Have you seen the new Rs 2,000 note? No, seriously, because it’s hard to get. But if you’re one of the few who stood in queue for hours, battling rain and shine, exhaustion and dehydration, to finally claim your prize for being an honest citizen, you surely have an opinion on the newest denomination note of the country.
“It’s flimsy,” some said, “compared to the old notes”. “Probably because it was printed in a hurry,” commented others. And the colour, “How does one describe it? Red Onion?” asked a young fashionista, screwing up her nose. “Hahaha it looks like Monopoly money,” joked another, referring to the popular board game.
More serious criticism came from those who deal with notes every day. A shopkeeper said the notes are too thin and could easily stick to each other and lead to miscounting.
Well like it or not, the country is stuck with it. But we’re not alone; there are other nations with uglier-looking currency. Check them out here.
Australia: The Australian Dollar bill, the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, is the fifth most traded currency in the world, falling only behind USD, Yen, Euro, and the Pound Sterling. The multiple colours and graphic elements of the Aussie Dollar makes it looks quite tacky. And what is that? The colour of cow dung? One wonders if it’s a tribute to the thriving dairy industry down under.
(Image Courtesy: WikiMedia Commons)
Netherlands: A beautiful country with one of the most picturesque capitals, Amsterdam, and yet when it came to the aesthetics of designing their currency, they failed miserably. Did they outsource the job, one wonders. Anything but pleasing to the eye, the currency notes — termed Gulden (the Dutch term for gold coin, similar to the English term guilder) come in bright pinks and reds.
(Image Courtesy: www.leftovercurreny.com)
Romania: Named Romanian Leu, translating to Romanian Lion, the currency has no semblance to the image that the name invokes. With colourful flowers alongside tough looking men, this currency note is a mish-mash of too many elements. Seems like a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth.
(Image Courtesy: www.leftovercurreny.com)
Germany: The German currency, originally the Deutsche Mark until the European country adopted the Euro in 2002, had multi-coloured bills featuring faces of famous personalities like Carl Friedrich Gauss, a noted German mathematician. Were they going for the rainbow effect with the colours?
(Image Courtesy: www.leftovercurrency.com)
Philippines: The Philippino currency called Peso during the colonisation of United States, and later rechristened Piso to sound more Filipino post independence, come in various shades of ‘jatang’ depending on the denomination. You may need to wear sunglasses to handle them.
(Photo | AP)
Yugoslavia: The Yugoslav Dinar was the currency of three different kingdoms between the years of 1918 and 2003. The highest denomination Dinar note was 500 billion dinars, which became worthless two weeks after it was printed, due to hyperinflation. The note looked rather bleak, as if foretelling its own doom.
(Image Courtesy: WikiMedia Commons)
Canada: Right from its nickname, it’s understood that the currency is whacky. Owing to the image of a loon (a bird common to the country) on its one dollar coin, the Canadian Dollar is called the Loonie. Popular though among central banks as the country is known for its financial soundness, the currency, however, looks like someone high on maple candy designed it.
(Image Courtesy: Bank of Canada)
French overseas collectivities: Overseas regions of the French Republic, like French Polynesia, use the CFP Franc (Change Franc Pacifique). While there is a hand-painted sort of appeal to the bills, they look more like horizontal tarot cards than currency notes.
(Image Courtesy: WikiMedia Commons)
Norway: Krone, the name of the currency of Norway and its dependent territories, translates to crown in English. Although the current currency is beautiful, it’s hard to ignore the hideous old ones. Wait a minute, where was Count Dracula and Transylvania based? Not in the scenic land of the Fjords, but get a look at the currency and one wonders if there is a connection.
(Image Courtesy: www.leftovercurrency.com)
Pakistan: The Pakistani Rupee, also called rupaya or rupaye from the Sanskrit word rupya, was put into circulation after the end of British rule in 1947. Although during the independence era it bore close resemblance to the Indian rupee, and has to this day carried its founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s picture much like India has carried MK Gandhi’s on the obverse side, with time the colours became too bright and the effect too loud.
(Image Courtesy: Twitter)