Dollar bill origami is also called money origami. As its name suggests, this type of origami uses money instead of paper. Sometimes, an existing diagram can be easily converted into a money model. Other times, because of the shape of money, new sequences of steps are needed before money can be folded into a dollar bill origami model. [Photo: $shirt].
It is interesting to note that US bills are 6.14 " X 2.61" (ratio of 7:3) and Canadian dollars are 152.4 mm x 69.85 mm (ratio of 13:6). Paper money from Britain, France, Japan, China, and Australia, and the EUR are all different sizes depending on their denominations.
It is not clear when dollar bill origami began but origami historian David Lister has an article on Paper Money Folding in the BOS web site. He explains that folding paper money may have started as early as the 1800's. But it was not until the mid 1950's before money folds became significantly popular. This is documented in Robert Harbin's book Paper Magic (1956).
Delightfully folded money can be given as tips, for example, in restaurants. They can also be given as wedding present, for example, a dollar bill butterfly. It’s an interesting twist to the age-old concept of cash gifts. [Photo by S Hecht].
Dollar bill folding can be done in any country, but it is particularly popular in USA. Why is this? It is not possible to explain the tendencies of the American public, but here is
one possible reason. The lowest American dollar bill is worth $1, thus you can afford to fold and give away a dollar. In contrast, the smallest Canadian bill is $2; and in Mexico, the smallest bill is $10 neuvos peso. The smallest British note is 5 pound; and the smallest Japanese note is 1000 yen. In Europe, the smallest note is 5 euros. [Photo by C Randall].
There are many diagrams for folding $origami models. On occasion, people will use money to fold modular origami models. Here, two or more bills are folded and combined to form a larger model.
Trang Chung specializes in folding money from different countries into modular stars. Joe Gilardi made a FIT using 30 one dollar bills. Even more amazing is Stephen Watson's modular swan which is made of 500 (scanned) five-pound British notes.
more dollar bill photos
http://www.origami-resource-center.com/dollar-bill-origami.html
8 comments:
This shows that money is just paper. It's the value and belief we have in money that makes it what it is. I have a 2 dollar bill that I keep in my wallet at all times. It's folded into a heart with a quarter inside. I have a fascination with moneygami =)
omg, so do i. i have a heart and elephant folded dollar bill in my wallet. i've had them for 5 years now. not sequestering them for any use other than it's pretty.
although i almost came really close to using one of them once when i needed an extra dollar to pay for something, but something about money being folded up into something else makes it a lot harder to spend. so i ended up paying the rest in coins.. =) just to keep my moneygami.
I made two different kinds of cranes out of dollar bills for our tipping project as part of interesting tips people leave.
When I was little, we bought my cousin a dollar bill origami book and so my aunt made all the six grand-kids a different creation made out of money. There was a frog, peacock, bowtie, and other things... anyway, I got the peacock, aka the coolest looking dollar bill I had ever seen, and it caused so much drama between us because everyone wanted the peacock (no one wanted the bowtie). All of the origamis were just made out of $1, but for some reason, the peacock fold made it worth so much more. I still have my peacock and I don't think I'll ever spend it.
Sometimes when I give tips at restaurants I'll fold the tip into a bow or a heart for the server. I remember once when I did this the server was really fascinated with how I made a bow out of a dollar so he asked me to show him how. It's funny how folding money into something "pretty" excites people. If I had folding a bow out of just a regular piece of paper, I don't think he would have cared much, but because it was folded from money I think it put on an added value for him.
i love origami ever since i was a kid. Answering the question, about what I would do if I recieved origami, well I would definitely keep it the way it is. It is a form of art and a beautiful one at that!
Money is just paper like ann said, however it's interesting how there are variations in how the money can be used such as origami and since the 1800s. It must be a very well developed art. I think i'll try to make something right now.
The money origami looks really pretty, I wish I could do it. This really makes you realize that money is simply paper, just like Ann said. It is also something nice to keep on you just in case you run out of gas one day or something of the like.
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