Authors:
Elizabeth Churchill
Currency is a medium of exchange, a unit of account that is portable, durable, divisible, and fungible. But it's more than that. It is also part of a nation's identity. Take the U.S.'s paper currency, the "greenback," for example. The greenback is recognized worldwide. It is symbolic, iconic–standing for, representing, the United States of America. That said, compared with many other nations' currencies, the new $100 bill notwithstanding, greenbacks are aesthetically rather boring [1]. This is almost certainly intentional. Being iconic bears a burden—to be iconic, something needs to be instantly recognizable. To be instantly recognizable requires stability. And,…
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