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Show Hinckley Journal of Politics Autumn 1998 larger dark-colored numeral on a light background to currency designs, now displayed on the new $50 bill (Materials 1995, 14). A More User-Friendly Currency Today, the federal government needs to consider methods that will maintain the strong alliance with the public for tomorrow. As past experience shows, increased recognizabil-ity will be key to this continuance as American citizens literally lose sight of the dollar. Persons age 65 and older are the most likely group of citizens to suffer from low-vision. Due to the baby boom in the late 1940s, by the year 2000 the largest percentage of citizens in the United States will fall into the higher age category. As the number of visually impaired people in our nation increases, so must the number of features to make U.S. paper currency more recognizable. For example, U.S. coins can be easily identified because they use a combination of features including different sizes, weights, colors (metal base materials), and textured edges. However, the United States remains the only country in the world that issues paper currency bills in which all denominations are the same color and size (Vincent 1995, 2). Consequently, several of the National Research Council's suggestions not included in the latest currency design should be considered by the Treasury for subsequent modifications to combat counterfeiting. Changes that will increase the dollar's recognizability meet both the needs of the public and the Treasury Department in the national battle against counterfeiting. U. S. currency can retain its congruence as long as each denomination has different, but defined specifications in areas such as size and color. Although people have various degrees of color vision, distinctive color differences for varying values could make the dollar easier for the public to recognize. Different colors are equally as easy for the Treasury to print. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing uses an intaglio press to apply color to banknotes. As a note is printed, the press uses either green ink for the back of the bill, or black ink for the front of the bill. The operator cleans the machine and changes the plates when it is time to change denominations. At the same time, the ink could be changed with little additional effort. Similarly, ink requires little effort to acquire as the United States has readily available access to many different-colored intaglio inks already used by other countries. The addition of color actually makes the Treasury's job easier by making a counterfeiter's job harder-persons contemplating counterfeiting must consider both the printing and tinting of the dollar (Bureau of Engraving and Printing 1985; hereafter BEP). In addition, variously sized dollar bills aid the Treasury's mission to make the dollar easy to recognize as different dimensions help both visually impaired and fully sighted people. The Treasury has the option to distinguish the notes by both height and length. A blind person, who would not detect a change in the colors of currency, could distinguish bills by sense of touch. In some countries, templates have been supplied to ensure that blind people will be able to dis- cern between the different sizes accurately. In only a short time, countries often notice that blind people no longer need the templates and rely on their own fingers to sort the sizes. Similarly, the size differentiation cues sighted individuals when sorting money, allowing a certain value of note to be selected from a variety of bills inside a pocket without pulling out the whole group for inspection. The public already has experienced this convenience in U.S. coins (Materials 1995). These changes take into account the needs not only of man, but also machine. Opponents to a size change argue that automatic teller machines (ATMs) would not be able to accept different sizes as readily as the public. Yet research shows that U.S.-manufactured ATMs are used throughout the world in countries with size-denominated paper currency (Materials 1995, 43). Simple modifications to existing U. S. machines could remedy any discrepancies over size. Certain Treasury officials also opposed a size change in anticipation of impending expenses to the BEP. They confirmed that a variety of sizes was the most effective way for the visually impaired to identify dollars, but concluded that such changes could be costly to the government. However, BEP officials based their conclusion on the estimated costs of the entire currency redesign and did not account for redesign costs already incurred with the 1996 series. Furthermore, the findings failed to consider that by choosing the most frequently printed banknote, the $1 bill, to be the smallest, the Treasury would be able to produce more notes on a single sheet of paper, thus saving the BEP paper, ink, and production time. Likewise to an assortment of colors, various sizes could block the common counterfeiting technique of "upping" the value of the note if its size increased according to denomination. Although the public and Treasury would have to pay for changing their machines to accept the new sizes, the long-range benefits would make up for the costs (Materials 1995). Conclusion As the Treasury Department attempts to combine the needs of its bureaus and the public to combat counterfeiting, it should ultimately combine both size and color variations in the currency. The use of several techniques makes the bills easier for the public to recognize and more difficult for counterfeiters to replicate. Features that solely rely on sight, such as varying colors, would benefit most of the population but exempt those citizens who are blind. Various sizes, however, are more easily detected by blind individuals who generally possess an enhanced sense of touch. While the implementation of several features aids the casual user, the combination excludes the casual abuser. Opportunistic counterfeiters do not possess the knowledge, equipment, or time to recreate many different details on a bill. Professional counterfeiters may be able to devote these resources to creating fake notes, but additional features at least would slow down their processes. At the same time, as the chance that more observers could recognize a real dollar bill increases, the likelihood that more 19 |