The New $50 Bill

[shannon_a]

Apparently they've finished the design of a new 50-dollar bill. There's now the suggestion of an American flag in the background, in shades of red and blue. As with the new $20 bill, the object is to stop counterfeiters.

It makes me wonder, though, why in the world do we still have fifties? I mean, I can't remember the last time I saw one. Every once in a while I do get a fifty or a hundred dollar bill in a red envelope for a birthday or Christmas, but in the norm of my life, I see twenties, tens, fives, ones, and rectangular bits of plastic.

I suppose fifties had their place in a past generation, before checks, credit cards, mortgages, ATM cards, and other financial advances caused people to stop carrying around wads of money. I suppose they'll have a place in a future generation, when inflation has geared up enough that ATMs start dispensing fifties rather than twenties (but, by that point, we'll also have turned dollars into coins).

But why in the world are fifties and hundreds sufficiently worthwhile in today's US to not just keep them in circulation, but also expensively redesign them?

Cash is such a crude conveyance for large sums of money ...

Comments

[palmir.livejournal.com]

I *would* postulate that it's just the rich-type folks (like, oh, those in power) who just want pretty money to use. But then I'd realize that they, most likely, use credit cards much more than they use cash. Which leads me to believe that they just want pretty money to carry around and show off to each other.

Oh, also added you, not entirely sure why I didn't before this.

overseas

[angrybuffalo.livejournal.com]

The dollor is used as a fiat currenty in several unstable countries where counterfiting is a big deal. overseas banks order them by the bushel. Also many people do not have checking accounts or credit all those check cashing places. Working poor are often paid in these either directly from the employer like Kmart does or through a cheack cashing. They seem quite widly used in circles that you are unaware of.

[ocannie.livejournal.com]

Working at a resort where people come with huge sums of money to spend on hotels, food, miniature golf and pier rides, and working in a bar where I handle lots of cash daily, I'll tell you I see a LOT of 50's and 100's. LOTS. As odd as it may seem, I RARELY see credit cards, bank check cards or traveler's checks.

Also working in a resort area, where droves of people drive in and out of daily, I'll say that counterfeiting is a huge concern here. It's fairly easy for someone to walk into a T-shirt shop on the boardwalk, hand over a large bill to a young college kid who's down here for the summer working and whose only concerns are 1) his hangover from last night and 2) where the party will be tonight, and walk right out having successfully spent a counterfeit bill and gotten non-counterfeit money as change while the owners of the T-shirt shop get told days later that they have to take a loss because that 50 or 100 they deposited into the bank is a fake.

I suppose in most areas of the country, it may not seem like a big concern, but think of places like NYC, DisneyWorld/Land, and other smaller resorts that do handle large bills regularly.

Also, if you're passing smaller counterfeit bills, the less likely it is someone is going to check to see if it's counterfeit (I mean, who thinks "Is this 5 a fake? Let me check." It's more like, "Oh, it's just $5, which isn't going to break anyone if it's fake.") but it also means that someone has to take that risk repeatedly to spend a large amount of cash. If you can spend a fake $50 or $100 on a $10 item, you have a large amount of "real" cash to use risk free before you have to take that risk again.

I for one am looking forward to seeing the new 50's as they're released.