The first dollar bills appeared in circulation more than one hundred and fifty years ago. During this time, they repeatedly changed the size and design, but still remain the most popular in the world. In circulation, most often you can find treasury bills with face values of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 US dollars. Less commonly, two dollars. But there are also denominations of a larger denomination: five hundred, one thousand, ten and one hundred thousand. Nobody saw them in circulation for one simple reason: the government banned their export from the country. $ 100,000 of paper money is used only for settlements between banks.
A $ 100 bill with a portrait of Franklin has become widespread throughout the world. For this she is very fond of and often counterfeited by counterfeiters. She repeatedly changed her appearance. In different years, it depicted birds, admirals and even the wives of governors. But first things first.
First appearance
The first hundred-dollar bill in the United States appeared in 1862. Then it depicted a bald eagle - the national bird of the country. Around the same time, the Southern States began issuing its treasury bills with portraits of two defense ministers and the wife of Governor Lucy Pickens.
Further development
In 1863, the banknote depicted Oliver Perry leaving his Laurence ship. In 1869, the portrait of Abraham Lincoln first appeared along with a symbolic image of the Reconstruction. The series was called "rainbow" due to the use of bright colors.
Then, portraits of Thomas Benton (1871), James Monroe (1878), and David Furragat (1890) were printed on $ 100 bills. It is worth noting that the portraits of all these figures somehow appeared on paper money of later issues. The portrait of the scientist Benjamin Franklin was first printed on a banknote in 1914.
Franklin's statement
In the 20s of the twentieth century, the size of the bill decreased by 30% in order to reduce production costs. Since 1923, Benjamin Franklin finally entrenched in paper money denominations of $ 100. The photo below confirms that her design was more and more like a modern one.
In 1969, President Nixon banned the issuance of banknotes in denominations of more than $ 100. Now they belong to collectibles and are worth more than their face value. With the increasing popularity of a hundred-dollar bill, they often began to fake. Therefore, in 1991, additional security elements, such as micro-printing and metal security thread, were applied to it. In 1996, Franklin's portrait received a watermark, and the serial number received an additional letter.
Last updated $ 100 banknote
In April 2010, they announced the launch of a new series of paper money, which was developed in 2009. Its release was planned for 2011, but the United States Government announced marriage during production, so their release was postponed for two years.
On the eighth of October last year, the United States put into circulation a new $ 100. The banknote has received an additional level of protection. New watermarks are printed on it , there is also an additional thread and a three-dimensional protective film, which is woven into the bill. Another innovation: when turning the bells are transformed into the number one hundred, and the one located to the right of the portrait of Benjamin Franklin changes color to copper or green. New levels of protection have affected the cost of making a banknote of $ 100. She went up by three cents.
Dollar sign
The word "dollar" appeared much earlier than the monetary unit. There are many versions regarding which language it was taken from. Some scholars claim that the word comes from the name "joachimstaler" - a Czech coin from the late 16th century. Others believe that the Americans borrowed the name of their currency from the Danes, which thalers called "dalers". Be that as it may, the United States is the first country to use this word to denote a monetary unit.
No less interesting is the history of the dollar symbol. According to the official version, he owes the appearance of the Spanish peso. Two columns were engraved on the coin - symbols of the Gibraltar pillars. This is a prototype of two vertical sticks in a sign. The second version of the appearance of the symbol says that the sign was formed from the American abbreviation of the United States (U and S). The lower part disappeared from the letter U - this is how two vertical sticks appeared. Over the next centuries, other versions of the origin of the symbol appeared.
- "German": on the obverse of the coin was depicted a crucified Jesus, and on the reverse - a snake wrapping a cross.
- Portuguese: The dollar sign comes from a symbol very similar to it - tsifrao (tsifrano), which denotes a dot or comma, separating whole parts from fractional ones.
The main elements of the bill
The inscription In God We Trust has been constantly appearing on banknotes since 1963. It was first ordered to be minted by Salmon Chase on coins at two cents back in 1864. At the same time, the US government passed a law that forbade portraits of living people from being displayed on banknotes. The reason was the scandal. Spencer Clark, who headed the currency bureau, placed his own portrait on the five-dollar bill. The experiment would have gone unnoticed if Clark had not entered into a sexual relationship with one of his subordinates. This quickly became known to the public. To protect the dollar from shame, the government took an appropriate decision.
On the back of the banknote are the main symbols of the country:
- Lincoln Memorial - $ 5;
- Ministry of Finance and the White House - for $ 10 and $ 20;
- Capitol - $ 50;
- Independence Hall - on a $ 100 bill.
Portraits of signatories to the Declaration of Independence are placed on a two-dollar bill.
The most memorable elements
Over the head of the eagle in the first series of treasury notes flaunted the Latin inscription "One of many", the meaning of which is still incomprehensible. One of the banknotes depicted a pyramid that symbolizes growth and the pursuit of excellence in the United States, and the All-Seeing Eye at the top of the pyramid - divine power. The inscriptions above and below symbolized a new era. All these elements first appeared on money of the 18th century sample. The typographer, publicist, diplomat, scientist and inventor Benjamin Franklin suggested using them.
Printing on banknotes lasted only a few decades, and then disappeared until 1930. She was returned by Franklin Roosevelt. He regarded this element as a symbol of the power of the American people. Despite reports of Masonic symbolism, Roosevelt left a seal on the bill.
The first green color on treasury bills appeared in 1929. This paint was cheap enough, and the shade evoked confidence and optimism. Recently, new tones have appeared on banknotes - yellow and pink.
Making notes
All banknotes are provided with a facsimile signature of officials who were responsible for finance. Initially, there were signatures of real-life officials, until in 1776 the separatists decided to create their own currency, the Continental. Hundreds of different respected, but little-known people signed on the banknotes. In 1863, signatures were replaced by facsimile.
The note is made by metallographic method with intaglio printing. The color scheme, the location of the main elements approximately coincide with the coloring and position of the elements on paper money of less denomination. The series is indicated at the bottom left. The only banknote on which the portrait of a celebrity is depicted in full width, and the face value is indicated in numbers, is 100 dollars. The size of the treasury ticket is 156 x 67 mm.