The United States was nearly 100 years old before it issued its first paper money for general circulation. Until 1862, coins were used as the official currency of the country. Today most people don’t give much thought to what’s on a paper bill other than the number that says what it’s worth and maybe a passing glance at the pictures on it. But U.S. paper currency is loaded with information.
Some of it, like the bill’s denomination and serial number, is for accounting purposes, but our money is also full of symbolism, most of which relates back to the country’s birth and the messages its founders wanted to send to the world.
Some symbols that were widely understood 250 years ago have become obscured by time, though, and others have become so familiar that little thought is given to their meaning today. So here’s a quick look at what’s on our paper currency, how to decode it, and why it’s there.
Accounting for Our Money
The most obvious thing a currency needs to tell you is how much it’s worth. That’s prominently stated in both numbers and words on both sides of the bill, and each bill has a portrait on its face associated with its denomination as well as a unique design on its back. These have changed over time, but we’ll just look at modern currency and save the history lesson for later.
Of course, each bill must also be accounted for, too, both for bookkeeping and to prevent counterfeiting. That’s why each bill has a serial number, but there’s more, most of it on the bill’s face.
There’s Plenty More
Bills are printed in series, identified by the year in which the series was first released and sometimes supplemented with a letter. The year usually represents a major design change, and the letters indicate other changes such as a new Treasury Secretary or Treasurer, both of whose signatures appear on the bills. There may also be a star preceding the serial number. That’s there to indicate that the bill is a replacement for the original, which was misprinted or otherwise unsatisfactory and was destroyed. Those so-called Star Notes can be some of the rarest and most collectible.
Each bill has the seal of the Federal Reserve and that of the U.S. Treasury as well as intricate designs and, on larger bills, elaborate anti-counterfeiting measures such as embedded strips and holographic images. On $1 And $2 bills, the Federal Reserve branch bank that issued the note is indicated by a capital letter inside the Federal Reserve seal.
There are other, more obscure markings on the front of the bills, too. Those strange small numbers and letters tell which printing plate was used and what position the bill was in on the large printed sheet before being cut down. Current bills $5 and larger also have the denomination number scattered faintly about in the background.
The Back Story
While the front of a bill is mostly business, the back can be full of symbolism. While many early bills simply repeated the denomination and other routine information on the back, today’s bills add pictorial symbols of the country. Bills $5 and larger have pictures of landmarks such as the U.S. Capitol building, the White House and Independence Hall.and little more. The $2 bill has a depiction of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. But the $1 bill has both sides of the Great Seal of the United States on the back, and it’s full of meaning.
What’s the Great Seal and What Does It Stand For?
A committee that included John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin was appointed by the First Continental Congress in 1776 to design a national seal, and after much debate and several changes, the Great Seal of The United States was approved by Congress almost six years later on June 13, 1782.
The Great Seal’s front, shown on the right of the dollar bill, shows an American eagle, rising with its wings spread. It holds a clutch of thirteen arrows, representing the original colonies, in one talon and an olive branch in the other. (Franklin preferred a turkey, calling the eagle a predator and scavenger). The arrows symbolize a readiness to fight, the olive branch a preference for peace, and the rising eagle indicates freedom and independence.
But symbols carry meaning, and that eagle nearly got us into trouble. Since the right hand (or talon, in this case) implies dominance, when the seal was placed on U.S. coins in the early 1800s with the arrows in the right talon, some European journalists and diplomats took it as a sign of American belligerence. On later coins and on the dollar bill, the arrows were moved to the left talon and the olive branch to the right to indicate that the country’s preference was peace. But the arrows remained as reminder that we were prepared to fight for our freedom.
The shield, or escutcheon, across the eagle’s breast is symbolic, too. The thirteen stripes represent the original colonies, and the horizontal bar above them stands for the Congress that unifies them. The thirteen stars above the eagle (you seeing a pattern yet?) represent a new constellation rising in the universe of nations.
The back of the Seal features a pyramid chock full of meaning.
Why a Pyramid?
Today we associate pyramids mostly with Egypt, historically not the best example of freedom and democracy. But the Seal’s designers chose it to represent strength and durability. It has thirteen blocks (again!), but the pyramid isn’t finished. The bottom row is inscribed 1776 to mark the nation’s foundation, and the fact that it’s not finished means, you guessed it, we weren’t finished building a nation.
That strange eye on top of the pyramid with rays emanating in all directions is meant to announce that Providence is looking out for us, and in case you failed to get the message, there’s inscribed the Latin motto, “Annuit Coeptis,” above it which means “Providence has favored us.” And if a little Latin was good, more seemed better, so they added a scroll under the pyramid with “Novus Ordo Seclorum” on it, meaning “A new order for the ages.”
There’s Even More to the Story
We’ve only talked about what’s on today’s currency, but there have been plenty of other designs over our money’s history and even more proposals that never made the cut. Toss in the large amounts of so-called private currency that was common in the early 19th century, as it becomes quite a story. There are even frogs and goddesses in it. And Santa Claus! The Philadelphia branch of the Federal Reserve has an interesting account of U.S. currency design, complete with illustrations. You can see it on their website.
And browse our U.S. paper currency to add to your collection, gift the coin collector in your life or just enjoy learning about!
