American Money

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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:31 am

I didn't realize that Canada parallels Australia so much in the currency department - must be a 'member of the Commonwealth' thing??

Canada has also adopted $1 and $2 coins - large, chunky and gold coloured - and they are pain to carry around (after a day shopping you can easily have $20 or more in 'change' in your pocket). If they ever decide to go to a $5 coin, I'm going to need a wheelbarrow (or a truss)! Very Happy

We've also started printing Braille on newly designed bank notes to assist the visually challenged - and for the sighted people, the new notes are flashier and more colourful - more like 'Monopoly money' every day as our American neighbours like to point out!

However, we've also borrowed many anti-counterfeiting security ideas from the U.S. and started incorporating these countermeasures - to the point you have to scratch your head when you don't even recognize your own country's currency anymore! Wink

Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:03 pm

I'm wondering why the 1 Pound coin in England is small compared to the two-pence coin?

As well, I used to collect "queens with the bear behind" when it first came out in 1996 (Toonies), and I've been able to separate a few simply by freezing them!

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:47 pm

canajun wrote:

However, we've also borrowed many anti-counterfeiting security ideas from the U.S.

I've always been under the impression that we in the U.S. borrow anti-counterfeiting security ideas from other countries.

I'll have to check this, but I think Mexico was using security threads in their pesos before we were. Security threads in U.S. currency didn't show up until the 1990 series.

I do know that many of the European countries were using these, and watermarks, long before we thought of doing that.

As an aside, I got my first new five dollar bills in change last week. You can't miss that big purple "5" on the back in the lower right corner.

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:33 pm

Barry Kelly wrote:

I've always been under the impression that we in the U.S. borrow anti-counterfeiting security ideas from other countries.

That could very well be the case of "...if something works somewhere else: adopt it and use it". I know the first time I saw the loose threads embedded in Canadian bank notes was in 2004 when I attended a seminar on all the currency security changes - wish I could find those notes - it was a large roll-out of new features (hologram strips, threads, microprinting, braille, etc...)

And I don't know the genesis of these ideas - all I remember thinking at the time is that it resembled American features that were being reported in the media.

However, I haven't heard or read anything lately that says if these new countermeasures are actually working? Anyone heard anything about their effectiveness?

Posted: Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:54 pm

canajun wrote:

That could very well be the case of "...if something works somewhere else: adopt it and use it".

Usually what we suffer from is the NIH Syndrome, "Not Invented Here". If we weren't the ones who thought of it, then we won't use it.

I haven't heard anything myself about the new countermeasures working or not working.

I do know that I've seen counterfeit 5s and 20s with the series 1996 design, where we used bigger portraits but no colorization. Also, one counterfeiting technique was to bleach a five and then overprint a twenty or a hundred over it so that the paper would at least feel real. This is where checking the watermarked portraits should come into play.....which usually doesn't if the cashier is busy.