Every Person on American Currency - YouTube

Andrew Jackson, Harriet Tubman is coming for you.

That’s right, it’s looking like she will be replacing him on the American twenty-dollar

bill y’all.

Ok, it probably won’t happen until at least 2030, but it’s happening dad gomit.

I’m Mr. Beat And yes in this video we’re going to look

at money.

This is fake money, of course.

I couldn’t afford to show you the real Federal Reserve Notes.

Yep, I photocopied these at school.

I’ve never actually tried to spend it.

(scoffs)

But yeah, we’re looking at American currency.

Real American currency, well real American currency isn’t even on paper.

It’s made out of fabric composed of 75% cotton and 25% linen.

It’s also really hard to counterfeit.

Almost every single part of American currency is there to make it difficult to copy.

The United States Department of Treasury spends billions each year producing it, and it is

quite an elaborate process.

Oh don’t get me wrong, many still try to counterfeit American currency, and in fact

many are still successful.

The Department of Treasury estimates that possibly $200 million in counterfeit bills

are currently in circulation.

That would mean that about 1 Federal Reserve Note out of every 4,000 out there right now

is counterfeit.

Mmmhmmm, that dollar in your pocket right now might be a counterfeit, George.

You might want to check that out.

Meh, almost every store would probably still accept it, anyway.

After all, it got there in the first place.

But hold up.

What about the people on this currency?

Who ARE these people?

Do they think they’re a big deal?

Why yes, they ARE a big deal.

Most of them were American Presidents.

However, others are just important people in American history, and some of them featured

on different currencies over the years may surprise you.

The Secretary of the Treasury is in charge of selecting people, and there’s no law

saying that the people on the currency have to always be the same.

In this video, I’m looking at every person on American currency, and I’ll give some

basic information about them, although I’m sure you’re already familiar with most of

them.

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Now, I don’t mean to brag, but let’s start with a currency that I actually have a lot

of- the penny.

The penny, worth one cent, features the 16th President, Abraham Lincoln.

Most historians today say that Lincoln is the greatest President in American history.

He’s been on the penny since 1909 to honor his 100th birthday.

Lincoln was the first president featured on an American coin.

The nickel, worth five cents, features the Declaration of Independence writer, Founding

Father dude, and 3rd President Thomas Jefferson.

He’s been on the nickel since 1938.

The dime, worth ten cents, features the 32nd President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

He’s been on the dime since 1946, the year after he died.

And the dime is sooo appropriate for FDR, since he founded the March of Dimes, a nonprofit

organization with the goal of improving the health of mothers and babies.

The quarter, worth 25 cents, features an obscure Founding Father by the name of George Washington.

Ok, I joke, of course.

Washington is kind of a big deal, being the much beloved 1st President and also hero of

the American Revolution.

He’s been on the quarter since his 200th birthday in 1932.

The half dollar, worth, uh...half a dollar, features the 35th President, John F. Kennedy.

He’s been on it since 1964, the year after he died.

The half dollar is the largest coin currently produced, but there aren’t many in circulation

since most Americans don’t use them much.

And now it’s time for the bills.

Here’s a real one actually.

The dollar, worth one dollar.

Ok, I’m gonna go ahead and stop saying how much they're worth now.

Anyway, the dollar also features the much beloved 1st President George Washington.

He’s been on it since 1869.

The $1 bill is the second most common Federal Reserve note in circulation.

You probably have one somewhere I bet.

I hope so.

Now, the two-dollar bill is much less used.

It also features the 3rd President, Thomas Jefferson, and he’s been on it since 1869

as well.

Because Americans think they’re rare, they often collect two-dollar bills, but they’re

surprisingly not as rare as you would think.

The five-dollar bill also features 16th President Abraham Lincoln, and he’s been on it since

1914.

So far it’s been all Presidents on currency, but this next fella was never President.

Alexander Hamilton is on the ten-dollar bill.

Many of the young folks know all about him through the Hamilton musical, which is kind

of weird, but yeah he was a Founding Father and the 1st Treasury Secretary so I guess

that’s quite appropriate that he’s on currency.

He’s been on it since 1929.

Andrew Jackson used to be on the ten-dollar bill, but as I mentioned earlier now he’s

on the twenty-dollar bill.

Jackson was the 7th President and is arguably the most controversial one on currency that’s

currently in circulation.

There’s no denying his huge impact on American history, though.

He’s been on the twenty also since 1929.

The fifty-dollar bill features the 18th President, Ulysses Grant, and he’s been on it as long

as Lincoln’s been on the five-dollar bill, since 1914.

And now, it’s all about the Benjamins.

Yeah I have no Benjamins.

Benjamin Franklin has also been on the 100-dollar bill since 1914.

Franklin was also never a President but still a big freaking deal in American history, being

a Founding Father, but additionally just a major American Enlightenment figure who accomplished

and influenced so much in colonial America.

Oh, and the $100 bill surprisingly is the most common Federal Reserve note in circulation

currently.

Now, the United States no longer issues bills in larger denominations than $100.

It just doesn’t make sense given...ya know...technology but also inflation.

But, they are still legal tender and can still be in circulation.

The Treasury Department officially discontinued the $500 bill in 1969.

If you happened to actually have a $500 bill and wanted to, I don’t know, pay with groceries

with it, you indeed could, although that’d be silly since it’d actually be worth AT

LEAST hundreds of dollars more since they are so rare.

The latest version of the $500 bill features the 25th President William McKinley, but he

was only printed on it for a few years.

The Treasury Department also officially discontinued the $1,000 bill in 1969.

The latest version of it features the 22nd and 24th President, Grover Cleveland.

A grocery store could also accept it but please don’t spend it if you have it.

Sell it, man.

Only 165,372 of these bills with Cleveland on it are still in existence.

If they are in decent shape, they are not worth a thousand, they are worth THOUSANDS.

And yes, there are actually $5,000 bills, $10,000 bills and $100,000 bills out there.

The Treasury Department also officially discontinued the $5,000 bill in 1969.

It features the 4th President and Father of the Constitution James Madison.

Fewer than 400 of these notes are believed to still be out there.

Today, one would easily sell for $30,000.

Uh, yeah, if you have one please don’t spend it on groceries.

The Treasury Department also officially discontinued the $10,000 bill in 1969.

It features the U.S. Senator, 25th Secretary Treasury and Chief Justice of the Supreme

Court Salmon P. Chase.

No one knows exactly how many $10,000 bills are out there, but at least one site estimates

you could probably get $140,000 for one in decent condition.

The $100,000 bill was actually just a gold certificate that never was issued for regular,

public use.

The Treasury Department just created them for official transactions between Federal

Reserve Banks.

Only 42,000 bills ever were printed, and even today collectors can’t legally own one but

if they did they’d instantly be a millionaire.

Oh, and it features WILSOOOOOON!

Yeah, the 28th President, Woodrow Wilson.

Well hold up, what about people who used to be on American currency no longer around?

Well, I’m not going to go through them all because that would take too long, but here

are a few highlights.

Let’s start with Presidents.

All of the dead Presidents are on $1 coins.

Also, John Quincy Adams used to be on the $500 bill.

James Garfield was on the $5 bill and $20 gold certificate.

Benjamin Harrison was on the $5 bill for a bit.

William McKinley was also on the $10 bill.

George Washington was on a bunch of different currencies.

So was Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses

Grant, and Grover Cleveland.

Henry Clay may never have been President, but he was on the $50 bill at one point.

Other Senators once on currency include Daniel Webster on the $10, Edward Everett on the

$50 bill, John Sherman also on the $50, Thomas Hart Benton on the $100, and Charles Sumner

on the $500.

Lots of war heroes have been featured on currency, like Winfield Scott Hancock on the $2 bill,

Stephen Decatur on the $20, Winfield Scott on the $100, and William Tecumseh Sherman

on the $500.

Legendary Supreme Court Justice John Marshall, aka Lil’ John, was on the $20 and $500 bills.

Native Americans have made appearances on currency.

Probably the most well known is the Buffalo Nickel, which features a portrait of a man

named Iron Tail, a member of the Oglala Lakota Sioux tribe.

There was also the Sioux Chief Running Antelope, featured on the $5 bill.

Sacagawea, who aided the explorers Lewis and Clark when they traveled the continent, was

on the $1 coin for a few years.

Heck, Lewis and Clark were also both on currency at one point.

Other women on currency include Martha Washington on the $1 bill, Susan B. Anthony on the $1

coin, and that’s basically it unfortunately, unless you count Helen Keller on the back

of the Alabama quarter or Pocahontas on the back of the $20 bill with a bunch of other

people.

Now, well this is all fun and stuff, today, the vast majority of Americans don’t even

use cash to make purchases in any given week.

Especially younger folks.

I don’t even carry cash around with me anymore...unless it’s photocopied.

That might come in handy.

And with apps like Venmo and the Cash app and with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Dogecoin

and dozens of others, it does seem physical currencies in general are increasingly becoming

obsolete.

But dangit, they sure are cool.

In other words, I just made this video to prove to you how cool I am for having an extremely

modest coin collection.

Seriously, check it out.

Come back, wait!

Still though, putting dead people on currency has been a terrific way to honor Americans

who have had such a big impact on the country.

I hope it’s a tradition that doesn’t stop.

And boy am I freaking excited for Harriet Tubman to be on the twenty dollar bill, even

if that means by the time she is on it, no one will actually be using twenty dollar bills

anymore to buy stuff.

So what do YOU think?

Huh?

Let me know down below.

Also, a special shout out to a very generous donor named Dante Verona.

Dante did not want me to give them recognition, but like I said...it was a VERY generous donation

on Paypal so thank you so much Dante.

I know I got a great sponsor for this video, but I’d rather not have to deal with sponsors,

and direct donations are literal game changers in my life.

Now, if you can’t afford to donate, please do not worry, it’s ok!

I just appreciate you watching my stuff.

Until next time!