In my lifetime, what are the chances that they will change any of the individuals on the dollar bills? Have they ever given someone the boot before? If this were to happen, who would make that decision and how would it be ratified?
I’d say no. Americans are almost pathologically conservative when it comes to changing the currency, so I think we’ll see the ultimate substitution of electronic payments for all transactions, before we see any real changes to currency as it exists now.
I doubt it.
They’ve fiddled with the designs a bit, but I think the faces you see are there to stay.
Notwithstanding that, I’d love to see the backs get changed to something radically different, like historical scenes or national parks. How about putting Yosemite Valley on the back of the $10? C’mon, who’s with me?
Sorry…I thought the first one didn’t go through.
After the great success of the state quarters, then the nickels with the Lewis & Clark designs, and now the redesign of the front of the nickel, it’s entirely possible we could get something new sometime in the next few decades. Granted, in each instance I mentioned, Washington and Jefferson stayed where they were. And I would expect coins are more likely than bills to change (to the best of my knowledge, coin collecting is a much bigger deal than note collecting). But it is possible.
George Washington is as iconic as any American can be. I doubt you’ll ever see another person on the dollar bill.
The last person to get “booted” was Susan B. Anthony. She used to be on the short lived dollar coin before it was discountinued. When it returned years later, it was completely redesigned and the new face on it was Sacajawea. (Dwight Eisenhower, incidentally, was the last person featured on the old-style silver dollar coin).
Not counting major re-designs, the last person displaced from a coin was Benjamin Franklin, who was replaced by John Kennedy on the half-dollar.
There have been discussions recently about putting Ronald Reagan on a coin or bill. And the mint has recently been demonstrating it’s less conservative about new designs. So I’d say there is a decent chance of Reagan being used within the next few years.
gag
I think that one of the problems is that the public is getting more and more involved in politics, and almost no matter whom you talk about now, there are a lot of people who really hate him/her.
I think it would take something like Kennedy again to put a political person on a coin. His big advantages in getting on the half dollar wer having a short enough presidency for the honeymoon not to have completely worn off, and getting a lot of sympathy from the manner of his death.
MOved to IMHO, as I don’t think we can get a factual answer.
samclem GQ moderator
I don’ think Reagan will get on a bill anytime soon. I think he is just too controversial. However, I think Andrew Jackson may be removed from the $20.00 within the next twenty years. Jackson is just too politically incorrect for today’s times. I wonder why no Native American group has lobbied for Jackson’s removal?
I’m lobbying to get Xaveria Hollander on the $100, Sydney Biddle Barrows on the $50, Heidi Fleiss on the $20, Jessica Hahn on the $10, Fanne Foxxe on the $5, Monica Lewinsky on the $2, and Paris Hilton on the $1.
I think it will be the most popular money we’ve ever seen.
I believe you have to be dead for a bit before you can seriously be considered for money. I believe I read some tiime ago the US Postal Service requires 10 yrs for stamp consideration (I understand that rule has been bent a couple of times). IMHO history will be unkind to Reagan & I don’t think he’ll have as good a shot at making cash in about 2014 as now. Quite a large % of the people who voted for him are already dead when you think about it… senior citizens vote in the USA, and that was 20+ years ago. I think his high Q rating, as they say in the biz, was a bubble.
I’ve been very disturbed by the tendancy of this country to name things after people who are still living (I know of 2 airports & 1 highway, all named in the last 10 yrs), which I associate with Third World dictatorships and the like. I’m hoping we come around to a nice democratic wait-for-the-body-to-cool period again.
Hmmm, let me get this straight. Since the Republicans have been in charge of the Congress, they have renamed places in favor of Reagan and Bush? They would never do such a thing.
Heh! For those who don’t know, there is an initiative to name something for Ronald Reagan in every county/parish in the country.
Getting back to my original post, who would make the decision and who would have to approve it?
Paris Hilton is worth no more than any other 50 cent piece.
I don’t think it’s out of the question that we’ll see money printed like commemorative stamps. Maybe we’ll have 50 fifferent 20 dollar bills, and I would like to see an “American Babes” line – Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, Kim Basinger, etc. There could even be a vote over the “young, beautiful Elizabeth Taylor” versus “fat senior Elizabeth Taylor”. Just like Elvis!
Politicians, prostitutes…who can tell the difference, really?
Well, except that the prostitutes actually give you pleasure in exchange for your money.