Top 10 Fascinating Facts About U S Money

Download or read book Top 10 Fascinating Facts about U. S. Money written by Krishu 80 moorthy and published by . This book was released on 2020-04-03 with total page 55 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 10 In God We Trust Ben Franklin designed the continental dollar coin in 1776 and it bore thirteen stars to represent the thirteen colonies. Being a funny man, he also included the phrase "Time flies, so mind your business" on the coins. It was not until 1865 that "In God, We Trust" was legally allowed to be added to American currency, though earlier forms included the phrase "God and our right". There was actually a lot of discussion around whether to include "In God, We Trust" on the currency and from time to time it fell out of use. But then in 1908, it became mandatory for the phrase to be placed on all coins or notes upon which it had previously been printed (though it was still not required on denominations that had never borne the sentence). And then in 1956, President Eisenhower signed the law making it compulsory to include it on all US money.9 US Dollars Aren't Greenbacks Current US dollars aren't greenbacks. Greenbacks were dollars created and used by Republican president Abraham Lincoln in the 1860s. They were created out of necessity as the union was going to fast run out of money to fight the civil war. So in 1861, congress permitted the printing of 50 million "demand notes" which were printed with green ink on the reverse--thus leading to the coining of their famous name. It soon became apparent that these would also not be enough to fight the war so, reluctantly, President Lincoln began issuing full legal tender US dollars (also printed in green on the reverse side). Despite the fact that these (and a variety of other notes through the course of US financial history) are no longer printed, they all remain legal tender. Though if you find one it may be worth more if you keep hold of it for the historic interest.8 Rare Bills Rarely seen US denominations exist or have existed in the past. Pretty much everyone knows about the $2 bill now, so you can no longer use it to prank people, but another lesser-known (and definitely less likely to be seen) note is the $100,000 that was printed in the 1930s for use between banks as gold notes after the abolition of private gold ownership (these are still illegal to own). These notes made it easier for the US government to rob the entire nation and hand its wealth over to a private company with secret ownership (more on that soon). At other times there were also $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 notes all of which remain legal tender to this day, but--like greenbacks--these are worth more to collectors than their face value so don't spend them!