# What's your favorite monetary denomination? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 16, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023 "2018-07-16T17:30:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/21 "2018-07-17T03:50:27Z")
My favourite bank note that I’ve actually seen in person has to be the [$50 note from the “Scenes of Canada” series](https://www.bankofcanadamuseum.ca/complete-bank-note-series/1969-1979-scenes-canada-series/scenes-canada-series-50-dollars/)that was circulating in the 1970s and early 1980s. Sure, William Lyon Mackenzie King on the front is the definition of stodgy, but the scene of the Dome from the [RCMP Musical Ride](http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en/musical-ride)on the back is the best of any note. Of notes that I’ve never actually seen and likely never will, it has to be the [$25 note commemorating the Silver Jubilee of George V and Queen Mary on the throne](https://www.bankofcanadamuseum.ca/complete-bank-note-series/1935-first-series/first-series-25-dollars/), issued in 1935, the year before he died. I don’t have several thousand available to drop on one, so I can just look at the pictures. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/22 "2018-07-17T04:06:28Z")
I like a nice 10 baht coin. The one made of two metals and featuring Rama IX and the temple. > **[Thailand baht coins isolated over white background. | CanStock](https://www.canstockphoto.com/thailand-baht-coins-13524055.html)** > > Thailand baht coins - download this royalty free Stock Photo in seconds. No membership needed. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/23 "2018-07-17T04:28:44Z")
I liked all the bills in Canada’s 1954 series, but out of all of those (and bills in subsequent series), I liked the 1954 $10 bill best. The reverse showed a wonderful view of the Rocky Mountains by a lake, and if you looked very carefully, you’d see a tiny cabin on the shore of the lake. Heck, Canada’s 1954 series was so beautiful that Sha-Na-Na did a song about it: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/97j_icCMmwI/maxresdefault.jpg "Sha Na Na - Canadian Money") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97j_icCMmwI) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/24 "2018-07-17T04:32:34Z")
I like quarters. I weed out all other change from my bag or pocket. It’s all useless. ---
**Author:** ![mind\_the\_gap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@mind\_the\_gap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mind_the_gap)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/25 "2018-07-17T04:57:48Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > The hundred. > > No, not the hundred as it is now; the hundred as it is now is so awful that, when I see _old_ hundreds, I blurt out _“wow, that looks like actual money.”_ Word. This new money looks bad enough to get it’s own pitting. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/26 "2018-07-17T07:08:55Z")
I like the fifty dollar bill—no particular reason. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/27 "2018-07-17T09:38:05Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Who goes into a bank anymore to get money? This isn’t 1985. > > 🙂 True. I barely use cash at all anymore. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/28 "2018-07-17T16:49:03Z")
It’s increasingly clear that the Yapese were far, far ahead of their time in abandoning physical currency! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/29 "2018-07-18T01:23:23Z")
The [1933 double eagle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933_double_eagle) ($20 gold piece). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/30 "2018-07-18T12:18:22Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I like the look and feel (size/weight) of the Morgan Dollar. I’d love for something like that to still be in use. Another vote for the old Morgan. I semi-collected coins as a kid and have quite a few generic well circulated coins of old. Someday it will all have to go, of course, but I’ll keep my Morgan to the end. My mother worked as a cashier back in the 60s and would get silver dollars from customers. She’d swap them out with her own paper bills and save them in a _big_ jar. Then she’d spend those on the next trip to Reno. To see a jar of hundreds of silver dollars was pretty cool then, would be even more amazing now. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/31 "2018-07-18T14:13:54Z")
I would say quarters. They’re not my favorite anymore, but they’re the only denomination I felt any sort of special favoritism for because of my college days. My college dorm had coin-operated washers and dryers that only accepted quarters, so during my college years, a quarter was the most valuable denomination out there. If I wanted food or clothing or something, I knew I could get it using a bank card, but if I wanted to have clean clothes, only a stack of quarters would do. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/32 "2018-07-18T15:29:18Z")
I like the old [French 50 franc note](http://navonanumis.blogspot.com/2012/07/antoine-de-saint-exupery-writer-and.html), which had Antoine de Saint Exupéry and drawings from _The Little Prince_. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/33 "2018-07-18T15:35:51Z")
I like dimes. I think because they are little. Also because I have fond memories of sorting out dimes with my grandfather and looking for ones that were actually silver. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/34 "2018-07-18T15:49:40Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > I would say quarters. They’re not my favorite anymore, but they’re the only denomination I felt any sort of special favoritism for because of my college days. My college dorm had coin-operated washers and dryers that only accepted quarters, so during my college years, a quarter was the most valuable denomination out there. If I wanted food or clothing or something, I knew I could get it using a bank card, but if I wanted to have clean clothes, only a stack of quarters would do. I still keep about $20 in quarters in my car. Whenever I get a quarter, it goes in the center console of the car. Used to be for parking and tolls, but you don’t even need quarters for a lot of meters anymore, and the EZPass takes care of tolls. Now I really only collect them there out of habit. At least I always know where to find one. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/35 "2018-07-18T16:38:40Z")
The $20 bill. It’s convenient, large enough to pay for small items by itself, it doesn’t take that many of them to cover higher costs, and they are readily accepted everywhere while larger bills may not be. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/36 "2018-07-18T16:45:32Z")
I like the twenty as well for all the reasons cited. As an aside, I wish that “Eagle grasping the moon” that’s on the Ike buck had been put on the Kennedy half because, well, you know. ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/37 "2018-07-18T17:19:18Z")
Tens, fives, and twos seem to be the most convenient denominations for the purchases I make most frequently and are usually what I have the most of in my wallet. I think the $2 bill has about the best design of currently circulating U.S. bills. But my favorites are the [1896 Educational Series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_Series) silver certificates. We haven’t really had such artwork on our money since. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/38 "2018-07-18T19:26:51Z")
Bills, meh, none are really all that special. Coins are more fun. Since they pop up so rarely anymore, I get a thrill when I find a bicentennial half-dollar, the ones with Independence Hall on the back. Other favorites: the Walking Liberty half dollar, the original Sacagawea dollar (Glenna Goodacre, the artist who designed it, is a local, and she spoke at my college graduation). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/39 "2018-07-18T19:33:55Z")
500 pesetas notes were quite rare and I liked the color. The characters were also interesting: the one representing Basque painter Ignacio Zuloaga was based on a self-portrait, that of Galician poetess Rosalía de Castro on one of the few portraits we have of her. There was an older version with Isabel I of Castille, but I don’t recall ever encountering one in the wild. ---
**Author:** ![Hapax\_Legomenon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8c91f0/32.png) [@Hapax\_Legomenon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hapax_Legomenon)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023/40 "2018-07-18T19:40:51Z")
I’m weirdly fond of the USA’s Bicentiennial Quarter (the version with the drummer on the back, from 1976). You get them in change just often enough that they’re a Cool Weird Thing, but not worth collecting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-monetary-denomination/818023.md?page=3)