What we need is a good 5 cent nickel
The U.S. blows it again when designing a new coin, the 2005 Lewis and Clark bicentennial nickel:
What's the problem? There is no numeral for quantity -- no big 5. The coin's value is a mystery if you don't happen to know what "five" means. Even if you expect everyone living in the U.S. to read English, which would be controversial, it's colossally rude to assume that every foreign visitor can. Quick, what's "five" in Japanese?
The dime is worse -- instead of 10 or ten, it says ONE DIME, and if you don't know what dime means, tough. The quarter says QUARTER DOLLAR, and if don't recognize QUARTER or can't divide 100 by 4 in your head, too bad. If I had a 50-cent piece lying around, I bet it'd say HALF DOLLAR instead of FIFTY CENTS.
American coins are like American units of measurement: our own little secret code. If you don't understand it, go back to where you came from. Even our coinage is Darwinian.
What's the problem? There is no numeral for quantity -- no big 5. The coin's value is a mystery if you don't happen to know what "five" means. Even if you expect everyone living in the U.S. to read English, which would be controversial, it's colossally rude to assume that every foreign visitor can. Quick, what's "five" in Japanese?
The dime is worse -- instead of 10 or ten, it says ONE DIME, and if you don't know what dime means, tough. The quarter says QUARTER DOLLAR, and if don't recognize QUARTER or can't divide 100 by 4 in your head, too bad. If I had a 50-cent piece lying around, I bet it'd say HALF DOLLAR instead of FIFTY CENTS.
American coins are like American units of measurement: our own little secret code. If you don't understand it, go back to where you came from. Even our coinage is Darwinian.
posted by Mikhail at 9:33 PM
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