
The Painstaking, Secretive Process of Designing New Money - lnguyen
https://www.fastcodesign.com/3063512/the-painstaking-secretive-process-of-designing-new-money
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bane
I have a small collection of banknotes, among which include occupation bills
from various powers during WW2 and bills just before and after a major switch
in governments (before/after Russian Empire/Soviet Union, before and after the
Iranian revolution, etc.).

One thing that's always been interesting to me with the new bills is how
quickly new governments (invaders or usurpers) put in place new, high quality,
currency. It's almost like, along with the artillery and occupation force,
engravers are the next to be flown in and put to work.

> "The issue for us is it needs to be a security document . . . [but] it’s
> also a cultural document,"

I find the cultural document the most fascinating thing about collecting
money. Governments tend to put on bills the most important propaganda they can
think of. Important buildings, people, public works projects, cultural
activities and myths. I don't care much about the monetary value of what I
collect, but the place in history that money represents.

This new currency is definitely going to be cool to add to the collection.

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quesera
> engravers are the next to be flown in and put to work.

To elaborate on your point -- stabilizing the currency is pretty much job #2,
and one that is worked on in parallel with job #1, by different groups of
people. The bills are often printed back home in the occupying country, and
the occupiers often have time to prepare.

We see businesses start up, shutdown, or get acquired all the time, the
processes are familiar. Countries going through similar cycles are fascinating
because we don't really know the playbook. But it exists. :)

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kang
A note is clearly a proof-of-work currency concept. As stated, it takes months
of work on expensive hardware. Anyone with better/more equipment can beat them
but it requires an investment in a field where they have a huge headstart.

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grecy
Australia has had polymer banknotes for 25 years now. Canada just went
polymer, using the same printing presses as Australia (the first Canadian 20s
were actually printed in Australia until Canada could get their own printing
presses)

As a world traveler, I'm always excited when I see countries that have gone to
polymer notes - even poor ones - Guatemala years ago, Guinea now has a polymer
note.

I'm still utterly shocked the US does not have polymer banknotes. Sometimes I
think "because that's the way it's always been done" will be the end of moving
forward in the US.

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vlehto
I'm european and recently got some new dollars because I was flying to Peru
and had to spend a night in U.S.

I remember laughing out loud to U.S. funny-money. It's texture is closer to
toilet paper than what I'd expect from the worlds most worshiped currency.

~~~
jpatokal
And all the bills look identical, have identical colors (although the latest
series finally introduced some variation) and are the same size!

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fennecfoxen
The "same size" has ADA implications for low-vision persons, so it's possible
that'll change some time. It has some advantages, though, for places that
handle cash to have it all the same size (cash drawers, wallets, vending
machines, etc).

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Animats
Few in the US seem to know this, but all ATMs in China have been recording
currency serial numbers for several years now. It's an option on US ATMs and
currency counting machines.

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wingerlang
What is the significance of this? Tracking who has what money?

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jacobolus
Purchases you make with cash you got from an ATM become traceable to your bank
account.

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icebraining
That only works if every single shop/service tracks the serial numbers,
otherwise you have no way of knowing if they were exchanged somewhere in
between.

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ChoHag
You don't need to step very far from cash in hand before this becomes not just
viable but ridiculously easy. Just feed notes individually into your bank-
approved combined till/safe/note scanner.

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icebraining
I think you understimate the effort of requiring everyone - from large chains
to street food stalls - to always use note scanners.

Bank? How many people selling fruit from their cart even use banks for their
sales?

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ipsin
Bill designs incorporate a lot of public features in order to help people
figure out when bills are legit.

I do wonder how many non-visible features they hold back, in order to
recognize the case when high-quality fakes have landed.

Does this actually happen, though? I mean, are there examples of hidden
features on older currency?

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DavidWanjiru
I can't find the link now, but I remember reading an article stating there are
three levels to this thing.

One, the obviously visible and known features, such that metallic strip many
notes have. Know to both the users and would be counterfeiters.

The know but not obviously features, such as micro text or the things that
become visible when seen under those purple lights (UV?).

Secret features only known to a very small select group of people in the money
printing business. These are last resort identifiers of fakes.

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homero
What's the point when you can just counterfeit old ones?

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sjwright
Put simply, if you want to replace the currency in 2026, start doing it in
2016.

The existing notes are already difficult to counterfeit, though it has been
achieved on occasion; this is primarily a defensive move by the Australian
Reserve Bank to keep the goalposts shifting under the feet of would-be
counterfeiters.

Banknotes have a limited lifespan, typically between 3 and 10 years depending
on the handling characteristics of the denomination. At some point, old
designs exit common circulation. At first, retailers will begin treating them
with greater suspicion, then eventually stop accepting them even though they
technically remain legal tender. Banks will still redeem old Australian
banknotes at face value.

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anotheryou
And than they break in low temperatures? (I find only anecdotal evidence,
would like to see temperature cycling like sun + clear night in a car).

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alexfisher
Seems so old fashioned compared to crypto-currency.

