PART #3 “Understanding Money”
Author: Gloria Henderson Education Get Real FINANCIAL LITERACY: - “The Money Trail” 21
Understanding Money
U.S. Paper Currency Characteristics Today, there are three classifications of U.S. paper currency in use – Federal Reserve Notes, United States Notes, and Silver Certificates. Ninety-nine percent of the total value of the notes in circulation are Federal Reserve Notes. The rest of the notes in circulation are United States Notes and Silver Certificates, which are normally found in personal collections of numismatists (collectors of currency and coins) and rarely seen in circulation. The United States Notes and Silver Certificates are no longer produced by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
The designation of the classification to which the note belongs appears on the upper center of the face located above THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA in very small print on the $5 bills seen below. Each type is identified by the distinctive color of its Treasury seal and serial numbers. The Treasury Seal and Serial Numbers on the Federal Reserve Notes - green, on the United States Notes - red, and on the Silver Certificates - blue.
Federal Reserve Note United States Note Silver Certificate
Each denomination has a prescribed portrait and back design selected by the Secretary of the Treasury. The portraits on the: $1, George Washington; $2, Thomas Jefferson; $5, Abraham Lincoln; $10, Alexander Hamilton; $20, Andrew Jackson; $50, Ulysses S. Grant; and $100, Benjamin Franklin. Notes of the $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 denominations have not been printed for many years and are being withdrawn from circulation. The portraits appearing on these notes are: $500, William McKinley; $1,000, Grover Cleveland; $5,000, James Madison; and $10,000, Salmon Chase. All of the portraits on the U.S. Currency are former Presidents of the United States, except for two: Benjamin Franklin and Salmon P. Chase. Benjamin Franklin, a Founding Father of the United States, 6th President of Pennsylvania, U. S. Minister to France and Sweden, U.S. Postmaster General, a scientist and inventor. Salmon P. Chase was Senator and Governor of Ohio, U.S. Treasury Secretary under Abraham Lincoln, and the sixth Chief Justice of the United States. Is It Illegal to Deface/Copy/Burn U.S. Currency? Beware of what you can do and what you cannot do to U.S. currency. It’s yours and you can save it or spend it, but it is illegal to: counterfeit, photocopy/scan and print, deface, or burn U.S. currency. It’s illegal to print your own money and try to spend it on goods or services. Accidental damage to currency normally is not illegal; however, deliberate defacement is illegal. Federal law prohibits any action that mutilates, cuts, defaces, perforates, burns, or glues it rendering the bills to be unusable and consequences are harsh. It is okay to reproduce U.S. currency if you follow the guidelines established by the U. S. Secret Service. If you reproduce it in color, only one side is allowed. Also, a copy must be 150% larger than normal size or 75% of its normal size. NOTE: The U.S. currency used as examples in this unit are identified with a red “SPECIMEN” stamped on each.