On Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:01:24 -0500, Stephen Sprunk
wrote:

Free Lunch wrote:
On Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:58:52 -0500, Stephen Sprunk
wrote in misc.transport.urban-transit:

Charles Ellson wrote:
Aren't US banknotes also all the same size thus making it easier to
accidentally sandwich a high value note in amongst low value notes ?
They're all the same size, yes. Folks do occasionally make mistakes,
but that's not a major concern (other than for the blind) in bill design
compared to anti-counterfeiting features.

But, of course, the Fed was told by the courts that their current
methods are a violation of the law because they don't take the blind
into account.

That decision is barely a month old, so it hardly had any effect on the
last 80 years of bill design. It's not clear what, if anything, will be
done in response. It'll probably still be tied up for a few more years
on appeal to the Supreme Court, and I bet Congress will do something
about it (i.e. exemption from ADA) by then on request from the Fed and
the Treasury.

Still, I'm sure something will be done to correct the problem
eventually. It _is_ a minor annoyance to the rest of us, but the costs
of changing our currency, particularly in a short time period, are
tremendous.

A start could be made by use of distinctive colours and
designs/symbols on a sufficiently large section of each note (like
Bank of England notes) but without departing greatly from the basic
green note. Changing sizes (if actually deemed necessary) could be
left until later with the process spread over a number of years.