# Strange stuff on a dollar bill... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 10, 2000, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288 "2000-01-10T19:12:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ENC\_Heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/65b543/32.png) [@ENC\_Heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENC_Heel)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2000, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/1 "2000-01-11T06:12:00Z")
All: Have you noticed strange stuff on dollar bills? A friend of mine told me about the owl on the dollar bill (for those who have never seen it, it’s located on the George Washington side of the bill perched on the crest encircling the 1 in the top right corner. The owl is sitting on the top left corner of the crest. Is this perhaps proof of the Illuminati watching us through our currency? 😉 ## What other strange stuff have you seen on dollar bills (or any other kinds of bills - like $5, $10, $20, or $100 bills)? “I never lie, but I don’t always say what I’m thinking.” ENC Heel ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2000, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/2 "2000-01-11T06:15:00Z")
Nahhh. The Illumnati’s official mascot is a giant wombat. That only shows up on birth certificates. * * * You can feel free to call me Mr. Tied for 26th place on the favorite poster’s list. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2000, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/3 "2000-01-11T06:25:00Z")
Okay, I’ve got a 1$ bill and I’m looking for the owl. Looking. Looking. Looking. Looking. Still looking. Still looking… ---
**Author:** ![Squee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@Squee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squee)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2000, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/4 "2000-01-11T06:31:00Z")
I see something, but damned if I can say it’s an owl… ---
**Author:** ![aha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eada6e/32.png) [@aha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aha)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2000, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/5 "2000-01-11T06:37:00Z")
anybody got a dollar I can borrow? * * * “Ward, You’re upsetting the beaver.” Barbara Billingsley ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2000, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/6 "2000-01-11T06:47:00Z")
Your friend hasn’t been reading any Wilson Bryan Key, by any chance? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![woodja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woodja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodja)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2000, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/7 "2000-01-11T06:53:00Z")
I don’t know about any owl, but there is a microchip that registers the brain waves of the person closest to the bill and transmits the data to the trilateral commission’s secret hideout, deep underneath the arctic ice sheet. fnord ---
**Author:** ![ENC\_Heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/65b543/32.png) [@ENC\_Heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENC_Heel)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2000, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/8 "2000-01-11T06:59:00Z")
Guy: Look at the 1 in the top right corner of the bill on the side with George Washington’s face. Look at the odd-shaped crest encircling the 1. On the top left corner of the crest, there is a tiny owl. It might take a little time, but you can see it. Look just to the right of the leaf closest to the crest. (But beware, because the secret society tracks you with the owl 😉 ) * * * “I never lie, but I don’t always say what I’m thinking.” ENC Heel ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/9 "2000-01-10T19:12:00Z")
That “owl” is actually just part of the intricate lacework pattern worked into the border of the bill. If you look carefully along the top, you’ll see that little tip show up a couple of times. It’s just an interesting juxtaposition of the pattern and the shield bearing the “1” in that corner. * * * Cave Diem! Carpe Canem! ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/10 "2000-01-10T19:33:00Z")
…and what’s that odd thing sticking out in the back of ole George’s…coat?? ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/11 "2000-01-10T19:44:00Z")
I was always told that the shape was a spider that wove the intricate web along the border of the bill, not an owl–not that it really matters. Anyway, what about the digits 3172 on the bushes to the left of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5? (The 3 requires a little imagination). ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/12 "2000-01-10T19:53:00Z")
Omni-Not: That’s part of George Washington’s Archie Andrews-style bow-tie. See, George was REALLY hung over that morning, and he tied his bow-tie on the wrong side of his neck. * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![ChuckSki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@ChuckSki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChuckSki)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/13 "2000-01-10T20:55:00Z")
Omni-not Sticking out from the back of George’s coat is the end of the bow (hair-tie) that would have held his braid together. While not quite Jamaican mon, single large braids and ribbons were quite common, and even can be seen today on the hairpieces (technical term) that British barristers wear from time to time. Chuck L. * * * “The intellectuals’ chief cause of anguish are one another’s works.” Jacques Barzun Cheers! CAL ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/14 "2000-01-10T21:00:00Z")
> [@](#): > > the hairpieces (technical term) that British barristers wear from time to time. peruke or periwig ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/15 "2000-01-10T21:08:00Z")
Omni-not: So…ya gonna believe MY answer, or Chuck’s ridiculous Washington-as-Little-Lulu theory? * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/16 "2000-01-10T21:39:00Z")
No contest, Uke. Yours, of course!! It’s surely the more plausible of the two… And Uncle, you taught me a new word in English (peruke), borrowed directly from us Frenchies, to boot!! 😃 Always thought you simply called it a “wig”. Shows you how much this translator knows! ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/17 "2000-01-10T22:55:00Z")
Yeah, and what about the naked chick on the back of the ten? ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/18 "2000-01-10T23:07:00Z")
All right, I give up…where is the naked chick? All I see in the picture on the back of the $10 bill is the Treasury building, the street corner with people and lampposts, one Model T in the foreground and some other vintage cars in the back on the right…where’s the “naked chick”–standing in a second-floor window on the Treasury building? Huh??? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/19 "2000-01-10T23:12:00Z")
Made ya look, doug, nyah nyah. (I think she’s lying down in the back seat of the Ford.) * * * Uke ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2000, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288/20 "2000-01-10T23:13:00Z")
dougie: ## Look at the bushes just above and to the left of the first car. Pay particular attention to how the upper edge of the bushes looks against the building to the left of the lamppost. Dr. Fidelius, Charlatan Associate Curator Anomalous Paleontology, Miskatonic University “You cannot reason a man out of a position he did not reach through reason.” note: Anyone sending me email please indicate the SDMB in the subject line. I delete everything that smells like spam without review. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-stuff-on-a-dollar-bill/6288.md?page=2)