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-The U.S. Department of the Treasury first issued paper U.S. currency in 1862 to make up for the shortage of coins and to finance the Civil War. There was a shortage of coins because people had started hoarding them; the uncertainty caused by the war had made the value of items fluctuate drastically. Because coins were made of gold and silver their value didn't change much, so people wanted to hang onto them rather than buy items that might lose their value.
-The first paper notes were printed in denominations of 1 cent, 5 cents, 25 cents, and 50 cents.
-The life span of currency in circulation - A $1 bill lasts 18 months; $5 bill, two years; $10 bill, three years; $20 bill, four years; and $50 and $100 bills, nine years. The average life of a coin is 25 years.
-Martha Washington is the only woman whose portrait has appeared on a U.S. currency note. It appeared on the face of the $1 Silver Certificate of 1886 and 1891, and the back of the $1 Silver Certificate of 1896.
-What time is it on the Independence Hall clock on the back of the $100 bill? Though it would be difficult to tell without a magnifying glass, the hands of the clock in the steeple of Independence Hall are set at approximately 4:10 … but no one can seem to explain why this time was chosen.
-The largest denomination of U.S. currency ever produced was the $100,000 bill, used only for transactions between the Federal Reserve System and the Treasury Department.
-If all the U.S. dollars and coins in circulation were equally divided among the U.S. population, every man, woman and child would receive $2,712.
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-Between 1789 and 1800, the U.S. Government had income of $5,717,000 and expenses of $5,776,000. (So the deficit is not new, just a lot bigger.)
-The very first batch of coins produced by the US Mint in 1793 consisted of 11,178 pennies…..the equivalent of one hundred eleven dollars and 78 cents.
-If you had 10 billion one dollar bills and spent one every single second, it would take you 317 years to run out of money
-George Washington’s portrait did not appear on the dollar bill until 70 years after his death in 1869. During his lifetime Washington refused to have his portrait on money because he thought it made him look like a King
-In the past, people have used many different things as money. Among them: salt, cocoa beans, grain, cows, shark’s teeth, and precious stones.
-Coins have a grooved edge because in the past dishonest traders filed down the edges to remove some of the precious metal. Many countries print images or writing at the very edge of the coin to prevent this same dishonest practice.
-The largest check every written was from the American ambassador to the Indian government for $1,279,187,490.
-The wealth required to provide adequate food, water, education, health and housing for everyone in the world for a whole year is equivalent to the amount spent on arms every two weeks worldwide.
Sources
www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0774850.html
www.comparecards.com/blog/money-management/little-known-facts-about-money.html
http://blogs.995themountain.com/mcasey/2009/08/11/little-known-facts-about-us-currency
www.littleknownfactsshow.com/moneyecon.html |
