Why was this decided to be a good idea way back when? I’m just curious. I know he’s considered a major historical US figure but I would have thought that back in the day, the US mint would only have only US Presidents on them.
I know Sacajawea (whatever her name is) and Susan B. Anthony have been dipicted on recent coins…but that’s a different story being that the US has been infected with political correctness for a couple of decades.
I’d like to know when did ol’ Ben get the nod and why?
Why not Thomas Edison? or maybe Elvis…he was on pretty good terms with Nixon wasn’t he?
Heck, let’s look at 1841.
Around that time there were two popular founding fathers…Franklin and Washington. Those were pretty much the only figures that might end up on a brand new idea…the postage stamp. Who would end up on a stamp first?
Ben won over Geo. Washington.
By the way, Alex. Hamilton wasn’t a prez, either. He’s on stuff.
I have an old dollar bill that has a portraits of George Washington on the left and Martha Washington on the right. I would guess that Martha is the only first lady to appear on U.S. currency.
Yep, Franklin having been Postmaster General gave him a leg up inside the Post Office
But it is true that Ben Franklin was for the longest time one of the most celebrated of the Founders. In no small measure, it helped that due to his age, he did not live long enough after independence to become as entangled in enemy-making partisan controversies as Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, etc. AND had an impressive list of pre-independence achievements to his own name. He was also the first American political figure who was a “celebrity” abroad, not a small feat.
Ben Franklin was also on the half-dollar for many years, so it’s not a case of political correctness to put a non-president on coins.
In fact, although I have no reference material handy, I will bet that since the U.S. began issuing national currency (coins or bills), they have featured non-presidents (including Miss Liberty) more than presidents on more denominations for more years.
Sadly, they no longer make bills over $100. I believe this was to prevent ease of cash transactions over $10,000, making drug transactions and money laundering more difficult.
I think it’s illegal to own a high-denomination US bill, somehow relating to the above.
Chase is on the $10,000 bill. I’ve seen a hundred of them- Binnion’s Horseshoe Casino in Downtown Vegas has a display of $1 million dollars- 100 $100 bills.
If you haven’t inferred it already, putting US Presidents on coins and currency is a recent phenomenon. A large fraction of the coins I used as a (very wee) kid did not have a US President on them. I used to collect Franklin half dollars, my mother Liberty silver dollars. There is no rule, guideline, etc. of any type that requires only presidents. The US Mint is free to put SBA, Sacajewea, Lady Liberty, Columbia, etc. on coins and paper money.
That’s interesting based on what the previous posters indicated. That a) the $10,000 bills are no longer legal currency, and b)that the change was made a while ago. That means that back “then” when a million dollars was quite a bit of money, this casino decided that the tourist value of seeing the $10,000 bills was worth more than simply depositing them in the bank before they became invalid.
The $10,000 bill is still legal tender, but it has been withdrawn from circulation. If a bank comes across anything over a $100 bill, it gets sent on to the Fed to be taken care of (destroyed?). I’m sure it will also get a lot of attention.
