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Government can’t print money properly — Parallax Forums

Government can’t print money properly

Ron CzapalaRon Czapala Posts: 2,418
edited 2010-12-06 15:21 in General Discussion
Full Article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20101206/us_yblog_thelookout/government-cant-print-money-properly

Because of a problem with the presses, the federal government has shut down production of its flashy new $100 bills, and has quarantined more than 1 billion of them -- more than 10 percent of all existing U.S. cash -- in a vault in Fort Worth,

Comments

  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2010-12-06 09:01
    From the article:
    Some of the bills creased during production, creating a blank space on the paper, one official told CNBC.
    What's astonishing about this revelation is that such a defect would be easy to spot with an online machine vision system. Even though the plates are still engraved by hand, that doesn't mean the production equipment can't have some 21st century inspection gadgetry. I've designed currency inspection sensors using an SX. Imagine what a Propeller could do!

    -Phil
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    edited 2010-12-06 09:22
    Phil,
    Imagine what a Propeller could do!
    It could inspect 8 notes at a time:)

    But seriously this is astounding.

    Back in '84 I worked on an inspection system used in cigarette manufacture. A single machine could spit out 10,000 cigarettes per minute. Our control/inspection system would weigh each and every cigarette. It would reject any that had voids or twigs in them. With any little defect a cigarette could be rejected. If the failure rate got too high it was soon time to stop the machine and fix it.

    Given the relative value of a cigarette and $100 bill and the technology we have available now compared to '84 I'm astounded that such faults could go unnoticed for such a long run.

    Aside: Our control system used multiple 8085s, it was quite a feat for the time I think.
    Other aside: I had to quit that job after two years, despite the huge salary. The thought that I was wasting my life helping to make cigarettes started to make me sick.
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2010-12-06 13:06
    Maybe they should start printing them in China. That would help cut costs quite a bit.
  • Martin HodgeMartin Hodge Posts: 1,246
    edited 2010-12-06 15:21
    ElectricAye wrote: »
    Maybe they should start printing them in China. That would help cut costs quite a bit.

    Good idea. China owns them anyway.
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