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Money is awesome. Aside from being the ultimate tool of trade, the design on your country's paper currency can make for some fascinating history lessons. It's always fun to see how other countries like to depict themselves graphically.
Please post your country's currency along with a brief description and an example of something you might be able to buy with that amount.
Without further ado - the United States Currency:
The U.S. One-Dollar Bill [$1]
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/United_States_one_dollar_bill%2C_obverse.jpg/800px-United_States_one_dollar_bill%2C_obverse.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/United_States_one_dollar_bill%2C_reverse.jpg/800px-United_States_one_dollar_bill%2C_reverse.jpg)
Front: A portrait of George Washington by painter Gilbert Stuart. Washington was the commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and our first president. The encircled L on the left side tells the Federal Reserve Bank from which it was issued. In this case, L = San Francisco (See more info here). Note the greenish hue, thus the semi-common terms "green" or "greenbacks".
Back: The Great Seal of the United States on the right, ONE in the middle, and the infamous Eye of Providence on the left. The Eye of Providence is a conspiracy theorist favorite due to many thinking it a symbol of occultism.
What You Can Purchase: A can of soda or bag of potato chips. Also, getting some boobs in your face at a strip club.
The U.S. Five-Dollar Bill [$5]
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/US_%245_Series_2006_obverse.jpg/800px-US_%245_Series_2006_obverse.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/US_%245_Series_2006_reverse.jpg/800px-US_%245_Series_2006_reverse.jpg)
Front: A portrait of the 16th President Abraham Lincoln. Served as a leader during the Civil War when the Union was preserved and slavery brought to an end. This is a new design circa 2007 and features small yellow 05's on the left, purple seal on the right, and enhanced security features.
Back: The Lincoln Memorial located in Washington DC (info here). Also, a strangely large purple 5 on the bottom right.
What You Can Purchase: A foot long submarine sandwich from Subway!
The U.S. Ten-Dollar Bill [$10]
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/US10dollarbill-Series_2004A.jpg/800px-US10dollarbill-Series_2004A.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/US_$10_Series_2004_reverse.jpg)
Front: A portrait of the First Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton. There's also the torch holding hand of the Statue of Liberty. On the right is the phrase "We The People," which serves as the Preamble to our Constitution: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
Back: The U.S. Treasury and an enlarged 10.
What You Can Purchase: A terrible haircut, an expensive sandwich, a t-shirt, two standard drinks at a night club.
The U.S. Twenty-Dollar Bill [$20]
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/US_%2420_Series_2006_Obverse.jpg/800px-US_%2420_Series_2006_Obverse.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c9/US_%2420_Series_2006_Reverse.jpg/800px-US_%2420_Series_2006_Reverse.jpg)
Front: Portrait of the 7th President, Andrew Jackson. Approximately 22% of all notes printed currently are $20 bills.
Back: A picture of the White House, the residence of the U.S. President. Also lots of small 20's which I can only imagine are used for security reasons.
What You Can Purchase: A current best-selling novel, a music CD, a ticket for a "nosebleed seat" at a baseball game.
The U.S. Fifty-Dollar Bill [$50]
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Series2004NoteFront_50.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Series2004NoteBack_50.jpg)
Front: A portrait of the 18th President, Ulysses S. Grant. Prior to his term as president, he served as the 4-Star General of the Union Army during the American Civil War. Also featured is the red, white, and blue flag.
Back: The U.S. Capitol. This is the meeting place of Congress and one of the most historic landmarks in my country. Many don't know that it was partially burned down by the British in the War of 1812!
What You Can Purchase: ~A console video game
The U.S. One Hundred-Dollar Bill [$100]
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/aa/NEW100FRONT.jpg/800px-NEW100FRONT.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e2/NEW100BACK.jpg/800px-NEW100BACK.jpg)
Front: A portrait of statesman, inventor, and diplomat Benjamin Franklin (<--Click for some funny reenactments of history). This is the brand new design that will be issued to the public on February 10, 2011. "The new bill features an enlarged portrait, color-changing ink, and a unique teal background color. A depiction of a quill has been added to the front along with faint phrases of the Declaration of Independence. New security features include a three-dimensional security ribbon and a color changing 'Bell in the Inkwell' ".
Back: Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This historical landmark is where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were discussed and adopted. Also a HUGE 100.
What You Can Purchase: AMD Athlon II X4 620 Propus 2.6GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor
Other Famous/Rare/Old U.S. Currency
+ Show Spoiler +1907 $5 Note ![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/US_%245_1907_United_States_Note.jpg) 1901 "Bison" $10 Note ![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/US_%2410_1901.jpg) 1934 $10,000 Note (Only used in intra-government transactions and equals ~$1,620,000 in 2010 dollars) ![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/US100000dollarsbillobverse.jpg) ![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/US100000dollarsbillreverse.jpg)
Countries Posted Thus Far
+ Show Spoiler +
Canada
Iceland
Mexico
South Africa
South Korea
USA
 
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I approve of this, I have always taken a liking to foreign (non-American) currencies. Maybe its their pretty colors or intriguing shape, but I like collecting it  .
EDIT:
A bag of chips is 30 cents homie..and a can of soda is about 65...
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Interesting blog idea.
Things you buy with a dollar: One cigarette from the bartender.
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United States24633 Posts
On July 07 2010 10:17 l10f wrote:I know what you can't buy with that. Things from the dollar store. They cost $1.07 
Well they are different in every state/county/etc... but yea.
I've recently noticed that stores are starting to not bother with pennies anymore the same way Australia started doing it a few years prior (from what I heard).
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1 dollar - 1/1000000000000 war with iraq.
lol
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I hate tax, it makes 5 dolla foot longs ~5.65 foot longs.
I personally like Canadian money cause its colourful... Walking around with red bills is pretty ballin' (cause of the colour).
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On July 07 2010 10:52 Rinrun wrote:I hate tax, it makes 5 dolla foot longs ~5.65 foot longs. I personally like Canadian money cause its colourful... Walking around with red bills is pretty ballin' (cause of the colour).
Take some time and post a picture of your favorite bill! I'm looking for other contributions as well.
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I didn't add the $2 note because it's pretty rare to see nowadays and the post was already getting long.
For those who'd like to see it anyway, click here.
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![[image loading]](http://www.trendbird.co.kr/attach/1/1295035063.jpg)
Here's the Korean won, where I live at the moment
I'll explain who the people are on each note.
They have a 1000 won note, a 5000 won note, and a 10000 won note. These equal about 80 cents, 4 dollars and 8 dollars respectively.
1000 won:
This dude is Yi Hwang (1501-1570), a child prodigy and one of the two most prominent Korean Confucian scholars of the Joseon Dynasty, the other being his younger contemporary Yi I (Yulgok). On his death, Yi Hwang was posthumously promoted to the highest ministerial rank, and his mortuary tablet is housed in a Confucian shrine as well as in the shrine of King Seonjo. He was the author of many books on Confucianism, and he also published a "shijo" collection, a short poetic form popular with the literati of the Choson period. During forty years of public life he served four kings (Junjong, Injong, Myeongjong and Seonjo), and his interpretation of the "li-chi" dualism gained him fame in Korea and beyond.
5000 won:
This is Yi Hwang's contemporary, Yi L. He was also a child prodigy who knew Chinese script at the age of three and composed poems in Classical Chinese before he had reached his seventh birthday. By the age of seven, he had finished his lessons in the Confucian Classics, and he passed the Civil Service literary examination at the age of 13.
According to a legend, he had a villa built near the ford of the Imjin River in his lifetime and instructed his heirs to set it ablaze when the king had to flee northward from Seoul, to provide a guiding beacon. This took place during Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea at the Battle of the Imjin River (1592).
10000 won:
Sejong the Great (May 7, 1397 – May 18, 1450, r. 1418 – 1450) was the fourth king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. He is best remembered for creating the Korean alphabet Hangul, despite strong opposition from the scholars educated in hanja (Chinese script). Sejong is one of only two Korean rulers posthumously honored with the appellation "the Great", the other being Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo.
He invented the Korean writing system, therefore he is badass and on their money
Now this is the South African Rand, my home country's currency.
![[image loading]](http://samedy.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/south_african_rand.jpg)
Each note (except the R200, they screwed that up lol) has one of the "big 5", the most famous wildlife in South Africa. All tourists who come to our country to go to game parks are encouraged to try and find "the big five", its like the ultimate game watching achievement Anyways, I think our money is quite pretty
R10 note: The White Rhinoceros
R20 note: The African Elephant
R50 note: The Male Lion
R100 note: The African Water Buffalo
R200 note: The Cheetah (should have been a Leopard, the last member of the big five)
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Awesome Subversion, thanks!
A glimpse of your wallet must be like looking at a rainbow.
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whoa south African bills are interesting :O
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That's the main problem I have with American money... when I look into my wallet it's not immediately obvious which bill is which, while if you have coloured bills it makes it a lot easier.
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On July 07 2010 11:51 JodoYodo wrote:
That's the main problem I have with American money... when I look into my wallet it's not immediately obvious which bill is which, while if you have coloured bills it makes it a lot easier.
I noticed too. All of them are the same tone.
If you want to look at the Candian banknotes, refer to this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Canadian_dollar
And search for 2001 ("Canadian Journey") series. Everything is there.
EDIT: O yea, Canada is going to switch to rubber money soon ^____^ I can't wait.
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Canadian money is superior because it is color coded
![[image loading]](http://www.themainbrace.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/canadian_bills.jpg)
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Who are those people and is that a holographic bar down the sides of the 20+ notes?
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On July 07 2010 11:32 Subversion wrote: Anyways, I think our money is quite pretty
I agree. It's very colorful and it really seems distinct with the animals that you would only see in Africa.
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I've always wondered why we use Andrew Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant on our currency. They were both horrible, horrible presidents. Jackson basically ordered genocide against the Native Americans.
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$5 - Sir Wilfrid Laurier, 7th Prime Minister of Canada
$10 - Sir John A. Macdonald, 1st Prime Minister of Canada
$20 - Queen Elizabeth II, reigning monarch of Canada and the Commonwealth
$50 - William Lyon Mackenzie King, 10th Prime Minister of Canada
$100 - Sir Robert Borden, 8th Prime Minister of Canada
...Since you asked.
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EPT
