The 1 dollar bill is next up to be changed, however unlike the 100/50/20/10/5 changes that hit every 6 months or so, they're sitting on numero uno for a bit.Btw, how’s the Euro doing? We have completely reversed the idea of one currency here in America, 50 types of quarters are running around and we don't know what to do next...
I've read various guesses and opinions and economic "expert" articles, and it sounds like they might be making it out of plastic with hologram foil and other such crap imbedded into it. The main idea was to get a high circulation bill that lasts more than 12-18 months on average. Washingtons don't last, but its not quite as bad as the pennies, which practically cost more to mint than they are worth.
Don't forget we won't see the last quarter until 2008 or so. I swear they just wanted people to hoard money to help boost the very low personal savings rate we have, and it seems to be working well, try finding the earlier quarters...its actually kinda hard sometimes lol. Every kiddie and oldtimer I see is collecting a damn set or three.