover will be the $100. It will feature the most advanced safeguard yet, a new security thread composed of 650,000 tiny lenses that will magnify micro-printing on the bills to give the effect of having the images move in the opposite direction than the bill is being moved.
Ooh, that would be similar to the wheel caps on those newer Mercedes coupes, which appear to turn clockwise while the car is in motion.
