The United States has never issued a one million dollar bill, just for the blog record.
The two largest bills ever offered by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing were the hundred thousand dollar bill and the ten thousand dollar bill. The B.E.P. should not, by the by, not be confused with the Mint. The Mint does the coins. And has a lame gift shop.
Here's a picture of the 10K bill:
Know who's on that bill? What, you don't recognize him? Come on! Salmon P. Chase is a household name. Still not ringing a bell? He was one of the leaders of the Free Soil movement, Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury, and later Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. While I'm sure you're now all thinking, "oh, right HIM" here's another factoid. Chase Bank. Hokay.
You may do better with the 100K:
Wilson. As in Woodrow. It wasn't really a circulating bill, so much as it was a gold certificate, though William Jennings Bryan would have me note that it was issued (in 1934) after the gold standard was repealed. It was used for interagency exchanges of money and was orange on the reverse. Roosevelt (as in Franklin) was the man behind the 100K bill.
The 10k, really, was the biggest bill ever in circulation and featured pilgrims disembarking from the Mayflower on the reverse. The 5K bill featured James Madison and Washington resigning his Army commission. History on the money!
Nixon did away with all bills larger that $100 in 1969 to try to better control organized crime. That worked out really well for him (and us). I've long been a proponent of doing away with the $1 bill. We should use $1 coins. Oh and we should also eliminate the penny. I should stop mixing Mint issues and Engraving and Printing issues. Still, those are my money opinions and I'm standing by them. Also, we should go back to the silver standard.
Ok, maybe not, but I do like the idea of being able to go and demand silver somewhere. Hey--here's a five, gimme some silver!
When I was in college, I was friends with a number of economics majors. They contended, usually when a little drunk, that the great tragedy of my life would be not taking economics in college. (My dad sometimes contends I should have taken HOME economics in middle school. I wish I had taken typing.) My usual counter argument to the econ majors was that the tragedy of their lives was not taking philosophy. I still think I'm right, but I do wish I knew a little more about economics. Oh and there have been other tragedies more significant than my lack of economic understanding. Plus, I've read Marx and Engels. Doesn't that count for something?
I'll settle, for the moment, I guess, with knowing that there is no such thing as a million dollar bill. I wish I had a real one so I could but people I love the things they want. Lately, I've been wanting to exchange bills for another metal. Why wasn't there ever a titanium standard? I'd love to trade a slip of paper for two of these (one for me and one for my honey):
The problem is, people who sell the above want those plastic card things. I learned about that once, but have forgotten most of what I know. I seem to recall you have to use the regular money to pay back what you spent on the plastic dohickeys at some point. Like in graduate school, when I took out student loans, and was required to go to a meeting wherein the main message was "YOU HAVE TO PAY BACK YOUR LOANS." I sometimes misunderstand messages. For example, Honey and I went to see No Country for Old Men this weekend. As we were walking out of the theater, she said, "so the message of that movie is that everything is going to be ok." It was not the message I got. Maybe my college friends were right. I just reread the "Cross of Gold" speech and Bryan says nothing about titanium. I'm going to have to think on this. In the meantime, if anyone has any deep thoughts on economics or moving toward a titanium standard, please let me know.
9 comments:
Okay...I'm gonna go out on a limb here but that was the best blog post ever!!! Holy Cow...that was just plain awesome. I'm going to sign you up to teach my 6th period next week. I'll be sending you and honey round trip tickets.
Awesome. What kind of bill are you going to pay with Chapin? I'd go small. Gold standard, though.
I would love to have any of those currencies that are legal, right about now they would come in very handy. I love those bikes too, but alas I am afraid they would remain hanging in the garage more than I would get around to using them. Lastly, I am looking forward to seeing that movie sometime. I read the book and sadly agree with his view of the world.
They will be small bills...probably 5s and 10s wrapped in a brown paper sack. I actually had someone pay with a silver certificate 2 dollar bill a few weeks ago at a game. I put two real dollars in the drawer and put the other in my pocket.
Wow.
Like, far out, man.
Nice read.
So the guy with the ONE MILLION DOLLAR bill was basically trying to get arrested, right? It's one thing to bank on the idea that your teller might be an idiot (falling under the "you never know" policy), but to push that envelope when the jig is clearly up is pretty much a request for a police record—which he undoubtedly already had, so no harm, no foul.
I, too, loved this post, and not just because you said you wanted to buy me stuff in it. It reminded me of fun factoids I learned courtesy of you on our very first date, back before we knew we were dating.
Large (& small) bills, bikes and facts--doesn't get much better. :)
I took home economics, and typing.
My mom made me take typing. She told me I could use it as a fall back... in case I ever needed to get a job as a secretary.
At the time... neither of us knew how handy it would become.
I can also sew a stuffed hippotamous. Should you ever need one.
I thought at first glance that Weese had written she can stew a hippopotamus (a word, along with Mississippi, that I used to spell really fast as a child to demonstrate my prodigious spelling talents to random people). Stewing a hippo would require a very large stockpot.
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