Sawbuck and the Roman numeral X (10), which formerly appeared on $10 bills. A "double sawbuck" is a twenty dollar bill. Sawbuck A sawbuck is a device for holding wood so that it may be cut into pieces. Easily made in the field from rough material, it consists of an "X" form at each end which are joined by cross bars below the intersections of the X's. The stock to be cut is placed in the V's formed above the intersections of the X's. A sawbuck is very simple to build. The five "V" sawbuck was designed with 10 vertical 2×4s,
Banknote a free market, as opposed to stemming from any intrinsic property of the metal. By the late 17th century, this new conceptual outlook helped to stimulate the issue of banknotes. The economist Nicholas Barbon wrote that money "was an imaginary value made by a law for the convenience of exchange." A temporary experiment of banknote issue was carried out by Sir William Phips as the Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1690 to help fund the war effort against France. The first bank to initiate the permanent issue of banknotes was the Bank of England. Established in 1694