The Vault
What do you really know about ....Money?
Interesting facts about money Courtesy of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader!
$$ The federal government didn't start printing paper money until 1861. When the Civil War broke out, people began hoarding coins; and soon there was virtually no U.S. money in circulation. So Congress was forced to authorize the Treasury Department to create paper currency. Those bills were nicknamed "greenbacks" after the color of ink used on one side. Lincoln, then President, was pictured on them. Congress stipulated that the paper money had to be signed either by the Treasurer of the United States or people designated by him. Today the signature is printed on the bills, but in 1862 money had to be signed by hand. So six people-two men and four women-worked in the attic of the Treasury building every day, signing, sorting and sealing our first $1 and $2 bills.
$$ Today, paper money worth over $12 billion is printed every year-an average of more than $10 million a day. About two-thirds of the paper money printed is $1 bills. A one dollar bill lasts for about 1 1/2 years in circulation. The average bill is exchanged 400 times in its lifetime. It costs the government about 2 1/2 cents to print a bill.
Modern U.S. currency is printed on special paper, a blend of rag bond, cotton and linen, supplied by a single manufacturer: Crane and Company of Massachusetts. Paper money is printed three separate times-once each for front and back, and then it's reprinted with an overlay of green ink. The current U.S. dollar is a third smaller than it was in 1929.
$$ A dollar bill is 2.61 inches by 6.14 inches, and is .0043 inches thick. It takes 233 bills to make a stack 1 inch high. It would take 490 bills to weigh 1 pound. A million bills weigh approximately 1 ton.
$$ There are officially 12 different denominaitons of U.S paper money, ranging from $1 to $100,000. The highest denomination
printed in the last 45 years is $100. In fact, everything over $100 has been officially retired from circulation for 30 years.
The $100,000 bill has never been available to the public. It's only for transactions between the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve. The $2 bill was resurrected in 1976-the only piece of new engraved currency in 60 years. It was a flop; the mint had to get rid of the bills by burning them.
Who's on what? A fifty dollar bill pictures Ulysses S. Grant. The one hundred dollar bill shows Benjamin Franklin. The five hundred dollar bill features William McKinley, and the one thousand dollar bill has Grover Cleveland. On a five thousand dollar bill, the face of James Madison appears, and on a $10,000 bill, the image is of Salmon P. Chase. On the largest bill, $100,000 the face of Woodrow Wilson is shown.
$$ The first U.S. coin to bear the words "United States of America" was a penny piece made in 1727. It was also inscribed with the plain-spoken motto: "Mind your own business."
$$ All American coins struck since 1792, when the first United States mint was established in Philadelphia, have been stamped with the word "Liberty." The average coin circulates for a minimum of 15 years.
$$ Originally, the dime, quarter, and half dollar were 90% silver, 10% copper. But in the early '60's, the price of silver began to climb, and government officials worried that people would melt down coins for the precious metals. The result: Congress passed the 1965 Coinage Act, eliminating all silver from the three coins. Instead, the composition was changed to "clad" metal-
a combination of three strips of metal. The faces are made of 75% copper and 25% nickel; the core is pure copper, which you can see on the side.
$$ In 1965, anticipating the disappearance of old quarters due to the value of the silver, the government issued almost 2 billion new ones (compared to an average annual production of 225 million). That's why there are so many 1965 quarters in circulation.
$$ Nickels are now made of 75% copper and 25% nickel; Pennies are now bronze (95% copper and 5% zinc).
"The love of money is the root of all evil"
