The currencies of paper currency

urrency is a medium of exchange, a unit of account that is portable, durable, divisible, and fungible. But it's more than that. It is also part of a nation's identity. Take the U.S.'s paper currency, the " greenback, " for example. The greenback is recognized worldwide. It is symbolic, iconic– standing for, representing, the United States of America. That said, compared with many other nations' currencies, the new $100 bill notwithstanding, greenbacks are aesthetically rather boring [1]. This is almost certainly intentional. Being iconic bears a burden—to be iconic, something needs to be instantly recognizable. To be instantly recognizable requires stability. And, as we all know, stability and consistency can be boring; they can be signifiers of aesthetic stagnation. The double bind is that stability also signifies solidity, a non-trivial trait when it comes to currency. The U.S. dollar bill design originated during the American Civil War, in 1861, when the North printed money to boost its financial standing. The cheap ink that was readily available was green, a near cousin of the color we see today–this was also when the greenback was first named. Notably, while the greenback was coming into existence, there were some much more colorful contenders. Indeed, paper currencies in the U.S. enjoyed, albeit briefly, a somewhat more representationally flamboyant heyday. Around 1862, currency was issued by private banks, each with its own design. Many of these designs were creative and visually appealing, but sadly the diversity was not a boon for commerce. Notes had different values, failing to satisfy the fungibility criterion mentioned earlier. So, in 1863, the first federally chartered notes were introduced and the foundations for monetary and design consistency established. The design guidelines for U.S. dollar bills have been fairly stable with regard to layout, size, texture, and color since the early 1900s, if not the mid to late 1880s. An obvious characteristic of U.S. dollar bills is that a particularly narrow design pattern extends across the whole portfolio of notes. Reviewing the contents of my wallet, $1, $5, and $20 bills all have the same look and feel. Certainly there are graphic differences to behold in each one, but you have to pay careful attention. Due to their uniformity, U.S. bills have usability issues. This was underscored for me when I went to an accessibility-awareness event, where, in the pitch black (intended to simulate visual impairment), I completely failed to work …