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15 Strange Facts You Never Knew About Your Money


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You might not think twice about the money you use every day, but you should. There could be some facts about your bills and coins that might fascinate you — and they could be useful, too.
Do you know what bills are made out of? (Hint: It’s not paper). What about how long the typical bill stays in circulation?
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From the hidden messages in money to the security features you never noticed, here are some interesting facts about your money.
$2 Bills Are Often Considered Unlucky
The $2 bill was first printed in 1862. Interestingly, $2 notes were considered unlucky and unpopular throughout most of history.
The back of the bill depicts the famous John Trumbull painting “Declaration of Independence” — sans five of the 47 people who appear in the original. So, although plenty of conspiracy theories about money have fixated on the $2 bill, perhaps the real controversy here is who was left out on the final design.
A Bill’s Life Expectancy Is No Longer Than 15 Years
After being used on a regular basis, bills wear out and are taken out of circulation. The $1 bill gets the most use and typically only lasts about 5.8 years.
However, it’s not the shortest life expectancy for a bill — that title belongs to the $10 bill, which surprising only lasts about 4.5 years. The $5 bill also has a shorter lifespan than the $1 bill, coming in at 5.5 years, whereas the $20 and $50 bills start to trend upward at 7.9 years and 8.5 years, respectively. The longest lifespan belongs to the $100 bill, which lasts an average of 15 years.
Your Damaged Currency Can Still Be Valuable
If you have money that’s been badly damaged, don’t be too quick to throw it out. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing might redeem it at full value.
To qualify for the redemption, you must have more than half of the original note, including any relevant security feature. Or, you can qualify if you have less than half but are able to prove how the note was mutilated and that the missing portions were destroyed.
Commemorative Coins Help Raise Money for Various Causes
From time to time, Congress authorizes the U.S. Mint to make a limited production run of special commemorative coins. These coins are still legal currency, but they’re generally not intended for general circulation.
By selling commemorative coins to collectors, the U.S. Mint has raised hundreds of millions to fund various museums, monuments and other programs.
People Have Sued Over the ‘In God We Trust’ Motto on Currency
The motto “In God We Trust” hasn’t always been a staple on U.S. currency. It wasn’t until 1957 that it first appeared on paper bills, but it has appeared on the penny since 1909, the dime since 1916 and all full-, half- and quarter-dollar coins since 1908.
However, the motto isn’t appreciated by all. Kenneth Mayle, a self-described satanist from Chicago, filed a federal lawsuit in May 2017 that claimed the implicit religious message behind the motto violated his rights. A judge threw out the case, and then Mayle lost his appeal with the 7th Circuit Court of U.S. Appeals.
People Were Initially Against Putting Famous Faces on Coins
We’re so used to seeing portraits and faces on our currency today. However, early coins produced by the United States used images of Liberty and the bald eagle rather than the faces of prominent figures. That’s because the British used pictures of the monarchs on their currency, and having just won their independence, Americans didn’t want to be reminded of that.
Hold Your Bills Up to the Light To See Hidden Faces
Hold up your bill to the light, and you’ll see a second image of the portrait. For example, with a $100 bill, you can see Benjamin Franklin from both sides of the bill in the blank space located on the right side of the portrait.
Security Threads on Bills Glow in Different Colors
Want to learn how to spot counterfeit money? Embedded security threads are also used to protect against counterfeiting. If you have a UV light, hold it up to your bill to see the thread glow.
- On the $5 bill, the thread glows blue.
- On the $10 bill, it glows orange.
- On the $20 bill, it glows green.
- On the $50 bill, it glows yellow.
- On the $100 bill, it glows pink.
Paper Money Is Not Made Out of Paper
Though people commonly refer to bills as “paper” money, they actually aren’t made from paper. Instead, each bill is a combination of 75% cotton and 25% linen.
There Used To Be a Money Shortage Problem in the US
Under English rule, the colonies were banned from making their own currency and were forced to use their existing coins or creatively barter with each other, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
However, in 1652, Massachusetts started making its own coins against the British directive. In an attempt to mitigate any punishment they would receive if the British ever found the currency illegal, they dated all of the coins with the year “1652” — even though they continued to be produced for many years.
States Almost Had Their Own Currencies
The initial Articles of Confederation — aka the predecessor to the Constitution — gave both Congress and the states the right to coin money. Can you imagine the hassle of having to get new currency every time you crossed a state line? Ultimately, it was decided there should be only one national coinage.
There Have Been Weird Nicknames for Money Throughout Time
Under the Coinage Act of 1792, gold coins had different values, including $2.50 (called a quarter eagle), $5 (half eagle) and $10 (eagle).
If you think those names are weird, wait until you find out what people call money in different parts of the world. Some of the terms used to describe money include toad (Denmark), pasta (Spain), lobster (Australia) and mosquito (Germany). It’s almost as weird as calling money cheddar or dough…
At One Point, the Only Way You Could Tell a Coin’s Value Was by Its Size
Early silver coins didn’t even have denominations marked on them and were all identical — except for their size. So, the only way you would know how much they were worth was by their size. It wasn’t until 1804 that quarters started bearing “25c” on them to show how much they were worth.
The Civil War Sparked Paper Money Circulation
Though the colonies issued paper money prior to winning independence, the federal government didn’t start circulating paper money (greenbacks) until 1861. That’s because the government needed to finance the Civil War — which was expensive — and needed the “Demand Notes” issued by the Treasury to secure loans from Northeastern banks.
As such, any and all U.S. tender issued in 1861 or later remains legal tender to this day, redeemable at its face value.
The Government Once Accepted Postage Stamps as Payment
During the Civil War, there was a shortage in the supply of coins. At the time, they were still made of silver and gold, so people were holding on to them because the metals were valuable. To address this, the government started accepting postage stamps as payment for debts.
Ironically, and perhaps unsurprisingly, this caused a shortage of stamps. So, the government authorized printing “fractional currency,” which were bills with denominations under $1 starting in 1863.
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