I would be in favor of such a redesign, but the nitpicker in me wants to point out that U.S. bills don't all feature presidents.
Alexander Hamilton, on the $10 bill, was never president. Bills valued at more than $100 have not been made for some time[1], but the most recent $10,000 bill featured Salmon P. Chase, who was also never president.
It would feel strange to me - American dollars are a uniquely American thing, created and backed by the American government. Seems right to celebrate the history of the government on there, just as it would seem right to see the Queen on some British coin, or Gandhi on an Indian bill. Scientific advances don't seem like the kind of thing that should be printed on money. Do statues, or dedications!
If you find that your money is already designed to celebrate science, you are probably in the UK.
We've had loads of scientists and engineers on banknotes, including Charles Darwin, Issac Newton, Matthew Boulton, James Watt, Michael Faraday, Alexander Graham Bell, Adam Smith, George Stephenson, Florence Nightingale and Christopher Wren.
That was an awesome fiver! It was also made of plastic. I remember it well.
It was recalled after the Northern Bank robbery and discontinued. The biggest bank robbery in UK and Irish history IIRC. Crazy times.
The bank is now owned by Danske, so we use Danish fivers now :p
Interestingly Belfast just agreed to name a street after John Bell. It's significant because there's a rule here about not naming streets after people. They got around it for Bell by naming it Bell's Theorem Crescent.
Pretty sure Lord Kelvin made it onto a Scottish note too.
Me, I'm all about the Punt with the stag on it.[1]
I imagined a much more abstract take of the title. What if 'money' was designed so that it gravitated towards achievers of scientific accomplishments rather than towards weilders of power.
Not, I think, that politicians are the richest people in modern society. But, my brain went for a similar interpretation at first as well: what if economic structures were somehow redesigned so that money gravitated towards different activities than currently, changing the world's balance of wealth and thus influence? Would've been a fun article, if it existed...
A former classmate of mine keeps a personal website with a section that has a very thorough list of scientists and mathematicians who appear on various currencies with full-res scans of most of his collection:
The link's very cool, but I think it highlights the important distinction between notes that celebrate science and notes that celebrate specific scientists. Both may be worthwhile doing, but they're different things.
Why just celebrate Science? In New Zealand our banknotes feature people famous for all kinds of achievements: $5 - Sir Edmund Hillary (Climber), $10 - Kate Sheppard (Woman's Suffrage), $50 - Sir Āpirana Ngata (Māori Culture), $100 - Lord Ernest Rutherford (Nuclear Physics).
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[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 74.6 ms ] threadAlexander Hamilton, on the $10 bill, was never president. Bills valued at more than $100 have not been made for some time[1], but the most recent $10,000 bill featured Salmon P. Chase, who was also never president.
[1] Not since 1945, saith Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_denominations_of_United_...
The other two have only appeared on coins, no?
I am pretty proud of our $5 though: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8542/8694157272_8990e8bcca_z.j...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Australian_dol...
Now we have mostly politicians, authors and entertainers :-(
We've had loads of scientists and engineers on banknotes, including Charles Darwin, Issac Newton, Matthew Boulton, James Watt, Michael Faraday, Alexander Graham Bell, Adam Smith, George Stephenson, Florence Nightingale and Christopher Wren.
Also the coins regularly have geeky stuff on them. Like the current £2 coin which features gears and circuitry with Newtons 'shoulders of giants' comment written around the edge. - https://www.thelondoncoincompany.com/coinimages/1329309475-2...
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edit - This Northern Irish £5 featuring the space shuttle is awesome and is probably the coolest Stirling note ever.
It is also in portrait like the designs suggested in the article and could well be the inspiration for them.
http://www.banknotes.com/IEN203.JPG
"I sell here, Sir, what the world desires to have: POWER"
It was recalled after the Northern Bank robbery and discontinued. The biggest bank robbery in UK and Irish history IIRC. Crazy times.
The bank is now owned by Danske, so we use Danish fivers now :p
Interestingly Belfast just agreed to name a street after John Bell. It's significant because there's a rule here about not naming streets after people. They got around it for Bell by naming it Bell's Theorem Crescent.
Pretty sure Lord Kelvin made it onto a Scottish note too.
Me, I'm all about the Punt with the stag on it.[1]
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_pound_%28Irish_coin%29#medi...
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jbourj/money.htm
http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/notes_and_coins/notes/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:10_DM_Serie4_Vorderseite.j... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:10_DM_Serie4_Rueckseite.jp... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Mark
Otherwise, they're too textural and not figurative enough.