Re: Types of numerals

Tristan McLeay wrote:
>
> Nik Taylor wrote:
> >
> > of coins (and keep in mind that $.25 is the largest
> > common coin in the US).  Not to mention ridiculously
> > large numbers of low-denomination bills like 1's and 5's.
> > I try to avoid having more than 4 pennies ($.01), 1 nickle
> > ($.05), 2 dimes ($.10) or 3 quarters ($.25), likewise,
>
> Does anyone know why American coins have names? It's
> always struck me as very odd.
Why odd?  They're easier to say in conversation. What would
you call them?  (Note that penny and nickel are not official
terms.)


> > Yeah, from what I've read of polymer notes, I wish the US
> > would do that, too.  But, there's enough complaints about
> > the minimal amount of color recently added that I'm not
> > holding my breath on a rational currency any time soon ...
>
> You're kidding me! What on earth can people have against
> having color in notes?? Aren't your notes all about the same
> size, too? That must make it very annoying being a cashier
> (at least before the added color), you'd have to read every
> single note for its value. I barely glance at them: pink=$5,
> blue=$10, red=$20, yellow=$50 and green=$100, growing
> in size.
That's essentially the reason the government gives for not
having colored bills. If people barely glanced at them, it would
be easier to pass counterfiets. In reality, it's easy to see the
large numbers in the corners of each note. I can count through
a stack of US bills very quickly.

Frankly I like having the bills the same size. Makes a nice
and neat stack. I think most Americans find it odd that so
many world currencies have different sized notes for each
denomination. I can just see a small bill becoming lost
between two larger bills if they were of different sizes.

There is no dispute that the United States has very ugly
currency. Canada has essentially the same system, but
they have much more attractive notes.

--Ph. D.

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