Bob Brown

The only luck I had in Venice was to reach for my billfold at the same time a pickpocket was trying to get it!!<BR>Fortunately, I intercepted the furtive hand. Its owner slipped quickly away in those mazes. He would not have gotten much because those big bills would not fit in my billfold.<BR>They were elsewhere.

Ugly

Funny--I have never heard anyone say anything about how ugly the American dollar is when I spend it in Europe..they are so happy to take it..they really seem to like them there..

heresthedeal

I understand that the US dollar is boring and i don't fancy the Euro either.But, (there's always a but...)i'll be glad to send you a colourful 10 Euro bill if you send me -first- a dull,green 100 dollar bill.<BR>P.S.-Sterling also accepted.Being the case my exchange rate is for the 10 Euro bill a 50 GBP.<BR>Happy New Bills!

Andy

The Euros are great. The Germans love them. New money in a new Europe! That's fantastic. Why are the English so stubborn concerning the Euro??? Is splendid isolation still in fashion???<BR>Well, do what you wanna....<BR>THE EURO IS GREAT!!!

Florence

I got my first Euros this morning, but couldn't keep them long enough to notice whether I liked them or not ...

clairoobscur

I for one like the new notes a lot. The design as much as the colors. Though I already saw many pictures before, of course, I was very pleasantly surprised when I got the first ones today (5,10 and 20 ?). Perhaps they're less "artsy" than the former francs, less colourful than the former guilders,etc.. but I'm perfectly happy with them. They're simple but beautiful, IMO.<BR><BR><BR>On the other hand, I don't like the coins, except the 1 and 2 ? coins.

ryan

The euros are UGLY! That seems like a gross generalization and quite a jingoistic statement.<BR><BR>Sure, Gerard Depardieu isn't a handsome man and those East German athletes from the 1970's were a bit "manly", but to call ALL of Them Ugly, well that goes a bit to far.<BR><BR> <BR>I mean Gwenyth Paltrow is pretty attractive.

John

U.S. money is wonderful! It has value! European money has always looked to me like phoney money. Since its value keeps slipping, there probably is some truth to the phoniness.

Liam

American money is just plain ugly.<BR><BR>When it was announced several years ago that the Treasury was redesigning notes to make them less susceptible to counterfeiting, I really hoped they would do something more bold (Dutch money was widely touted as the model for counterfeit-free currency as it had elaborate colors and design elements). But, the army-green color stayed the same.<BR><BR>I was also hoping US money would become a bit more inclusive (don't bash me for being "PC" as I hate the whole concept). Why do we ONLY have white politicians on our money? Aren't the merits of US innovators, inventors, artists, etc more defining of who America is than a bunch of powdered wigs? What about Frank Lloyd Wright, Thomas Edison, Sitting Bull, Emily Dickinson, Lews & Clark, and MLK? Don't get me wrong - I think our nation, in its short history, has been blessed with some great political minds, but simply airbrushing the wrinkles off Honest Abe's forehead and moving his larger portrait off center was the lamest attempt at currency redesign. One positive move was the Sacagawea dollar coin, but it was unevenly distributed and most vending machines were/are unable to process them.<BR><BR>I think Europeans should be pleased with their new currency design.

Capo

I don't find American money ugly. But I do find it boring, compared to the very colorful currencies other countries have. And the fact that the people we honor are political leaders -- mostly white males (exceptions being the former Susan B. Anthony dollar coin and the newer Sacajawea dollar coin) -- is also dull. As Sparkle Hayter noted in his December 12 article in the the New York Times, "A Fond Adieu to the French Franc", the former currency of France commemorated people like Paul C&eacute;zanne, Marie and Pierre Curie, and Gustave Eiffel - people who left their mark through culture, art and knowledge, rather than through political power.<BR><BR>Anyway, having not seen any of the new Euro bills and coins yet, I went searching on the web and found this site...<BR><BR>http://pacific.commerce.ubc.ca/xr/euro/<BR><BR>...which has photos of the backs and fronts of all the bills and coins (click on "Bills and Coins" in the Index), and, while I don't find the bills as attractive as, for example, the former French Franc, being a lover of both color and architecture, I like the colors and the architectural symbolism. According to the Euro website (http://europa.eu.int/euro/html/home5.html?lang=5), the windows and gateways on the front of the bills are "symbols of the spirit of openness and cooperation in the EU" and bridge on the reverse side of each bill is "a metaphor for communication among the people of Europe and between Europe and the rest of the world."

Sjoerd

John: the value of European currencies does not *keep slipping*. I remember I paid NLG 3.60 for a US$ in 1985 and NLG 1.60 in 1996. So in 11 years the US dollar became more than 50% cheaper for us Europeans! Now it is up again but still about 35% cheaper than in 1985. If I had invested in US$ in 1985 I would still look at a loss of 35%.

economics

Sjoerd, your calculation of the relative value of the currencies has not taken into account the relative inflation rates of The Netherlands and the US over the time period you sited. I have no idea how this changes the math, but you must take this into account to make any statement as to which currency has "slipped".

Sjoerd

"economics", I found a graph with the inflation rates 1986 - 1999 on: http://www.econ.duke.edu/~quadrini/EUcourse/Week2.PDF <BR>It shows that the NL inflation rate for most of the period was lower than the US inflation rate. Theory tells us that if inflation in country X is higher than in country Y, the exchange rate should change and you should get more units of X currency for 1 unit of Y currency. <BR> <BR>

noMore

OMG- Now we are doing MATH on Fodors!!