# Do people from other coutries appear on any national currency?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 6, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936 "2010-02-06T18:16:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/1 "2010-02-06T18:16:40Z")
I mean other than those weird collector coins they keep putting out.
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### Author:  [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/2 "2010-02-06T18:25:47Z")
How technical do you want to get? I assume that colonial rulers are out, as well as British monarchs on Commonwealth money.
…And I thought I had a good example, but it turns out I was mistaken.
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### Author:  [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/3 "2010-02-06T18:43:49Z")
There’s several examples buried in here:
[http://www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/doubles.htm](http://www.pjsymes.com.au/articles/doubles.htm)
Simon Bolivar was who I was thinking of when I found that article. It notes that:
> [@](#):
>
> Bolivar, recognized as the greatest of the South American liberators, appears on banknotes issued in Ecuador, Colombia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and, the country to which he gave his name, Bolivia.
Also:
> [@](#):
>
> So, discounting heads of state and colonial issues, we begin the search for the ultimate hero on world banknotes. Let’s start by acknowledging those people who have appeared on the notes of two independent countries. In no particular order, here are some people who have appeared on the notes of two countries: Amilcar Cabral, Pedro Alvares Cabral, Marie Curie, Josef Broz Tito, Patrice Lamumba, Mohammed V of Morocco and Jose San Martin.
Marshal Tito on Guinea banknotes?
And they claim that Cristopher Columbus is the winner, appearing on the banknotes of 9 countries.
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### Author:  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/4 "2010-02-06T19:07:21Z")
The Queen of England appears on Australian currency and banknotes.
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### Author:  [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/5 "2010-02-06T19:27:58Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#):
>
> How technical do you want to get? I assume that colonial rulers are out, as well as British monarchs on Commonwealth money.
the Queen is not a British monarch when she is performing functions in a Commonwealth realm like Australia or Canada. She is respectively the Queen of Australia and the Queen of Canada.
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### Author:  [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/6 "2010-02-06T19:47:32Z")
You might also want to discount historical personages who predated the existence of the country in question, but figured in its historical development, letting out Columbus, and probably Simon Bolivar, whom I brought up. And Pocohontas, who appeared on a mid-19th century US $20 bill:
[http://www.wikicoins.com/Fr\_424-439\_Pocahontas\_Note](http://www.wikicoins.com/Fr_424-439_Pocahontas_Note)
Hard to argue with Marshal Tito on the banknotes of Guinea in 1980, though. Or, for that matter, Marie Curie turning up on French currency.
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/7 "2010-02-06T19:57:05Z")
How about [Jack Nicklaus](http://www.diggafromdover.com/DisplayProductPrime.aspx?ProdID=1567) appearing on Scottish currency?
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/8 "2010-02-06T20:09:48Z")
> [@yabob](#):
>
> Or, for that matter, Marie Curie turning up on French currency.
Curie was born in Russian Poland, but she lived most of her life and did the work she became famous for in France, and became a French citizen.
So I don’t know if that really applies.
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/9 "2010-02-06T20:19:59Z")
In 1914, [John Robinson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Robinson_%28pastor%29) was one of the faces on a [$10,000 bill](http://www.revjohnrobinson.com/facts.htm#1).
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### Author:  [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/10 "2010-02-06T20:23:08Z")
Oh, and here’s the Guinea note with Tito on it:
[ ](https://www.banknotes.com/GN27.JPG)
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### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/11 "2010-02-06T20:46:21Z")
Alexander Hamilton was born in Jamaica…
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/12 "2010-02-06T21:03:09Z")
[Moses Maimonides](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maimonedes) born in Spain and died in Egypt in 1204, used to appear on the old Israeli 1000 shekels/1 NIS bill.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/13 "2010-02-06T22:26:04Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#):
>
> the Queen is not a British monarch when she is performing functions in a Commonwealth realm like Australia or Canada. She is respectively the Queen of Australia and the Queen of Canada.
You can call me the King of San Francisco, but I’m still Canadian, and Queen Elizabeth II is still English, no matter what stylings you use. She wins this thread by a mile.
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### Author:  [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/14 "2010-02-06T23:52:12Z")
[Jesus appears to be a popular subject for coins](http://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?vpar=1023). Most of the coins on that page are from the Byzantine Empire, which is the historic continuation of the Roman Empire that ruled his native province of Judaea. But some of them are from other countries where Jesus would certainly be considered a foreigner.
That page also has examples of other possibly historical figures depicted on coins of other countries. For example, there’s a Hungarian coin depicting Jesus’s mother Mary (also probably Judaean).
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### Author:  [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/15 "2010-02-07T00:01:10Z")
> [@Krokodil](#):
>
> Alexander Hamilton was born in Jamaica…
And George Washington was born in the British Empire. But this probably isn’t the sort of thing the OP is asking about; otherwise just about any colonial pre-revolutionary figure depicted on post-revolutionary currency is going to, ahem, fit the bill.
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### Author:  [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/16 "2010-02-07T00:13:17Z")
Che Guevara on one of the Cuban Pesos. He was born in Argentina (though he also held Cuban citizenship).
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### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2010, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/17 "2010-02-07T00:41:16Z")
> [@psychonaut](#):
>
> And George Washington was born in the British Empire. But this probably isn’t the sort of thing the OP is asking about; otherwise just about any colonial pre-revolutionary figure depicted on post-revolutionary currency is going to, ahem, fit the bill.
Washington’s neck of the British Empire underwent a regime change, but he was from the geographic region (which is why I didn’t bring up Washington’s presence on Confederate money, particularly the $50 and $100). Jamaica (actually Nevis), also in the British Empire, was never part of the US. Hamilton should count.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/18 "2010-02-07T01:20:01Z")
> [@Duckster](#):
>
> The Queen of England appears on Australian currency and banknotes.
If Elizabeth II is the “Queen of England,” then Obama’s the “President of Alaska.”
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### Author:  [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/19 "2010-02-07T01:54:46Z")
> [@Krokodil](#):
>
> Washington’s neck of the British Empire underwent a regime change, but he was from the geographic region (which is why I didn’t bring up Washington’s presence on Confederate money, particularly the $50 and $100). Jamaica (actually Nevis), also in the British Empire, was never part of the US. Hamilton should count.
It’s actually not even certain if he was from jamaica, though most assume that. His origins are pretty mysterious, and he might have come from damn near anywhere.
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-from-other-coutries-appear-on-any-national-currency/527936/20 "2010-02-07T01:56:24Z")
Again, Hamilton was from Nevis, not Jamaica.
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