Browse archives: 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995

Published on 06/09/1999 All articles from this issue

Not everybody likes the newly-printed bills, but the change is cool

printer friendly version

By Clyde Noel

Special to the Town Crier

Economists say we have the most stable currency in the world, but the U.S. Mint is changing the designs of our money. On the new paper money, George Washington is downsized and Andrew Jackson looks like he's been taking steroids.

Quarters are changing as well. The back will lose its proud eagle as the individual states' designs are depicted on the coins - soon quarters will have 50 different reverse sides.

Next year, the Susan B. Anthony dollar will be retired, to be replaced with a $1 gold-colored coin featuring the 19th-century heroine Sacajawea, the Shoshone Indian who guided Lewis and Clark to Oregon.

"People are glad the Susan B. Anthonys will be retired because they looked like a quarter," said Joanne Kavalaris, vice president of the Los Altos Sanwa bank. "They were a nightmare to bankers and customers."

Our money is being changed for a number of reasons, the most significant of which is to head off counterfeiting threats posed by new computer technologies.

"Each bill will now have a huge watermark. When you hold it up to a light, its properties make it impossible to duplicate on a color copier," said Arlene Clifton, Sanwa Bank's customer service manager. "There are also a few more shades of black and green ink inserted."

In this campaign, the changes to paper money started in 1996 with the $100 bill. In 1997, $50 bills underwent a make-over. Most people didn't notice until late last year when the updated $20 started popping out of cash machines. Next year, Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln will get the blow-up treatment on the new $10s and $5s.

"People still confuse $50s and $20s because they look alike," Kavalaris said. "People think the bills look like monopoly money."

The redesigned quarters are showing up in pocket change already. In each of the next 10 years, five new designs will appear on the backs of quarters, one for each state, in the order they joined the Union. A bit of state history can be found on the back of each quarter.

"These new quarter designs look neat. We received the Pennsylvania and the Delaware quarters last month, and this week should receive two boxes of 500 of the still-uncirculated New Jersey quarters," Clifton said.

In the new design, the words "United States of America" and "Quarter Dollar" have been moved to the coin's obverse, and the representation of George Washington is shrunk by 10 percent.

Delaware, the first state to ratify the Constitution, received the honor of having its design be on the first new quarter.