Who is on your money?

[Skanky Burns]

Australia’s notes are printed by Note Printing Australia, a Division of the Reserve Bank. Note Printing Australia has so far produced polymer notes for Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Kuwait, Western Samoa, Singapore, Brunei, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Many other countries are showing a strong interest in the new technology. Note Printing Australia also conducts an innovative numismatic business for collectors, based on new note issues, commemorative notes and the issue of annual uncirculated notes. 

from http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/currency.html

The polymer notes were introduced in 1988.

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by Rufus T. Firefly
Turkish coins and currency all features on their fronts the face of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the leader of the Turkish War of Independence and first President of the Republic. The coins (50,000 lira, 100,000 lira, and 250,000 lira) all have their demoninations written on their reverse. The bills have various Turkish monuments accomplishments on their backs:

500,000 lira: The war memorial at Chanakale (better know to you all as Gallipoli)

1,000,000 lira: The Ataturk hydroelectric dam

5,000,000 lira: Anitkabir (Ataturk's masoleum)

10,000,000 lira: Piri Reis's 1513 map of the world, one of the first to show the Americas

20,000,000 lira: The ruins of Ephesus (yes, paiktis, I know, I know -- it's Greek, not Turkish. But it's here).

Inflation sure sucks, don't it?

[OzzyKP]

What is with countries and obscure figures for their money? Is everyone trying to be all namby-pamby ultra-PC as possible?

It just baffles me that the people in the country don't even recognize who is on the money. Hans Christian Anderson too obvious? Its supposed to be obvious, no one is giving out rewards for the most creative selection of an obscure national figure.

"Oh George Washington is too obvious, how about Franklin Pierce?" uh...

Though I do like the attempt for famous buildings on the Euros. Something actually recognizable to be proud of. Even if its not a dead white guy/gal.

Also, on a different point, what is going to happen when the Queen dies? Will half the world put Charles on their money?

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Starchild
Basically the same? They are the same, ie, British Pound Sterling. It's just that in England and Wales, the Bank of England prints the notes, in Scotland the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Bank of Scotland, and the Clysdale Bank print notes, and in Northern Ireland a couple Northern Irish banks print notes. I've handled a few Scottish notes and the new ones have all the security features you'd find on English notes.

The irony of the system though is that only English notes are actual legal tender. Scottish notes, while used as money, are not actually legal tender and can be refused by merchants if you attempt to pay in them.

Oh boy. I thought ours is confusing

[OzzyKP]

Where are you from anyways?

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by OzzyKP
What is with countries and obscure figures for their money? Is everyone trying to be all namby-pamby ultra-PC as possible?

They're not 'obscure' to everyone. Although I suspect most Australians would not have recognised David Unaipon (Au $ 50 note) if he had leapt up and bit them.

Or Edith Cowan, for that matter, or John Flynn or Mary Reibey... but if you were going for most easily recognised, you'd have Ronald MacDonald in the States, Stalin in Russia, and Ian Thorpe in Australia.

http://www.awm.gov.au/forging/australians/unaipon.htm

http://www.rba.gov.au/CurrencyNotes/people_on_notes.html

The point is- how many of the figures on the Canadian notes would you recognise? And that's the big friendly giant to the north. I suspect you'd know even fewer of the Mexican figures. But you'd hardly be expected to know them, unless you used them regularly or were interested in Canadian or Mexican history.

I like the range of people on the Euros. And the colours, and the designs. I'm not being anti-American, but really, notes of the same size and same colour are a trifle dull.

And if you watch 'The Grifters' you'll see an old grifter trick involving distracting the barman and swapping a lower value note for one of a higher value- and still getting the change for the higher value note. More difficult when the notes of different values are different colours, or sizes.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Originally posted by OzzyKP


Inflation sure sucks, don't it?

You don't know the half of it. First, consider the 20,000,000 lira note is the largest note Turkey prints -- and its currently worth less than $13. Now consider that there's no real consumer loan structure in Turkey -- that even big-ticket items like cars and houses have to be purchased with cash up front. I suspect this country does a brisk trade in securely-locking briefcases.

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by molly bloom
but if you were going for most easily recognised, you'd have Ronald MacDonald in the States,

That'd be rather fitting, actually...

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by molly bloom


They're not 'obscure' to everyone. Although I suspect most Australians would not have recognised David Unaipon (Au $ 50 note) if he had leapt up and bit them.

Or Edith Cowan, for that matter, or John Flynn or Mary Reibey... but if you were going for most easily recognised, you'd have Ronald MacDonald in the States, Stalin in Russia, and Ian Thorpe in Australia.

http://www.awm.gov.au/forging/australians/unaipon.htm

http://www.rba.gov.au/CurrencyNotes/people_on_notes.html

The point is- how many of the figures on the Canadian notes would you recognise? And that's the big friendly giant to the north. I suspect you'd know even fewer of the Mexican figures. But you'd hardly be expected to know them, unless you used them regularly or were interested in Canadian or Mexican history.

I like the range of people on the Euros. And the colours, and the designs. I'm not being anti-American, but really, notes of the same size and same colour are a trifle dull.

And if you watch 'The Grifters' you'll see an old grifter trick involving distracting the barman and swapping a lower value note for one of a higher value- and still getting the change for the higher value note. More difficult when the notes of different values are different colours, or sizes.

My comment doesn't stem from being an ignorant American, and I resent the implication. The Fin (or Dane) who commented earlier said that most people in his country didn't recognize who was on the money. I'm assuming you are Australlian, and you don't really know the people on your money either.

I dunno, maybe put Captain Cook on a note, he discovered Australlia, right?

I'm just saying that at the very least the people of the country should recognize and be proud of the people on their money. If you can't find any people like that, then go for something else. Like use the Sydney opera house, or that big rock in the outback, or other physical things in the country that make people proud.

Like with Hans Christian Anderson, he is a big name that is recognized world-wide. Why on earth wouldn't he be honored on money and why would some obscure (even within the country) person replace him? Doesn't make sense.

You seem to imply me being a bit ethnocentric or nationalistic, but rather its the opposite. Putting well known figures on money, I think, increases the esteem other nation's have for you. Your typical American (or any other country) may look at a bunch of notes from a country, not recognize any of them and think "figures, bunch of nobodies from this worthless country." Or you put someone known on there and that same American goes "Oh, Hans Christian Anderson, I didn't know he was Danish, thats cool." And think about, or realize what this country has contributed to world culture.

So be proud of your country, then maybe others will too.

[OzzyKP]

See, the Turkish money (though wildly inflated) seems appropriate to me. Monuments, a person who is well known in the country (I heard of him even), a famous battle, etc.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by OzzyKP


My comment doesn't stem from being an ignorant American, and I resent the implication. The Fin (or Dane) who commented earlier said that most people in his country didn't recognize who was on the money. I'm assuming you are Australlian, and you don't really know the people on your money either.

I dunno, maybe put Captain Cook on a note, he discovered Australlia, right?

Look, there's no implication of ignorance on your part- as I pointed out, the political/cultural heritage of another country isn't going to be immediately recognisable even to people from country's bordering each other. You think Italians are going to be able to recognise 'famous' Austrians? Why should they? Not many Australians would recognise Katharine Mansfield (famous New Zealand writer) or Ernest Rutherford (New Zealand scientist).

Cook happened to be British (like me), and a fair few Pacific Islanders and Australian Aborigines have come to view him in the same way that some Americans view Columbus (although I believe the comparison is unfair).
And it seems more likely that (of the Europeans) the Dutch or Portuguese 'discovered' Australia, so you'd be more likely to see Abel Tasman on a note.

The Dane (not Finn) who posted earlier referred to one person depicted on one of the notes, an actor that not everyone would know. Of the others I knew them all- similarly with the Finns shown on their notes. Aalvar Aalto is one of the twentieth century's greatest architects, and Sibelius a renowned composer- although with a name with so few repeated vowels and consonants, most people find it hard to believe he was a Finn....

As to whom or what is depicted on Australian currency, I suspect the present range of personages has more to do with Australia having recently celebrated its centenary of federation. They are people that Australians can be proud of, people from Australia's beginnings as a group of colonies- certainly speaking to most older Australians, the teaching of Australian history was given less weight and value than the teaching of British or American history- a by-product of the 'cultural cringe'.

Of the British money mentioned you said you recognised only Dickens and Darwin- so you didn't recognise Edward Elgar (a world famous British composer, made even more famous by Jacqueline du Pre's playing of his cello concerto).

Michael Faraday was also world famous- as a scientist and inventor.

George Stephenson and Robert Stephenson- again, world famous for their role in Great Britain's industrial and transport revolutions.

In comparison on American currency you have such 'easily' recognised personages as Grover Cleveland and William McKinley- and an American Indian guide put in as if to say, oops, sorry we killed so many of you- here have a coin.

Dead white dull presidents is the best America can come up with? No artists, composers, writers, architects, inventors (other than Franklin) women, African Americans.... I always thought American history to be more interesting than that.

You could have Bessie Smith, Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harry Houdini, Frank Lloyd Wright, Irving Berlin, Jackson Pollock, Sojourner Truth, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Elisha Graves Otis, Henry Ford, Samuel Slater, Norman Thomas, David Bushnell, Walt Disney, Chief Pontiac, Nancy Ward, Charles Curtis, Maria Mitchell, Emily Dickinson, or any number of better or less well-known Americans.

Fame and recognition are relative- most people famous to Victorians or Edwardians would not be recognised readily by people today. I suspect the majority of non-Americans would recognise Julia Roberts more easily than they would Sojourner Truth- but the money would be more dignified with the latter, I think.

If the criterion for putting people on their ountry's currency is their immediate familiarity to foreigners, then the world's currencies would look very odd indeed.