October 28, 2010

U.S. Treasury unfair to Thomas Jefferson.



ADDED: I finally got an in-sync video to embed. Watching it, I see I called Andrew Jackson "Alexander Hamilton." I do know the difference!

AND: I said "Pocahontas" for Sacajawea. This post, originally intended as an amusing trifle, turned into a big snafu.

76 comments:

A said...

"Get rid of the singles and people will use the coins."

Hear, hear!

I'm a Canadian new to living in America (I'm here for my doctoral program). Living on a grad student budget, when I open my wallet I keep feeling hopeful when I see a wad of bills. Then I realize they're mostly meaningless!

Btw, thanks for your blog and Bloggingheads participation. I appreciate the way you contextualize a lot of information--it makes it both more interesting and easier to articulate onto my mental architecture.

The Dude said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Dude said...

And yet having a pocket full of Sacajawea coins is somehow less meaningless? You must be profoundly stupid, hence the need for the PhD, right?

Go back to Canada, eh? We have enough clueless foreigners here already.

Meade said...

Alison, Best wishes with your doctoral program. Try not to mind Sixty Grit. That's just his way of saying he's sweet on you. Still, I wouldn't give him my email address if I were you. Just sayin.

The Dude said...

Meade, you ol' dog you - you saw right through my ploy.

Okay, plan B...

Canadia, eh? They got them Loonies up there, eh? And Cuban cigars are legal? Take off, you hoser, or hosette, as the case may be. Why'd ya ever leave a place that swell?

Sprezzatura said...

To fully complete the link between this post and the karma/ugly photo post, you would need an element of karma. And, now we see that your video won't work because of karma. Karma related to your many non-recycled electronics.

It's like they say, "The web is a weapon that turns back on you."

Anonymous said...

I agree. We need a one dollar coin.

Germany used to have big a 5 Deutsche Mark coin, and I believe the ECC has a 2 Euro coin (Yes, I just checked.)

But somehow we can't get rid of the $1 greenback.

Sometimes we're so incompetent.

rhhardin said...

I'd go with Sasquatch coins, and North Carolina quarters with trailer park and tornado.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

My impression is that the order of importance, in the culture.. out and about.. at least most people I know.. if I were to ask they would place Lincoln as #2 following Washington.

Maybe Jefferson was an elitist.. that time in France.. a black lover ;)

As my whimsy leads me.. said...

I think this is an opportune moment to say GET RID OF ANDREW JACKSON! Nobody uses the $2 bill, so move Jefferson to the $20, or put Reagan on it. Jackson was a tyrant who caused the death of thousands of Cherokees by defying a Supreme Court decision. He's the closest we have had to a president who committed deliberate genocide. Why are we honoring him?

Toy

XWL said...

I'm not sure snafu is the right term for these set of circumstances, either (just to pile on).

SNAFU suggests that while the situation is fucked up, that's the normal state of being, which I don't think is the case with posts hereabouts, rather, another WWII coined acronym fits the bill better, in my opinion.


Instead of, "turned into a big snafu", I suggest, "this post got a bit FUBAR"

Anonymous said...

I was distracted by your manicure. What color nail polish is that?

rhhardin said...

It's the perfect time for a $3 bill.

The Dude said...

We have had $1 coins off and on all my life. Used to be silver dollars, made out of silver, then after '64 we had Ike dollar tokens, then Susan B. Anthony coins, now Sacajawea coins. We don't use them, we don't like them, and regardless of how much sense they make, unless the public likes them and uses them, and more importantly, if businesses make a place for dollar coins in their cash boxes, they will never be anything more than novelties.

Maybe we don't want to be like Canada or Europe. That's a good thing, as far as I am concerned.

We had tornadoes last night here in NC - not one trailer was damaged. A church had a wall blown down and a house was picked up off its foundation and dropped 20 or 30 feet away. No one checked to see if it landed on Pelosi Galore.

blake said...

Can you be a bit FUBAR?

Re, the $3 bill. Wasn't that introduced on SNL back in 1974? Nixon was on it!

Unknown said...

I think they're doing the denominations several years apart. so Tom and George may still be in the bullpen.

In any case, the new bills look weird enough to me that, when I tell people looking at a 5, "Bet you never thought you'd see Abraham Lincoln on Confederate money", it always gets a smile.

PS Ann has the hots for Alexander Hamilton? She should get a look at a picture of the young Ulysses Grant. She'd swoon.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

It's the perfect time for a $3 bill.

I laughed.. I cried.

The Dude said...

How soon will we see one billion dollar Obama bills and need them to buy a loaf of bread?

jungatheart said...

I think dollar coins are impractical because they're too heavy, and businesses that collect a lot of singles would be inconvenienced.

Has anyone heard the new way to pronounce Sacajawea? I think it's PC, or something. suh KAH juh wuh

dbp said...

Don't just stop with getting rid of the one Dollar bill, how about the two and the five too?

When I was in Japan, working for the US Marine corporation, the smallest bill was the 1,000 yen, which is about like $10. It was great! A single coin could buy you a soft drink from a machine and a hand full of change would buy a decent lunch or a small item like a CD.

XWL said...

"Can you be a bit FUBAR?"

I can see your point.

That might be akin to the phrase slightly pregnant.

Also, speaking of smaller bills, there's one group who would be hurt most of all if we abandoned the dollar bill, strippers.

Just read the description from this Las Vegas Weekly article regarding the quaint Canadian custom called the loonie toss, that's not something I want our domestic entertainers to endure.

And as far as dollar coins go, they've been cycling through the Presidents since 2007, so no new Sacagawea coins until 2017 at the earliest.

Sprezzatura said...

Don't forget the penny.

Bruce Hayden said...

If we get rid of $1 bills, then what do we do with strippers? Do you really expect them to start attaching coin pouches to their G-strings?

Sure, some strippers would prefer $2 bills, but I don't think that that is where the price point is, yet.

Bruce Hayden said...

I think that the Loony toss is sufficient reason to not get rid of dollar bills. One of the poor ladies was apparently burned by a loony that was preheated by a guy's lighter before he tossed it to her. But even without that, I have a hard time believing that throwing dollar coins at women on stage can be safe for them.

jungatheart said...

Project Runway just starting.

traditionalguy said...

The real question is what great leader will China place on the new world currency? Maybe Confucius with a top knot. K'ung-fu-tzu bills will be hard enough to explain without printing them in Chinese Pictograms. Interesting point is that Ones were silver certificates that there was a deposit somewhere of silver bullion bars in the US Treasury to support their value. That made them safer than other denominations that were only unsecured promissory notes issued by a Congressionally chartered entity. That is why so many signatures of Federal officials are on them. And how is that Federal Reserve promissory notes valuation working out for you lately at today's level of National Debt. The Fed is, as we speak, printing those notes as fast as their presses can run to inflate our way out of paying for the stolen Social Security funds.

Hagar said...

The only place I have gotten 1 dollar coins since they were real silver - or at least a silver alloy - which is a very long time ago, is in change from the Post Office stamp vending machines.
As far as I am concerned, they are nothing but another Congressional boondoggle and an infernal nuisance. Also, since they are only worth about 10 cents in real money, they can't possibly be worth their metal content, even if that is only the cheapest of alloys with an electrolytic coating.

The Dude said...

I used to get Eisenhower dollar coins in Vegas back in the 70s - a person might purchase $3 worth of gasoline, pay with a $5 bill, and get two shiny Eisenhower coins as change, which, it was thought, said recipient would then hustle off and deposit in the nearest dollar slot machine. What a marvelous, innocent time - $3 worth of gas would get you somewhere, slot machines accepted the coins of the realm, and dollar coins were the size of cart wheels. Oh yeah, I am gettin' nostalgic here.

Ann Althouse said...

"I was distracted by your manicure. What color nail polish is that?"

It's The Color To Watch.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

This post, originally intended as an amusing trifle, turned into a big snafu.

I will take that as permission to complaint about FOX electing to put on Joe Montana to read the SF lineup.

The NFL does not put on baseball hall of famers or otherwise.. not even as a face in the crowd.

what the hell?

(nothing against Joe Montana mind you)

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The psychological commander's rendition of God Bless America made me go nuts ;)

Trooper York said...

Well Joe Montana is the most famous person they have who ever lived in San Fransisco.

Who did you want them to get?

Nancy Pelosi?

Bob_R said...

You really ought to think about upgrading your video editing software. That's a good take and you could punch out those two audio errors in under a minute. It's a funny little segment and there's no need to focus on the irrelevant gaffes. Just fix them like you would a typo.

Bob_R said...

Oh. You guys still use paper and metal money??? What century are you living in?

jungatheart said...

I like OPI nail colors in the magazines.

Bob_R said...

If they put Harvey Milk on that would have been cool...and seasonal.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

I like Australian currency. Very colorful and made of plastic.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

You have a good point Trooper.

Unknown said...

Oh, why not Pocahantas? I just watched this movie again and loved it again.

Or maybe we should put Terrence Malick on the bill!

Unknown said...

Bruce Hayden said...

If we get rid of $1 bills, then what do we do with strippers? Do you really expect them to start attaching coin pouches to their G-strings?

Too many coins in the purses and they might fall...

Well, I never trusted paper anyway and those old $20 dollar gold pieces were so snazzy.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

I like Australian currency. Very colorful and made of plastic.

Not unlike our own.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Wilson.. Wilson.. Wilson!!

Cast Away (2000)

Irene said...

Randy Quaid!

The Dude said...

The double eagle 20 dollar gold piece designed by Augustus Saint Gaudens was a great coin. Probably the best American coin ever minted. He was a great sculptor and his work has definitely appreciated, unlike the greenback.

Clyde said...

And now you see why Obama uses a teleprompter.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

If things were not going San Fran's way that flare would have been a popup.

Falling flares are a bad omen for Texas..

Clyde said...

But then again, using the teleprompter makes Obama tilt his head up to read it... And come off as arrogant because he's got his chin in the air like Mussolini (who didn't have the teleprompter excuse).

But at least he doesn't mix up his presidents or Indian maidens if he has his script right in front of him to be read aloud.

Luke Lea said...

Good-bye Ann.

Unknown said...

Irene said...

Randy Quaid!

From Cast Away to runaway.

Irene said...

edutcher, I was thinking "squatter."

BJM said...

@As my whimsy...

Nobody uses the $2 bill

A true story, before credit & debit cards were accepted at fast food places.

I stopped at Mickey D's for a quick bite and as I had a raft of $2 bills in my wallet from a recent trade show, I paid with $2 bills.

The Kid behind the counter says "That's not real money!" and pushed it back across the counter.

"What? Sure it is, you've never seen a $2 bill?" I replied somewhat amused.

"No, Please pay for the food with real money, people are waiting or I'll call the manager" Kid snarled.

"Son, that's a real bill" Said an older man behind me in line.

"Yes, it is!" The women behind him added. By now the line was invested in the outcome and gathered around, each verifying that $2 bills existed.

Kid would have none of it so he calls the Shift Manager Kid.

SM Kid looks at the bills and loudly demands that I pay, or leave, or he'll call the police.

"Fine, you just do that" I replied snapping my purse shut. He moved me and the food aside, taking the bills with him to call the police.

Fifteen minutes later two Oakland LEO's arrive, the problem was explained to LEO #1, $2 bills were waved and fingers pointed, while backup LEO #2 quizzically gives me the visual once over. I'm guessing that not many counterfeiters hang around for the cops to arrive.

Leo#1 was not amused and gave SM Kid an ear full about wasting police resources while LEO #2 tried not to laugh.

LEO#1 sums up "Now take the money, apologize and get the lady a fresh order before she decides to sue you." Tipped his cap, grinned broadly and with a "Sorry, ma'am" they left as the place erupted in laughter.

Sprezzatura said...

BJM,

How long ago was this?

You'd think that someone would have simply pulled out a phone, and googled the US treasury re two buck bills.

Or, assuming this was the olden days, wouldn't the yutes be smart enough to tell the police why they needed help when they called them. Presumably this issue could have been resolved over the phone. Or not, it seems.

George said...

My guess is we'll never see a redesigned $1 note...the feds desperately want to get rid of them and switch to coins.

Methadras said...

Sacajewah/Pocohontas, potato/potatoe. Eh.

bgates said...

How soon will we see one billion dollar Obama bills and need them to buy a loaf of bread?

Oh, don't be absurd. Between the green biofuel movement and Michelle Obama's Mandatory Atkin's Diet, nobody's going to be allowed to own or purchase bread.

BJM said...

1jpb,

It was mid-80's...The LEO pointed out that they should have called their management or bank first.

BJM said...

@Althouse

OPI has the best names, but Chanel's Vendetta is fab on toenails.

Sprezzatura said...

"but Chanel's Vendetta is fab on toenails."

That must be the new Vamp. I've known a few girls who liked that Vamp stuff. It's sort-a hot--being all dark, and having a naughtyish name.

bagoh20 said...

You can't snort drugs or Ajax with a damned coin.

blake said...

BJM--

Snopes calls you a liar!

Heh.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Randy Quaid!
From Cast Away to runaway
.

What the hell?

ndspinelli said...

Prof Althouse...don't you have any C notes[Franklin], or my favorite, $50 bills[Grant]?

Women don't know shit about cash. They order a cup of coffee and pay w/ credit cards.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

It's the perfect time for a $3 bill.

I think we should hold off on that, so we can save it to commemorate our first gay president.

ndspinelli said...

Ignorance,

Hilarious! However, if we are to believe the 10% theory we should have @ least 3-4 gay presidents already.

AllenS said...

You want worthless? How would you like to try and sell your Obama Commemorative Coin collection now? I remember when 50¢ coins were quite common.

Mick said...

Maybe you are thinking about how you are ignoring Federalist #68, about electing a creature of our own to be POTUS? And from a "Law Prof" yet!!

Hagar said...

James Buchanan was "gay."

Anonymous said...

James Buchanan was "gay."
No. He was somber and humorless.

AllenS said...

Back when James Buchanan was alive, the word gay had a different meaning. It used to mean happy. Now it means homo.

Hagar said...

Buchanan was homosexual and did not particularly bother to keep it a secret.

Paul Anderson said...

We would save over $600,000,000 a year if we used dollar coins instead of dollar bills. They are also much easier to handle than dollar bills.

We should get rid of the penny and dollar bill because it is the right thing to do, not just because every other country in the world has figured out it makes more sense.

AllenS said...

Everyone needs a Paul Anderson to push around a wheelbarrow full of our coins.

Paul Anderson said...

Why would anyone need a wheelbarrow if we used dollar coins instead of bills? How many dollar bills do you have in your wallet at any given time? Bet it's not so many. You wouldn't notice a few dollar coins in your pocket.

It has been shown that if we get rid of the penny and dollar bill, you'd have _less_ weight in your pocket than you do now.

We didn't need a 25¢ bill in 1975 and we don't need a $1 bill in 2010. A dollar coin serves the same exact purpose as a quarter did 35 years ago, and no one clamored for a bill worth 25¢ then!

Besides the $600,000,000 annual savings in not printing and reprinting dollar bills, there's the added time spent at the cash register handling dollar bills--coins are faster--and the frustration at vending machines that accept any dollar coin but reject less-than-perfect dollar bills.

Everyone would win if only our government would do the sensible thing.

The Dude said...

PA wrote: "Everyone would win if only our government would do the sensible thing."

Now that's just some funny shit right there.

Anonymous said...

They sent you the money with the survey? Not a promise to send you $2 once you returned a completed survey? So you get paid $2 to complete it. Or not. Smart.

veni vidi vici said...

Still waiting for the NSync video.

Anonymous said...

They sent you the money with the survey? Not a promise to send you $2 once you returned a completed survey? So you get paid $2 to complete it. Or not. Smart.

Giving the people a relatively small amount of money with the survey is demonstrated in studies to cause a sense of obligation in the recipients, resulting in a high degree of survey completions. It's much more effective as an incentive program than offering them even several times the cash for a completed survey.