Split: discussion on European currencies

[Osweo]

No you can never change your currency it is a bad thing all around. Just an attempt to rewrite the story of the nation.

As far as I can tell, your money has stayed constant since AGES, and that in itself (being pretty rare) is a great reason to do nothing now. And having an established canon is a great defence against passing fads, like the sort that would demand MLK's face appear somewhere.

Interesting how our notes have changed in my lifetime. I think there's something of a tendency, reflecting political shifts;

Nothing but simple calligraphy > Symbolic Figure of the Nation (Britannia) > Aristocratic Soldier (Duke of Wellington) > Working Class Engineer (George Stephenson) > Do-Gooding Female Social Reformer (Elizabeth Fry)....



(i.e. Men fighting > Men doing exciting things with metal > Women sat around chatting)

What will come NEXT?


The BBC says it best;

But has the Bank of England - which is planning no new notes in the near future - missed an opportunity to reflect the UK's diversity? Are our bank notes the preserve of yesteryear's white and wealthy?

[Wölfin]

I liked the old Canadian banknotes with the figures on one side and the birds on the other. But I do admit it is really useful to have all the anti-counterfitting thing on bills, especially when you're working. I don't like the different sizes on the Euro (or the Leu for that matter) but I like the colour coding on these and on the Canadian money. It is indeed so simple to just glance inside your wallet and know right away what you have.

[Eldritch]

Right.. I think that US money is indeed confusing but one shouldn't use the Euro as a blueprint for something of aesthetic value but look for a new design- and they should never put a living president on a note.

€uro notes look bland and almost infantile; like monopoly money. The monuments and buildings on them don't even exist anywhere in real life.

If Europeans must have a common currency, it should be minimalist, monochromatic, color-coded (by denomination) rectangles of aromatic polyamide (such as Kevlar) with nothing printed on them but the denomination in Arabic numerals and Braille -- all of them the same size, quite obviously.

Or else they should just have the actual damn Rialto bridge in Venice, instead of some lame "symbolic" Renaissance architecture.

[Beorn]

What will come NEXT?

More of the same I'd imagine. The optimist in me looks to the new British passports and recognises that whilst we are still the majority, not much will change.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...windmills.html

[The Lawspeaker]

€uro notes look bland and almost infantile; like monopoly money. The monuments and buildings on them don't even exist anywhere in real life.

If Europeans must have a common currency, it should be minimalist, monochromatic, color-coded (by denomination) rectangles of aromatic polyamide (such as Kevlar) with nothing printed on them but the denomination in Arabic numerals and Braille -- all of them the same size, quite obviously.

Or else they should just have the actual damn Rialto bridge in Venice, instead of some lame "symbolic" Renaissance architecture.

There should also be a currency redesign and reform in Europe. We can either get rid of the Euro altogether and give it a very hard thought. Sure there are some good sides to the Euro - after all we can finally trade within European borders with the same currency.

The only problem however is that the Euro is rather expensive while some countries like Greece are not yet up to par with the rest of Europe. For those countries we could allow them to get out of the Eurozone (and the same goes for anyone else that wants to leave).. and start reforming the Euro along with a full-scaled political reform. I think that we in Europe are at a crossroads and I am very much pro-national sovereignty as long as it doesn't dangerously expose us to the fluctuations in currency, world politics etcetera in the outside world. Suppose that we would go for a European solution ? Then what ?

When it comes to the European Union we could say: no keep it and reform it. First we have to do some serious spring cleaning here and we should start by starting a serious audit of all Europe's Europe-wide, national and local institutions - whether commercial and non-profit: getting rid (and I don't care how) of all those Bilderbergers and their supporters and rebuild the entire institution from scratch while looking at Swiss and early American ideas.

There will be a European Constitution with ideas taken over from the American Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the American Declaration of Independence and it's preamble will be quite literary reflecting the spirit of the American Constitution:

We the People of the European Community, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the European Community.

There should be some very special articles in the constitution which could transform European society: general welfare is to be taken literary. Each European country should be a welfare state and provide for it's citizens and a very strict separation of powers. Also which would be new here in Europe: there will a right to bear arms, the right to privacy, bank privacy and full freedom of expression and the press and... "Europe realizes that it's foundations rest on the foundations of it's diversity in national cultures, languages and shares a common heritage based on the European race and on the principal ethical foundations of Heathenism, Christianity and Humanism." Also very important: "Any State has the right to leave the Community and it's institutions for any given reason at any moment and it will be the duty of the Community to make sure that the transition to full-blown national sovereignty is carried out smoothly.".

And yes: the European Constitution should be translated in every language and used in schools so children know their rights as well as their duties. The same goes for all national constitutions. Knowing the Law should be a duty for any citizen in every country. Because if you know your rights: you are not pushed away and messed with by the kind of people that are running the show now.

First of all.. we have our national governments and they will deal with stuff the same way as American States do if the States' Rights would be honoured - then we would have a bi-cameral European parliament (an Upper and a Lower House and an elected president (directly elected by the people so no electors American-style). Power to levy taxes rest with the national governments but the European parliament can levy a sales tax and has the right to mint the Euro (in the way the US Congress can if the Constitution would be followed up in the proper way s- no "European Bank" or "Federal Reserve"). So in essence with it's power's strictly curtailed the European Community's powers are limited. We could make sure that there will be one European capital but that the ministries and other organisations are spread all over Europe because with modern technology we don't strictly have to have everything in one place and we don't need a sprawling government either. And we ought to go to a full e-democracy: all governments in all countries are to be working transparent and one can actually read the notes MP's and MEP's on the internet and follow the plenary sessions on life TV and the internet and can also be present in person on the public bench.

So that means that the Euro would become a kind of greenback and the people can also have their gold and silver minted at any goldsmith. The design of the Euro should be fresh and modern - one could go for something with landscapes or real existing European heritage sites like the Parthenon or the Louvre or the canals of Amsterdam.

And there should be one very special regulation pushed through Parliament: there will be strict separation of investment banking, savings (with should include pension funds) and insurance banking.

More of the same I'd imagine. The optimist in me looks to the new British passports and recognises that whilst we are still the majority, not much will change.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...windmills.html

Actually.. this is not a very bad idea...
We should do the same thing here.

[The Lawspeaker]

Appearantly they are going to re-design the Euro as we speak and new banknotes will be taken into circulation in 2011 and the old notes will be phased out but I can't find any images. Regrettably.

What do we think about this American redesign idea ? Can we learn from something like this ? Using a certain landscape in Europe as the backdrop ? Like somewhere along the River Rhine or the Alps ?

[The Lawspeaker]

This article that Brennus posted before gave me some ideas ? Could it be a good idea to re-design our passports without making them vulnerable to forgery but while also respecting personal liberties ?





But suppose that we would work towards a closer union in Europe: should it every nation keep it's old passports and reserve one page dedicated to the countries' membership of the European Union (or Community) or should we get European passports in the same way as American passports work ?

I would be in favour of keeping ones own national passports but work towards modernizing the passports as a whole and unifying the colour of the cover. I would go for something with a clear blue colour like the American passport and then simply follow up: European Community, "insert country" (both in the national language) and the national emblem.
The inner design rests in the hands of the national designers. But I think that we could learn something from the new British design.

[The Lawspeaker]

Now that I look back at the banknotes. (I am using a slightly older banknote of the Guilder) I must admit that I am no longer used to seeing them. But some of the designs were really beautiful while those from the 1960's and late 1990's were terrible..
Here is a nice website though that those that want to see old Guilder banknotes.
I still have some Guilder coins somewhere.

[poiuytrewq0987]

There is only one currency and favorite bill for me:

[The Lawspeaker]

I think that some of the best looking currencies in Europe (at least where it concerns the coinage) is the British Pound Sterling:







A special commemorative design: