The government will soon be releasing the new $5 bill, adding a little color to the traditional mix. Given how fast the value of our currency has been dropping you would think that the Treasury would be more realistic about this problem accounting for the devaluation in some creative way.

Perhaps it should have said "$5?" so that people would understand the value was fluid. Maybe "$5-Not" adding the contemporary vernacular.

Then again, they could have left the amount off and tied it directly to the price of gas. This might be most appreciated by the average citizen. Just take off the $5 and replace it with "1 Gallon" and use a fuel pump as the new image.

This moves us backward in some ways creating more of a barter system. However, with commodity prices soaring and the dollar falling, I expect this to start happening in the very near future anyway. It would be viewed questionably by the IRS, but so be it. Then at least something in our lives would maintain some consistency.

Get a view of the new Mr. Lincoln: On Thursday, the Federal Reserve will send out its first shipments of the new $5 bills, which will feature purple and gray ink, in addition to other changes aimed at thwarting counterfeiters.
From Portfolio.com: New $5 Bill's Special Features

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money.