Flying Money

Abstract

While it has become fashionable to entertain new designs for American currency within the design community, this author takes such shallow iconographic doodlings to task for their complete lack of concern for the essential practical requirements a currency design must fulfill. In order to develop this argument, Barrett examines money as a financial instrument that requires trust and acceptance from its users. Counterfeiting undermines public trust and it is this practice that the practical design and manufacture of money must guard against with security measures embedded in both the design, paper substrate and printing process. The historical development of money is briefly touched upon with particular attention paid to American money.