After using Australian bills for just a short period of time, I'm amazed more countries haven't adopted the plastic money. Australians also don't use pennies. Hopefully more countries will start adopting that practice too.
I believe that the company which creates Australian plastic currency (or licenses it to the Mint) also provides their services for the currency of other nations?
FWIW, here in Australia, we have ditched the 1c and 2c coins. Our coins are 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, $1, $2. (Then the odd commemorative coins of which I've seen $5, $10 and $200, I think.) Shopping transactions are rounded up or down to the nearest 5c - seemed a big deal at the time, but I doubt anyone thinks twice about it now.
Notes are $5, $10, $20, $50, $100. They're each distinctly coloured and patterned and differ slightly in size as well. There are a number of anti-counterfeiting methods incorporated including a plastic panel.
I'm also surprised that all countries don't switch to notes like ours.
Wow we did that over 20 years ago now! There was some crazy estimate I once saw around the time we (us Australians) switched to plastic notes on how American businesses loses millions of dollars a year due to the difficulty of rapidly distinguishing the notes causing mistakes by tellers. (Since it was 20 years ago I don't have a source I'm afraid)
They going to phase out our 5c coin soon as well and good riddance I never use the things and have a tin full of them at home waiting to be taken to the bank for exchange.
In case you didn't know, the different sizes are to help out blind people. I've heard that US notes area all the same size? That must be a pain for anyone with poor vision.
Yes, and I can't recall how popular it is around the world, but our coins also have different etches/marks around the rim that allow similarly sized coins to be differentiated by the blind. (The 10c and $1 are roughly similar in size, just easily separated by weight and the pattern around the edge.)
Yes and yes, although it's due to change in the next currency revision; our courts ruled that the same-size currency notes are a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act!
I never understood the desire to get rid of pennies; there's ALWAYS going to be a smallest sub-denomination to which every price is rounded, no?
Now, from a practical point of view, it could be argued that there should be a limit of the NUMBER of types of coins that a currency has, and perhaps the penny is 'n+1' and should be removed due to that?
fun problem with the first run of aussie plastic notes was you could rub the print of with bathroom cleaner (ajax), as a republican family we made sure we got the queen of every note we could get our hands on :)
also you could shrink your money in the oven to make cool key rings.
also good for things that go up your nose.
also some Reserve Bank of Australia ppl got done (or maybe they walked?) for bribing foreign officials in order to sell our plastic tec money os. http://allafrica.com/stories/200910140297.html
Seriously good idea. A common Bar Bet (that I've made quite a few dollars on) is to hand an Australian Bill to someone and see if they can rip it. I've never seen anyone do it without using a knife or their teeth to get the rip started.
The only part of the article I don't understand is this: "Ottawa will replace Canada’s paper-cotton bank notes – prone to wear and tear – with synthetic ones that last two to three times longer. "
Those things look indestructible - I wonder how they ever wear out.
That happens in every country on earth presumably. There's some mechanism to take damaged currency out of circulation.
Having been around both paper and plastic notes over the past few years, paper notes just seem filthy by comparison. Unless they are absolutely brand new they always seem to be worn, dirty and sometimes stained with some mystery fluid. shudders
Euro notes are nicer than dollars, but pretty lame overall. But non-Eurozone countries still have some cool bills. Denmark's in particular impressed me.
Yes, and from a usability perspective. All US currency is the same size, shape, and (now with minor variations) color and design.
Other countries have very different designs, sizes, and colors for different denominations. It makes it easier to pick out a bill from others and more fun to look at.
Gotcha. I understand the reasoning behind different sizes, but it seems unwieldy. Having never used it for any length of time though, I'm sure I'm over analyzing it.
But yes, other countries' currency seems much more artistic, for sure.
I can't be certain, but I'm pretty sure this is also why most Japanese Yen notes are so crisp and new feeling compared to the soggy used-tissue-paper feeling I get from so many others. Thai currency as well is pretty durable and obviously plastic.
I don't think so, actually. I can tear them with my fingers easily, and they feel like paper. I think it's just part of the culture to pay respect to daily items. I've never seen someone in Japan fold (even just in half) a paper bill, and they're often given with two hands, or at least rather carefully.
The vast majority of paper bills I get handed here in Japan have clean folds down the middle and often at the 1/4 mark as well. I guess it might have to do with how some people just carry around a fold of bills rather than carry them in a wallet.
