Redesign the greenback?

[Adrienne]

This is exciting news. American bank notes look more and more like funny money to me. I have lived in Europe for the past 25 years so I notice each time when I return that small changes have been made but the overall effect remains.

It is difficult to tell the denominations apart, if there are aids for the visually impaired they are not obvious to me. For Americans however, money is green. Can that ever be changed?

[Marcia Lausen]

This is a great question!

With the opportunity for redesign presented by a recent court ruling that says U.S. currency discriminates against the blind, is it time for the green to go?

The color green, or at least the term greenback, has been around for a long time—since 1862 when notes issued directly by the U.S. treasury were authorized to pay for the American Civil War.

Is a change from green, or a broader range of color, what is needed? Or, has our green money become a celebrated icon of American culture that should be celebrated?

Are bills of different size the answer? In the U.S., wallets, cash register drawers, and vending machines have been designed with one size in mind, but clearly different sizes would enable distinction: particularly for sight-impaired persons.

Get the background on the legal proceedings in the attached files.

[Scott Lerman]

Marcia: Your raise a great point about unintended consequences. We could design a solution for distinguishing folding money denominations for the visually impaired only to impair the grocer's workflow, or overflow our wallets. One solution is to approach this redesign problem with the intent to cause minimal disruption to the existing ecosystem (greenbacks remain green, size is retained, etc.). But many will see the Court's decision as an opportunity to rethink everything. I wonder where the group at DMI will take this?