The "Lancaster's New Hero" Story

 It was an ordinary day.  Trying to figure out where I could find one of the new 2020 commemoritive silver dollars that was recently minted.  The coin was designed by Christina Hess who was a graduate of nearby Warwick High School and is now the Chairwomen of the Illustration Department at the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Christina earned her BFA in illustration from the University of the Arts.  She has been working for over 20 years on visual storytelling for publication and private commissions.  She has received nominations and awards, including a silver award for self promotional work in Society of Illustrators West competition.  Her work was featured in the "Point of Vision" now at the Society of Illustrators, New York which celebrated women artists in the science fiction/fantasy genre.  She has an ongoing personal project, "Animals From History", which celebrates animals as historical personalities and features over 25 characters.  Her project has been featured on sites such as ABC News, Juxtapose, Mental Floss, Modern Met and Jezebel.  She recently was picked to design the 2020 United States Silver dollar commemorative coin which was to celebrate the ratification of the 19th Amendment which is the law that granted women the right to vote.  

The "head's" side of the new coin.

The head's side of the new coin features three women from three different eras.  The reverse side shows the year 2020 sliding into a ballot box decorated in an Art Deco style.  The coin as well as the framed printed designs are currently on display as part of the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design biannual faculty art exhibit.  It will be on display until the end of May.  The only problem is that the gallery is closed to the public at present.  Mr. Michael Molla, the President of the school tells about the powerful and enduring symbols engraved and stamped on coins and money and how they are truly everlasting, serving as moments of honor and pride while bringing us together as one undivided community.  Christina responded to the U.S. Mint's call for entries in 2019.  More than 350 artists applied and Christina was one of 27 artist selected for the program with her submission being chosen for the coin.  The coin will be a collector's item, but it was also approved as legal tender.  It actually is valued at $1, but as a collector's item, it retails for $75.  Christina was excited to be chosen and the fact that her designs were picked for both the front and rear was quite an honor.  The woman's suffrage silver dollar is larger than most coins, at about an inch and a half round.  It did allow for more detail in her design.  If you notice on the face of the coin, it features three women whom are all wearing hats from the era they represent.  One unusual note I read tells that one of the faces she took from a mug shot, since Christina thought she had such a great face.  She created 30 thumbnail sketches per coin side to help her work out her ideas before settling on the final illustrations.  Lancaster County can be proud that one of our own artists has the honor of claiming the right to designing the front and back of the latest United States coin.  Good job Christina!  I'm proud of you!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "So, What's It Worth To You?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Recently read a story telling of six countries that over the past couple of decades had been nominated, won or received an honorable mention from the International Bank Note Society for their aesthetically pleasing currency.  Some really neat designs of which I have chosen one of my favorites to post here.  A few days later I read a story about countries that have the world's oldest currencies.  Their stories are interesting and tell about humans trading with each other for thousands of years.  First it was the barter system and then slowly the concept of money and the development of coins and paper money came into existence.  

Sample of bank notes from Bermuda

The ancient kingdom of Lydia minted the first coins around 1200 B.C., according to the British Museum.  Since then there have been thousands of different currencies around the world.  They are developed and then discarded as nations rise and fall.  The United Nations currently recognizes 180 world currencies, some being over a thousand years old while others have come into use after the new millennium.  Perhaps you are a coin or paper bill collector.  What type of currency do you collect?  Do you know what the oldest world currencies that are still in use might be today.  The following monies are the four oldest that are still being used today.  Might you have a guess what they might be?  Once you see the name of the currency you will readily recognize it.  I found that to be true for myself as I read the list.  Hope you picked at least one of the world's oldest monies.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

#4 - The Meiji government of Japan developed the Japanese Yen in 1871; thus it is about

The Japanese Yen

150 years old.  The word Yen means "round object" which is a good description for the system's coins.  As we do in the United States, Japan has a series of coins that vary in size and amounts of worth.  All their coins are round and the five and fifty yen coins feature a small round hole in them which help them identify the coins in their pocket or purse without looking at them.  Neat idea that I would enjoy having in US money.  The paper yen is colorful and features a large round watermark in the middle to prevent forgeries and counterfeiting.  The yen system was developed in hopes of stabilizing their economy, but by WWII the value had dropped significantly.  At its worst, one yen was worth about 30 cents.  After the war ended, economists tied the value of the yen to the U.S. dollar to help Japan recover.  Today the yen is the most traded currency in Asia and the third most traded in the world.

#3 - The United States currency is actually older than the country by nine days.  

The United States $2

On June 25, 1776, the Continental Congress authorized the first $2 bills.  Nine days later, they would sign the Declaration of Independence.  Therefore, America currency is over 243 years old.  If you find any money printed after 1861, feel free to use it at your local store, since its considered legal tender at its full face value.  Even torn U.S. dollars are legal tender as long as three-quarters of the fill is still visible.  Those bills can also be exchanged at your local bank for new money.  And, despite what many people believe, the US $2 bill is still in print.  As of today there are over $1 billion worth of $2 bills in circulation today.  On a recent trip to my bank, the fellow in front of me was trying to exchange one hundred dollars worth of $2 bills for $20s.  He said he was trying to exchange them in Texas on a recent visit and the police were called to the bank and he was taken to the police station, since the officers had never seen a $2 before and thought it was counterfeit.  After hearing that, I asked the same teller if I could have 25 of those bills for my $50 withdrawal that day.  Made great Christmas stuffers for my grandchildren's stockings.  It was the first time they had ever seen a $2 bill and actually thought I had printed them myself on the press where I work part-time.

#2 - The ruble has been the currency of Russia since the 13th century.  

The Russian ruble

Back then, various states within the country made rubles by snipping off bits of other currencies.  It wasn't until Peter the Great's reign that the currency became official.  At the beginning of the 18 century, the ruble became a regulated, national currency in Russia.  Over the past 300 years the ruble has changed quite a bit.  There was even a time in history when Russia didn't even appear on the global map and Russian rubles weren't in circulation.  After the Revolution of 1917, Russia became part of the Soviet Union and during that time used the Soviet ruble until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.  In 1993 the reformed Russian government created a new version of the ruble which eliminated the Soviet version.  So, the ruble may be 500 years old or only dating from 1998. depending upon which ruble you are talking about.  

#1 - When it comes to talking about the oldest currency in known existence, then you would have to talk about the British Pound.

The British Pound

The pound is 1200 years old, dating back to the time of the Saxon kings.  It was minted as the national currency as early as 928 by Athelstan, the first King of England.  Why is it called a pound?  The coins were originally a unit of weight measurement.  So the term "pounds of sterling," "pounds sterling," and ultimately pounds.  When the rest of Europe moved to the euro, the British kept their ancient currency.  On January 1, 1999, 11 countries made the change to the euro which is now used throughout Europe.   Britain declined to start using the euro when Tony Blair said that the euro didn't pass the "five economic tests" that he came developed.  And, with England possibly leaving the EU, the pound may be around for another thousand years.   

The "You Do Know They Make $2 Bills, Don't You?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Watching TV with my wife when the house phone rang.  Instantly showed the person calling on the TV screen.  "For you," I said.  A few minutes later Carol was standing next to me asking a few question about a check number and how we can check on it.  Seems that she had her hair cut a few months ago and paid for the haircut with a check, as she usually does.  Nothing special about that I thought.  But, she wrote the check out for $30 and our bank only forwarded $25 to the bank of Carol's hairdresser.  We pulled up the bank account on our desktop computer and located the check in question.  Actually took a look at the exact check she gave to her hairdresser and it was for $30.  Now what!  I called my bank to find out what happened and they told me they couldn't give out bank information over the phone, since it wasn't secure.  Good idea!  My bank is one block from our house so I hopped in the car and in a few minutes I walked in the door and found the gentleman who I had talked with a few minutes before.  He was very nice and asked if I had ever had that happen in the ..... "What's this?  In 68 years!  You've been with the bank for 68 years?" he asked me.  "Yep, and it has never happened before," I told him.  "And, I don't want it to happen ever again," I continued.  He smiled and said he has no idea how it happened.  I suggested someone entered the wrong amount into the computer at some point.  As for me...well I was $5 to the good while Carol's hairdresser was short $5.  I suggested I just stop by her shop and pay the $5 and we forget it.  He said that would be OK, but it still would make their bottom line incorrect.  Now, as all this is going on a woman walks up to the teller next to us and hands him two bundles of...are you ready for this... Two dollar bills.  Each bundle had $500 in it.  These were big bundles!  I heard her say that she went to pay for something with the money and they wouldn't take it.  They were afraid it was counterfeit money.  He checked some of the bills with a marker and declared them real.  Ran them through the money counter and gave her $50 bills instead.

My new $2 bills. It has a photo of Jefferson on it.
They had plenty of them on hand after the last customer.

 My teller was listening also and told me about a customer he had a few years ago who said he went to Texas and happened to have a bundle of $2 with him.  Went to pay for something with it and they called the police on him.  The police came, checked the bills, and arrested him for counterfeit money.  The officer said the U.S. Government doesn't make $2 bills.  This would have been funny if it hadn't been so ridiculous.  Guy received an apology at the police station, but I still find it unbelievable that people don't know that there is a $2 bill.  Why they ever made them I'm not sure, but they are real.  So real that I handed my teller a $20 and asked him for 10 $2 bills.  Will make neat gifts for the grandkids...and a lesson that they really make $2 bills.  Well, I left the bank with my new $2 bills and headed to the hairdresser to settle up her bank account.  I'll let my bank try and figure out what they did later.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.