Michael-O wrote: >CONCLUSION: >French were always more sophisticated than English. > >Have you ever seen English money, then you undersand why only >this nation could have invented the FFU.
English notes are not as colourful as French Franc notes. In that respect, the French love of beauty triumphs over the anglo-saxon. However, I enjoyed Dutch guilder notes more than the French ones. Incidentally, British coin designs were considered seriously as a model for some of the euro coins. This was not for their beauty, but for their pragmatism. The mix of circular and many sided coins (20p, 50p) is an added dimension of shape that increases discriminability. Several other countries inside and outside the EU had highly discriminable coins, including the Spanish coin with a central hole. Unfortunately the conservatives won and euro coin are all flat discs. Apparently the vending machine industry was set against non-circular shape. The compromise was a variety of edge effects. It is odd that this pressure does not have effect on the British coins which have the useful property of being many sided but also constant diameter. www.money.org/0204friedbergarteuro.pdf www.euro.fee.be/Europapers/europaper37.pdf The British did not invent FFU, so we cannot be blamed for the stupidity of it. However, we stubbornly have retained it too long and that is not good. Since Britain is an island, we are also (unfortunately) isolationist in outlook. The joke British headline says: "Storms in the English Channel, Europe cut off!"
