Monday 3 September 2007

Who Were These Famous People Depicted On US Paper Money

Who were these 12 famous men depicted on US Paper Money? In my last post I simply listed the notes and the names of these famous personalities. Today lets explore briefly who these men actually were and why they were chosen to grace the face of the banknotes.

1. 100,000 dollar note depicts Thomas Woodrow Wilson born 28th December 1856, was the twenty-eighth President of the United States and died 3rd February 1924.

2. 10,000 dollar note depicts Salmon Portland Chase - born 13 th January 1808, was an American politician who served as the U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Abraham Lincoln ; and as Chief Justice of the United States, he died 7th May 1873.

3.5,000 dollar note depicts James Madison, Jr. - born 16th March,1751, was the fourth President of the United States (1809–1817) and died 28th June 1836

4. 1,000 dollar note depicts Stephen Grover Cleveland - born 18th March 1837 – he was the twenty-second and twenty-fourth President of the United States , and the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885–1889 and 1893–1897), he died 24th June 1908

5. 500 dollar note depicts William McKinley, Jr. - born 29th January 1843 he was the twenty-fifth President of the United States, he died 14th September 1901.

6.100 dollar note depicts Benjamin Franklin - born 17th January 1706, he was one of the most important founding Fathers of the United States, was the 6th President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania (1785-1788), he died 17th April 1790.

7. 50 dollar note depicts Ulysses S. Grant - born Hiram Ulysses Grant on 27th April 1822, was an American general and the eighteenth President of the United States (1869–1877), he died 23rd July 1885.

8. 20 dollar note depicts Andrew Jackson - born 15th March 1767, he was the seventh President of the United States (1829–1837), he died 8th June 1837.

9. 10 dollar note depicts Alexander Hamilton - born 11th January 1755 or 1757, he was an Army officer, lawyer,Founding Father, American politician, leading statesman, financier and political theorist. One of America's foremost constitutional lawyers, he was a leader in calling the U.S. Constitutional Convention in 1787; he was one of the two chief authors of the Federalist Papers, the most important interpretation of the United States Constitution. He died 12th July 1804.

10. 5 dollar note depicts Abraham Lincoln - born 12th February 1809, was the sixteenth President of the United States, serving from 4th March 1861 until his death on 15th April 1865.

11. 2 dollar note depicts Thomas Jefferson - born 13th April 1743, he was the third President of the United States (1801-1809), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States, he died 4th July 1826.

12. 1 dollar note depicts George Washington- born 22nd February 1732 – he was a central and critical figure in the founding of the United States, and is commonly referred to as father of the nation, he died on 14th December 1799.

I'm actually not American, but I can now say that I'm warming up nicely to US History, and all this from looking specifically for US banknotes that depict the portraits of some specific politicians down the ages. There are several other famous men who have also been depicted on US banknotes not mentioned here, in my journey as I grow in collecting paper money I hope to come back to this topic.

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