Misc/us currency

The AFU and Urban Legend Archive
Misc
us currency

From: ptomblin@compass.xcski.com (Paul Tomblin)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: Manhole Covers from Norway
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 1996 19:42:36 GMT

In a previous article, jbuhler@rice.edu (Jeremy Daniel Buhler) said: >Quoth Brad Sattler (bms8103@tam2000.tamu.edu):
>> I am not one to make blunt accusations, but let do me say that
>> on.... oh, some random island where giant discs of stone are the
>> traditional currency... these would make ideal pocket change.
>
>That would be the island of Yap.

You think that's silly? I know of a country that used to pretend that it's currency was blocks of yellow metal all locked up and guarded by the big chief. And everybody got bits of pulped dead trees that they pretended represented some portion of that stash of yellow metal. They also had fierce laws to prevent people from owning their own pieces of yellow metal, unless it was in jewelry. If you had some of the yellow metal that you weren't using to adorn your person, you were supposed to give it to the big chief in exchange for more peices of pulped dead trees.

They've dropped that pretence in these more enlightened time, and now anybody is allowed to own yellow metal, and they still trade bits of pulped dead trees as if they had some value.

--
Paul Tomblin (ptomblin@xcski.com, formerly ptomblin@canoe.com) <a href="http://www.servtech.com/public/ptomblin/">My home page</a>
"The superior pilot uses his superior judgement to avoid situations in which he has to demonstrate his superior skill" - anon.

From joe@cstone.net Wed Mar 13 13:22:28 PST 1996 Article: 97927 of alt.folklore.urban
Path: nntp1.best.com!news1.best.com!sgigate.sgi.com!nntp.coast.net!news.kei.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in1.uu.net!news.cstone.net!driver-8.cstone.net!user From: joe@cstone.net (Old Man Kensey)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: "Owl" on One Dollar Bill?
Date: 10 Mar 1996 07:21:33 GMT
Organization: Cornerstone Networks
Lines: 62
Message-ID: <joe-1003960222490001@driver-8.cstone.net> References: <Dnz0o6.8F@utnetw.utoledo.edu> <itn1-0903962128000001@cu-dialup-0109.cit.cornell.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: driver-8.cstone.net
X-Non-Sig-Quote: I couldn't confide in the prodigal son, the die has been cast, the battle is won... -- M. Stipe

In article <Dnz0o6.8F@utnetw.utoledo.edu>, nerb@uoft02.utoledo.edu wrote:

> Also, I'd like to hear about other interesting items on U.S. money.

This comes at a particularly auspicious time, as the Treasury has announced a new design of $100 bill to appear on the 27th. Followers of Mark "America in Peril -- I'm Mark from Michigan" Koernke everywhere are going nuts... Here's a quick run-down of the currency "gotchas" I know:

On the penny: the initials VDB are engraved into the bottom left of the shoulder of the bust, just at the rim of the coin. Originally larger, but later scaled down, they are the initials of the designer, Victor D. Brenner. You need a very new penny to see it at all.

Also, as all the kids in my kindergarten class learned, Abe Lincoln's statue is engraved between the center two columns of the Lincoln Memorial on the back.

On the one-dollar bill: as the original poster mentioned, there appears to be an owl or spider in the upper-left corner of the upper-right shield.

On the five-dollar bill: The Lincoln Memorial on the back has the names of the states of the Union during Lincoln's term at the top of the columns. The shadows of the bushes at the lower left appear to form a four-digit number beginning with 5 (I think it's 5732 -- no five-bills handy to check though).

On the ten and up, on newer bills only: There is a polyester fiber embedded in the bill, about a third of the way in from one edge. Printed on it, in such a way as to be visible when held to the light, is the legend "USA TEN" (or "USA TWENTY", "USA FIFTY", etc.) repeated. Also, the legend "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" is repeated in very very tiny print around the portrait on these bills.

On a new bill of any denomination: Note the red and blue silk threads embedded in the paper. Older bills in good condition may still have theirs intact. In addition, if you rub the surface of a bill, you will note that the surface has very slight relief where it is inked. This is because the printing process actually forces the ink into the paper.

Further, bills (as a result of the ink) are very slightly magnetic, enough so to be detected by machines. Apparently, the IRS uses a magnetic detector to find large sums of hoarded cash -- it is illegal to hoard (I believe this is the correct amount) $10,000 in cash. It's rarely enforced, mostly used against drug dealers, etc. to deprive them of ill-gotten gains.

Of course various aspects of the making of bills (the exact composition of the ink, for example) are closely guarded, but a surprising amount of information is available by checking with the US Treasury. Their web site, if I remember correctly, is "http://www.ustreas.gov/". There's a lot of history, science and good old-fashioned folklore behind US currency -- happy hunting! -- Joe
--

Ladies and gentleman, we live in a world in which there are not one but two web pages devoted to telling the story of a man who put cement up his butt. -- Bo Bradham

Any proceeds (net proceeds from merchandise sales) from TAFKAC solely benefit The Chuck Reed Fund.

Copyright Information

http://tafkac.org/