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I think braille lumps inside the bill wouldn't be too difficult.

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l0stmyrel1g10n.livejournal.com

they'd have to modify all existing automatic vending machines...

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not if the lumps are thin enough.

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l0stmyrel1g10n.livejournal.com

they'd be more difficult to produce but also more difficult to counterfeit...i can see definite advantages.

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They do that every time they come up with a new bill anyway. And when they made the Sacajawea dollar coin too.

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q10.livejournal.com

that's sorta beautiful.

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In europe they have different sizes for different denominations. It works with coins here, and probably the easiest fix. Ironically, I've known a few blind people, and they never had problems with paper money other than having to carry too many singles for there liking.

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This would really screw over the entire vending machine industry, unless the new bills were all no larger than the current ones.

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tiurin.livejournal.com

We may as well overhaul that industry by going to $1 coins too. I think we're one of few(and maybe the only) First World countries which don't have a coin for the amount of money equivalent to $1.

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um...

But we do. O_o

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Well,

tiurin probably meant "eliminate the $1 bill so the $1 coin becomes standard." Ever try handing a $1 coin to a cashier? Watch as they go to put it in the drawer - they'll move their hand towards each and every one of the other coin slots at least twice each before they realize there's no separate slot. It's great fun.

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tiurin.livejournal.com

Okay, no commonly circulated coin. Satisfied?

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Plenty of machines for other things, like farecards or more costly refreshments, take fives, tens, even twenties.

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As long as singles remainded the current size it wouldn't make much of a difference I don't think.

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If others were larger, then they'd have to make a new bill insertion slot mechanism. But I hadn't thought that most machines don't take anything larger than a $5 anyway.

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I use vending machines pretty reguarly, and I can't recall the last time I used something other than a single. I know there are a few things where you have larger demoninations, but it should only require a pretty small changeover in vending machine types.

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Exactly. Why haven't we done that yet?

Their coins are also easier to distinguish between.

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We haven't done it because it is sensible.

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On some level I don't really like sizes... I like the uniformity of our bills. I'm also not sure that it's easy to tell the difference between different sizes.

What I would really like is cutting shapes or patterns into the corners or edges!

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I think the article mentioned punching different numbers of holes into each denomination, or something like that. I think cutting the edges could be done more prettily though.

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Jacob says, though, that cut edges would not wear well. At the same time, I prefer more systematic changes like cutting and texturing the edges (adding some sort of texturing ink might protect the edges of the paper and add extra tactile clues about what the edges are supposed to feel like), because anyone can punch holes in paper. I'd be concerned if bad elements tried to take advantage of blind people by punching extra holes in bills (though maybe you could fix that by punching more holes in the less valuable currency).

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But then one could punch a few minimal holes in a current $1 to make it seem like a future $100. :/

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I would guess they have to do the same thing with money of different sizes too: smaller denomination bills have to be physically smaller, or else you could cut off the edges to make them seem to be higher denomination bills. Cutting the edges off a physically large bill that is a high denomination to make it seem to be a small denomination would be pointless.

Anyone know if that's the case in Europe or England? I don't think I have an assortment of Euro bills or pounds.

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