Dollars in most denominations have passed through our hands countless times in our spending lives. But I want to find out how closely you've been paying attention to the men taking center stage on those bills. They've been staring right at you, but have you been staring back?
Reading about a man trying to pass off a fake $1 million bill in United Arab Emirate's Central Bank triggered a question: what's the highest currency denomination ever made in the US?
As of now, the highest bill in circulation is the $100 note and the $1 million bill has never existed, according to the website of the US Treasury.
Interestingly, the highest currency the government has issued in the past is the $100,000 bill. The note, printed between Dec. 18, 1934, and Jan. 9, 1935, was not used by the general public, and was only utilized in transactions between Federal Reserve Banks. I wouldn't want to be carrying that bill in my wallet!
Tonight I'll be celebrating Cinco de Mayo with margaritas and a Mexican meal, but for now I'm honoring the holiday with a compilation of pesos through the years. Mexican money goes back much further than the notes I've selected, but you'll find about 100 years worth of peso evolution in the slides. Which one is your favorite?
Big wigs at the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department took the new $100 bill, which was revamped in an effort to cut down on counterfeiting, out of their vaults this week. How is it different from the Benjamins we know and love? Benny boy is still on the front, and it has a watermark and security strip, but the back shows the back of the Independence Hall in Philadelphia (instead of the front). And there's a 3D panel with bells that change to the number 100 when it's turned just right. No fancy 3D glasses required. The new bill won't go into circulation until next year.
Match the currency to the country!
While imagining myself about to dig in to some conch fritters, sipping on a rum punch or seeking the best price on coral jewelry, I've got to consider how I'm going to pay for all of that. Of course I'm not literally going on a spending spree, so let's brush up on currency of the Caribbean islands instead. If you're also just at a vacation daydreaming stage, test yourself on island money in this quiz before you're actually ready to go!
You may not have thought about what $100,000 would have bought in 1998, being that many of us were at the prom and watching non-rerun episodes of 90210. But 10 years later, money is on all of our minds, and maybe we worry a little more than we'd like. Most of us have a much better understanding of the value of a dollar than we did back then and can now truly get a feel for some of the surprises in terms of what $100,000 would have bought in 1998.
Match the currency to its country of origin!
