Douglas daily dispatch., 1926-06-08
TREASURY PLANS
ON CUTTING The
SIZE OF BILLS
By Charles p. stewart

hardly know whether it is money OF
a merchandise coupon 2fter the treas
ury's committee on redesign of the
currency gets through
Their plans for revamped paper
money are expected to save about
| $4,O0O,OO0 a year and to provide much
handler currency. Their problem is
to take care of the paper money and
let the coins take care of them
selves.
| The proposals, in brief, are to re-
duce the size of the bills by about
| one-t third, to eliminate the yellow
| backs and make other color changes
! to simplify and standardize design
and to stop printing some of the
| little used denominations. These pro-
posals are not yet official. They are
revealed now directly from the COM
mittee, however, and are believed to
/ be virtually assured of adoption.
Mellon Has authority
Secretary of the Treasury Mellon
has authority to make such changes
in the currency without consulting
congress. The committee on re-de-
sign has been making exhaustive
studies for nearly a year and is ex-
After the secretary orders the changes
nearly a year will be required for
engraving the plates for printing and
distribution.
1.-THE department is convinced that
our present paper money system can
be made more economical and efficient
and is committed to improving it"
says Assistant Secretary Charles S.
Dewey. He is the official directly in
charge of the expert committee on
re-design.
The change in size is expected to
be most radical. Ever since the
first greenbacks were turned out dur
ing the Civil war paper money has
been approximately 1928 inches long
and 3.04 inches wide. The new bills,
it is planned, will be 6 inches long
and 2 IL inches wide.
These dimensions are copied from
Philippine money. When the islands
came under American control a con-
signment of paper money in pesos,
was ordered from the bureau of en-
craving and printing. Elihu Root,
then secretary of war, insisted that
it have distinctive form
Our money is printed eight bills
at a single impression on large
sheets. The Philippine currency was
printed .12 bills on the sheet 1t is
proposed now to adopt this size Of
bill.
When it is considered that the
government uses about 1900 tons of
paper a year for printing money, it
is apparent that such a cut in size |
will effect a tremendous saving.
Furthermore, the smaller-sized bills |
will not be folded SO much and will
give longer service. Tests already !
made by federal reserve bank tellers
show the smaller bills can be handled
faster.
Changing Patterns
There are in circulation now II
different denominations of billst The
81, 50, $5, $40, 500, $50, $1OO, $780, |
$1,000, $4,000 and $4,000. Four of
these probably will be withdrawn. !
these probably will be withdrawn.
They are the unpopular and hoodoo
so bill and the $780, $4,000 and $1O,- |
900. There is little demand for these |
For the II denominations now in
use there are 80 different designs. |
There are five different kinds of $40 |
DllIS, IOI lHSldnce' LIE CoHlHlllIeC
is expected to recommend one distinc-
tive pattern, and no more, for each /
This simplification will limit the
use of any portrait to only one de- |
nomination. At present the face of |
is on both the 81 bill |
and the yellowback $40.
The portrait, being steel engrav-
ing, is the surest protection against
duplication and the feature most
easily detected in a counterfeit. To
use the same portrait on two bills |
is considered an opportunity for
raising the lower one
Colors are to be changed also.
yellow ink can be bleached off with
ease and it is to be dis
continued. 1t is proposed also to
print the backs of bills in two colors
instead of one as at present.
BY selecting a combination such as
dull green and dull brown, it will
be made exceedingly difficult for a
with an engraving cam
era to pick out the two different
colors for making separate plates.
The money problem is big business
with the government. A count recent
Iy disclosed that it had outstanding
421, OOOO 900 bills of the 81 denomina-
lion alone. Printing just the 81 bills
costs about $5,000,O0O a year. A ton
and a half of them are turned in
FOR redemption every day.
"No Breakfast Complete Without