AUSTIN, TEXAS. 18:25 CST, FRIDAY 11 MAR.

Should paper money be printed in portrait or landscape mode?

Landscape mode is likely what you’re used to, where the design is printed horizontally across the note. 

But the Swiss started a new trend in 1995 of printing their money (francs) vertically. As you generally hold banknotes lengthwise when handing it to somebody, it seems intuitive for their design to match. 

(While this was new for the modern era, Chinese banknotes from the Ming dynasty were printed in this fashion too.)

Proto-NFT degen communities like the International Bank Note Society (IBNS) and the International Association of Currency Affairs have given the Swiss awards for these designs, and you can see portrait-mode money adoption take place in several other nations. 

Venezuela is one of these - given the hyperinflation, you can imagine why they’d want their ‘reset’ currency to look drastically different to their previous one to better dupe the public. But Canada has done this too, as have, but you’ll also find vertical notes in treasure islands like Cape Verde, the Solomons, and the Maldives. 

Most Brits are unaware of this, but you can also find vertical banknotes in the UK. If you’re ever in Northern Ireland, keep a look out for pound notes issued by Ulster Bank, which bear beautiful designs in portrait mode.

Out in the Bahamas, we see a novel attempt by the central bank to ‘ride two horses with one ass’, straddling both the new trend and the old: Bahamian banknotes are designed in portrait mode on one side, and landscape on the other. It’s pleasingly different, though a little unsatisfying.

That’s all from me for now. Sorry for the radio silence, I was at EthDenver looking for the source of the next great speculative boom. Results were inconclusive, so I’m continuing the hunt at SXSW.

More to come,

Jim Hawkins
The Treasure Island Times

PS
On the topic of money in portrait mode, an honourable mention must go to the Goldback. While not issued by a bank per se, these thinly insulated 24kt sheets of gold are intended to be used as a form of money. The designs, depicting the virtues of various US states in female form, are printed vertically.

If you’re a precious metals nut, as I know many bitcoiners are, give ‘em a look (no commercial affiliation with TTIT).