# You're not allowed to put Presidents on US $... Who do you choose? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 13, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986 "2015-05-13T23:51:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986/41 "2015-05-17T02:44:24Z")
$1: A male Deer. $5: Huckleberry Finn. $10: [Bread](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_%28band%29). $20: Jackson Pollock. $50: Kermit the Frog. $100: [Benjamin Lee Whorf](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Lee_Whorf) (Runner-up Ben Affleck gets the $100 coin). (Apologies to Eric Flint) ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2015, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986/42 "2015-05-17T03:52:00Z")
My opinion may sound vehement, but I find the idea of adorning banknotes or coins with monarchs, presidents and the like quite lamentable. I would resort to natonal icons instead. I do enjoy figurative art but worshipping a person by means of his/her picture seems to me trite and puerile. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986/43 "2015-06-18T01:55:10Z")
A woman will be on the new $10 bill: [A woman will be featured on the new U.S. $10 bill - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=759846) ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986/44 "2015-06-18T03:39:40Z")
Thomas Paine should be on _something_. I may be wrong, but istm, without his rabble rousing this country might not even be. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986/45 "2015-06-18T03:47:21Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Thomas Paine should be on _something_. I may be wrong, but istm, without his rabble rousing this country might not even be. Agreed, but he went bad near the end, accusing President Washington of being corrupt and power-hungry. That left him in a very bad odor. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986/46 "2015-06-18T14:35:39Z")
Good thread! $1: Jesse Owens $5: Henry Ford $10: Thomas Edison $20: Martin Luther King, Jr. $100: Neil Armstrong I vacillated a little bit between Henry Ford and Andrew Carnegie, and Neil Armstrong and Charles Lindbergh. I figured one anti-Semite was enough. ETA: I’m also continuing to vacillate between Owens and a musician. Maybe Hendrix. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2015, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986/47 "2015-06-18T15:30:39Z")
I agree with those suggesting Franklin should remain on the $100 bill. But his portrait should be changed to have him giving a wink and a nod, and perhaps holding up a mug of… beverage. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986/48 "2015-06-19T12:59:11Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Canada: > > $10 Sir Alexander Fleming (Discoverer of penicillin as an antibiotic) …was British. Why are the Canadians claiming him? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986/49 "2015-06-19T13:35:54Z")
They have a lot of diseases. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986/50 "2015-06-19T15:07:34Z")
Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allan Poe, and Sylvia Plath should be somewhere. > [@Ravenman](#): > > I agree with those suggesting Franklin should remain on the $100 bill. But his portrait should be changed to have him giving a wink and a nod, and perhaps holding up a mug of… beverage. Seconded. He’d approve! ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986/51 "2015-06-19T16:00:21Z")
> [@PlaceboTarget](#): > > My opinion may sound vehement, but I find the idea of adorning banknotes or coins with monarchs, presidents and the like quite lamentable. I would resort to natonal icons instead. I do enjoy figurative art but worshipping a person by means of his/her picture seems to me trite and puerile. I doubt many would view it as ‘worshipping’ a person. For us in the UK, the Queen is ‘literally’ the figurehead of the nation, like a flag or a national bird, so she appears on one side. Then on the reverse is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of notable citizens, such as Charles Darwin who currently adorns our £10 note, or Jane Austin who is soon to replace him. We’ve all sorts over the year, from Wellington and Newton to Shakespeare. These are all national icons in their way. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2015, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986/52 "2015-06-19T19:22:05Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > …Charles Darwin who currently adorns our £10 note, or Jane Austin who is soon to replace him… Is she any relation to “Stone Cold” Steve? I think Jane Austen would be a better choice. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986/53 "2015-06-20T04:49:19Z")
Maybe Eleanor Roosevelt on the new $10? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986/54 "2015-06-20T05:17:23Z")
$1: Nicola Tesla \* $2: Edison \*\* $5: George Washington Carver $10: Hedy Lamarr \*\*\* $20: Wright Brothers $50: Robert Goddard $100: Benjamin Franklin - Elon Musk did bid enough. 🙂 \*\* Eddy, you get that for not giving credit to Tesla! \*\*\* In keeping up with the idea that a woman will get the ten, A great actress and an inventor too. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2015, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986/55 "2015-06-20T07:26:22Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > $1: Nicola Tesla \* > $2: Edison \*\* > $5: George Washington Carver > $10: Hedy Lamarr \*\*\* > $20: Wright Brothers > $50: Robert Goddard > $100: Benjamin Franklin I was thinking along similar lines, but I’d like to see Richard Feynman in the mix. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-not-allowed-to-put-presidents-on-us-who-do-you-choose/719986.md?page=2)