# Trivia Question about Paper Money **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 23, 2024, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001 "2024-02-23T20:56:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/41 "2024-02-25T06:51:19Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > I have a $2 bill in my wallet right now. > > It’s been there a long time. I keep some fresh ones in my wallet for in case I bump into someone that I’ll ask for their autograph. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/42 "2024-02-25T06:54:47Z")
I only use $2 bills at the track. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/43 "2024-02-25T15:48:33Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > The fact that any use of a $2 bill is so noteworthy that people can state when and where they were used, kind of supports my contention than they’re not “in common use today”. But I accept that’s probably not what the OP had in mind. The inclusion of the two dollar note in the trivia question is absolutely necessary because Adams is on the back of the two and that is the “gotcha” in the question. If, in your opinion, “in common use” is not the proper phrase, how would you suggest the question be re-worded? Would substituting “currently being issued by the Federal Reserve” be acceptable? I couldn’t say all U.S. currency because there are many more presidents on much older obsolete notes that are rarely, if ever, seen in circulation. In my opinion, use of two dollar notes, although more infrequent than other denominatons, is common. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/44 "2024-02-25T16:10:21Z")
Yeah, that’s fair. “Common” is relative. Compared to ones, fives, tens, twenties, fifties, and hundreds, two-dollar bills are uncommon. But compared to any other US currency (none of which I’ve ever seen in person), it’s common. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/45 "2024-02-25T16:12:57Z")
My grandfather was once paid in gold, and even then it was so unusual that he kept one of the coins (which I think my uncle has now) and used the other to get a suit made at the Fifty Shilling Tailors. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/46 "2024-02-25T16:22:22Z")
I always carry about $20 in twos to use as tips and emergency money. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/47 "2024-02-25T16:29:50Z")
> [@Ynnad](#): > > If, in your opinion, “in common use” is not the proper phrase, how would you suggest the question be re-worded? Oh, I totally accept it. I was just making a wild guess that it could be a trick question from that standpoint, but that was obviously not the trick. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/48 "2024-02-25T16:58:06Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Benjamins are, of course, the most popular banknote, I have a hard time believing that. The ones I see most of by far are 20s (that are the default given out by ATMs) and singles (that are almost always needed for giving change). Related, there used to be a perfectly good trivia question “What commonly-circulated coin bears two depictions of the same President?”. The answer, of course, was the penny, with the statue of Lincoln barely visible in the center of the Lincoln Memorial on the reverse. But then they made at least two quarters with Washington on the reverse (the New Jersey and South Dakota state quarters. showing the Crossing of the Delaware and Mount Rushmore respectively), and changed the reverse of the penny to a shield. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/49 "2024-02-25T17:25:22Z")
It depends on what is meant by “popular.” I just learned today from a Wall Street Journal article published yesterday that the $100 bill is indeed the one with the most exemplars in circulation. And that’s not just in terms of aggregate value, but in terms of the actual number of bills in circulation. They overtook $1 bills around 2017. That’s not the same as the number of bills printed annually because $100 bills tend to last a lot longer than $1 bills. A large share of the benjamins are held overseas, held by Americans as an emergency reserve, or used in illegal transactions. They aren’t used that much in legal, domestic transactions by ordinary American citizens. There are now 18.5 billion $100 bills in circulation, worth $1.85 trillion, enough for every man woman and child in the USA to have $5500 worth of them. I, sadly, missed out on my share. Guest link to [the Wall Street Journal article](https://www.wsj.com/personal-finance/american-dollar-currency-100-bill-c6a47c79?st=1v3cm2qtzr51kb2&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/50 "2024-02-25T17:32:24Z")
If you want a good money trivia question, how about What two monarchs have appeared on US coinage? Hint: one was on a commemorative coin. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/51 "2024-02-25T17:36:17Z")
Years ago, the figure was fully 70% of the existing cash was held by foreigners overseas. A benefit for the US government of being the economic reserve currency. Combined with ledger book entries of US petrodollar accounts (virtually all oil transactions were denominated and conducted in dollars overseas) this allowed the national government to “export” inflation. Arthur Burns, Treasury secretary in the 1970s once quipped “It’s our dollar, but your problem”. Dollars were seen as better than gold even, very high demand in many places - where the governments were corrupt, where military coups and currency devaluations and sky high inflation were regular affairs. Holding a stable currency like Swiss francs or dollars was a matter of life or death. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/52 "2024-02-25T17:41:35Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > What two monarchs have appeared on US coinage? I would have guessed there were three. If it’s two, I think they are Kamehameha on a Hawaii state quarter and Queen Isabella on a commemorative coin issued around 1892. I thought Ferdinand was also on that commemorative coin, but perhaps I was mistaken. I’m sure about Isabella, because it was famously the first US coin featuring a real woman (as opposed to a goddess or anthropomorphic figure like Liberty) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/53 "2024-02-25T17:46:04Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > > [@dtilque](#): > > > > What two monarchs have appeared on US coinage? > > I would have guessed there were three. If it’s two, I think they are Kamehameha on a Hawaii state quarter and Queen Isabella on a commemorative coin issued around 1892. I thought Ferdinand was also on that commemorative coin, but perhaps I was mistaken. I’m sure about Isabella, because it was famously the first US coin featuring a real woman (as opposed to a goddess or anthropomorphic figure like Liberty) - You are correct. Ferdinand did not appear on the [Isabella Quarter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_quarter) ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/54 "2024-02-25T17:50:55Z")
Just for fun here are the number of bills outstanding of each denomination per capita, and their aggregate value. 43 $1 bills per capita worth $43 5 $2 bills worth $10 11 $5 bills worth $55 7 $10 bills worth $70 35 $20 bills worth $700 8 $50 bills worth $400 56 $100 bills worth $5,600 total: 165 bills worth $6,878 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/55 "2024-02-25T17:51:08Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I’m guessing $2,998,000 of that is sitting in banks, waiting for some aunt or uncle to withdraw to send in birthday cards. More or less, yes. “In circulation” simply means that they are out in the system somewhere: being held by banks, being held (and used) by consumers, and being held and used by businesses. It does not necessarily mean “in active use by consumers,” as “sitting in a bank vault” still counts as “in circulation.” My guess, like yours, is that the vast majority of $2 bills that are “in circulation” are sitting at banks. Someone asks for some (to use for gifts, etc.), and the bills make their way back to retailers, who turn them back in to their banks. My experience is very similar to that of others who’ve already posted: people who actually _use_ $2 bills regularly are typically on the quirky side, and seem to see using them as part of their signature style. (People who regularly use $1 coins fall into the same camp.) I don’t use cash as often as I used to, but my experience is that it’s been exceptionally rare to get a $2 bill back in change. Retailers don’t want them, and they know that most consumers don’t want them, either. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/56 "2024-02-25T18:02:53Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > What two monarchs have appeared on US coinage? Hint: one was on a commemorative coin. Spain’s Queen Isabella was featured on the obverse of a late 19th century commemorative quarter. I don’t know the other one. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/57 "2024-02-25T18:20:03Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > What two monarchs have appeared on US coinage? I’m going to say a monarch butterfly and if I’m right, that would have made an awesome lateral thinking question. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/58 "2024-02-25T18:40:57Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > I don’t know the other one. The other is King Kamehameha I of Hawai’i, who appeared on Hawai’i’s entry in the “50 State Quarters” series in 2008. [Hawaii State Quarter | U.S. Mint](https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/50-state-quarters/hawaii) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/59 "2024-02-25T18:47:12Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I’m going to say a monarch butterfly and if I’m right, that would have made an awesome lateral thinking question. There is a butterfly on the Kansas “America the Beautiful” quarter series, but it’s not a monarch. Otherwise I can’t find images of butterflies on US coinage. I did find a monarch on a Canadian coin, though. > **[The Monarch and the Bloom - 5 oz. Pure Silver Coin | The Royal Canadian Mint](https://www.mint.ca/en-us/shopping/archives/2023/5-oz-pure-silver-coin-the-monarch-and-the-bloom-lc)** > > Experience one of nature’s most delicate moments, as a monarch butterfly circles around an aster bloom. Order today! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2024, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001/60 "2024-02-25T19:34:10Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I’m sure about Isabella, because it was famously the first US coin featuring a real woman (as opposed to a goddess or anthropomorphic figure like Liberty) - Technically speaking, Queen Isabella is an anthropomorphic figure, too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trivia-question-about-paper-money/998001.md?page=4)