Odd Facts About Money

The United States Military Academy at West Point  mints the one ounce gold American Eagle.

The paper used in making U.S. currency is made (70%) from blue jean pants remnants.


Before the days of paper money, Americans traded animal skins, including deer and elk bucks, for goods and services. Hence the word “buck” to describe money.

American Indians used to carry around strings of clam shells to use as money, which they called wampum. Wampum was the most common form of money in North America. By 1637, the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared wampum legal tender, which meant it could be used as money.


The car on the back of a ten dollar bill is NOT a Model T Ford.

The clock on the back of a hundred dollar bill is set to 4:10 and no one knows why.

It costs 6.7 cents to make a dollar bill. Come to think about it. It costs 6.7 cents to make any bill.

There are 490 notes in a pound, if you used $1 bills, a million dollars would weigh 2,040.8 pounds, but if you used $100 bills it would weigh only 20.4 pounds and fit nicely in a brief case.

The first paper notes were printed in the United States were in denominations of 1 cent, 5 cents, 25 cents, and 50 cents. The government was forced to issue these bills because of the hording taking place during the Civil War. Other denominations followed and were called Greenbacks”. Prior to this, the States and even local banks issued their own currency.

Yeah, that’s Lincoln on his own money.

The ten dollar bill is called a “Dixie” or a “Sawbuck” because of this bill. The large Roman numeral X reminded people of the x in Dixie. It started in the South as an insult to the Union. People also thought the X looked like a saw horse. Slang for a sawhorse was “Sawbuck”.


American currency is not only worthless but unconstitutional as well. See the Proof.

The Constitution grants Congress the power:

“To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coins, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measurements””

Anyone see anything about printing money? Didn’t think so. Until 1861, States and banks printed “Bank Notes” promising to redeem the bearer an equal amount of gold or silver COINS. On February 25, 1862, the Legal Tender Act empowered the Secretary of the Treasury to issue paper money (“greenbacks”) that were not immediately redeemable in gold or silver. The National Currency Acts of 1863 and 1864 created a system of nationally chartered banks that could issue bank notes supplied to them by the new Comptroller of the Currency, and a 10 percent tax was placed on state bank notes to drive them out of business and establish a federal monetary monopoly.

The Gold Standard Act of the United States was signed by President William McKinley on March 14, 1900. It established gold as the only standard for redeeming paper money, stopping bimetallism (which had allowed silver in exchange for gold). On April 25, 1933 the United States and Canada dropped the gold standard. In 1965, silver was removed from U.S. coinage. They are now made of zinc and copper.

Dollars to nickles have a copper core and a zinc coating. The penny has a zinc core and a copper coating. Weird huh? Take a slice off the edge of a penny and see what you find.

When at the checkout, I usually whip out a bill and say “Will you accept this instead of cash?”

I almost always get a blank stare.