WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.710 So if I ask you to like... pull a piece of paper 00:00:02.710 --> 00:00:04.929 out of your wallet right now, you know, you'd 00:00:04.929 --> 00:00:06.910 probably reach for a one dollar bill. Oh, yeah, 00:00:06.910 --> 00:00:09.509 definitely. It's it's just the most common thing 00:00:09.509 --> 00:00:11.529 we carry. Right. And you'd rub it between your 00:00:11.529 --> 00:00:13.390 fingers. You'd feel that crisp texture and you 00:00:13.390 --> 00:00:15.349 would think of it as, well, paper. But you would 00:00:15.349 --> 00:00:17.449 actually be completely wrong. Which is pretty 00:00:17.449 --> 00:00:19.710 crazy considering how often we handle it. We 00:00:19.710 --> 00:00:22.269 just yeah, we take its fundamental existence 00:00:22.269 --> 00:00:25.030 totally for granted. Exactly. Because that one 00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:27.629 dollar bill is not actually paper at all. And 00:00:27.629 --> 00:00:30.050 to make things even stranger, the first person 00:00:30.050 --> 00:00:32.619 whose face was, you know, prominently plastered 00:00:32.619 --> 00:00:35.619 on it was not George Washington. Yeah that assumes 00:00:35.619 --> 00:00:38.659 it's always been this green paper rectangle with 00:00:38.659 --> 00:00:41.600 the first president which is just not the case. 00:00:41.780 --> 00:00:44.780 So welcome to this deep dive. Today we are looking 00:00:44.780 --> 00:00:48.020 at the United States one dollar bill and our 00:00:48.020 --> 00:00:50.859 source material for this is a really comprehensive 00:00:50.859 --> 00:00:54.640 Wikipedia article that details the history, the 00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:58.299 intricate design, and honestly the massive cultural 00:00:58.299 --> 00:01:01.149 impact of this specific note. It really is a 00:01:01.149 --> 00:01:03.649 massive impact. I mean, the history is incredibly 00:01:03.649 --> 00:01:06.450 layered. It is. So our mission today is to help 00:01:06.450 --> 00:01:08.569 you look at that crumpled bill in your pocket 00:01:08.569 --> 00:01:11.890 and realize it's actually this remarkable canvas. 00:01:12.129 --> 00:01:14.909 We're talking about textile chemistry, secret 00:01:14.909 --> 00:01:18.890 wartime logistics, and like centuries old colonial 00:01:18.890 --> 00:01:21.450 branding. Right. Which means we really need to 00:01:21.450 --> 00:01:23.469 start by looking at what this object actually 00:01:23.469 --> 00:01:26.549 is at a molecular level because its physical 00:01:26.549 --> 00:01:28.930 makeup kind of dictates almost everything about 00:01:28.930 --> 00:01:31.980 its history. Okay, so if it is not paper, what 00:01:31.980 --> 00:01:34.060 exactly are we carrying around in our pockets 00:01:34.060 --> 00:01:36.340 every day? Well, it's fundamentally a textile. 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:39.700 The material makeup of a modern dollar bill is 00:01:39.700 --> 00:01:43.299 this highly specific blend. It's 75 % cotton 00:01:43.299 --> 00:01:46.819 and 25 % linen. Oh, wow. I mean, that makes total 00:01:46.819 --> 00:01:48.799 sense when you think about laundry. Yeah, exactly. 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:50.760 If you've ever accidentally left a dollar bill 00:01:50.760 --> 00:01:52.560 in your pocket and you run it through a heavy 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:55.040 wash cycle, it actually survives. It doesn't 00:01:55.040 --> 00:01:58.140 disintegrate into a pile of mush the way like 00:01:58.140 --> 00:02:00.180 a grocery receipt or a piece of notebook paper 00:02:00.180 --> 00:02:02.500 would. No, it holds up perfectly. So it's basically 00:02:02.500 --> 00:02:05.239 closer to your favorite pair of denim jeans than 00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:07.920 it is to standard stationery. That is honestly 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:10.979 the perfect analogy. That denim comparison really 00:02:10.979 --> 00:02:12.680 helps you understand the physical mechanics of 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:15.460 the bill. That specific cotton and linen blend 00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:18.539 is engineered for just extreme durability. How 00:02:18.539 --> 00:02:20.879 durable are we talking? Well, the data shows 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:23.580 this blend allows a single dollar bill to survive 00:02:23.580 --> 00:02:26.379 an average of 6 .6 years in active circulation. 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:30.900 Wait, 6 .6 years? Yeah. And that is highly abrasive 00:02:30.900 --> 00:02:33.020 circulation before it finally wears out and needs 00:02:33.020 --> 00:02:35.460 to be replaced. And despite being that tough, 00:02:35.680 --> 00:02:38.400 a single bill weighs only about one gram. That 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:41.219 is wild. Just one gram for all that durability. 00:02:41.539 --> 00:02:44.539 Right. And beyond just durability, that unique 00:02:44.539 --> 00:02:47.979 woven texture serves as a baseline security feature. 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:50.439 It's incredibly difficult for counterfeiters, 00:02:50.439 --> 00:02:53.300 you know, using standard wood pulp paper to replicate 00:02:53.300 --> 00:02:56.520 the exact tactile snap and feel of genuine U 00:02:56.520 --> 00:02:58.979 .S. currency. OK, so we have this tough one gram 00:02:58.979 --> 00:03:02.129 denim like material. But did the government always 00:03:02.129 --> 00:03:03.990 use this exact format? Like, let's go back to 00:03:03.990 --> 00:03:05.789 its origins. We definitely should, yeah. Because 00:03:05.789 --> 00:03:08.009 the very first one dollar bill issued by the 00:03:08.009 --> 00:03:10.310 federal government, which came out in 1862 during 00:03:10.310 --> 00:03:13.069 the Civil War, it did not feature George Washington. 00:03:13.469 --> 00:03:15.710 No, it really didn't. It featured a man named 00:03:15.710 --> 00:03:18.729 Salmon P. Chase. Salmon P. Chase. Yeah, he was 00:03:18.729 --> 00:03:21.550 the secretary of the Treasury serving under President 00:03:21.550 --> 00:03:23.930 Abraham Lincoln at the time. And it's important 00:03:23.930 --> 00:03:26.509 to understand the actual mechanism of that specific 00:03:26.509 --> 00:03:30.689 1862 bill. It was issued as a legal tender note. 00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:32.879 OK, I need you to pause right there and explain 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:36.280 that. What makes a legal tender note different 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:39.479 from, I don't know, the cash we use today or 00:03:39.479 --> 00:03:42.539 the money they used before the Civil War? So 00:03:42.539 --> 00:03:44.680 before the Civil War, the money supply was just 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:46.580 a complete mess, as all these different notes 00:03:46.580 --> 00:03:49.699 issued by thousands of private state banks. And 00:03:49.699 --> 00:03:51.819 those were usually backed by gold or silver. 00:03:52.189 --> 00:03:54.610 that those banks held in their actual vaults. 00:03:54.750 --> 00:03:56.750 Right. So you had to trust the specific bank. 00:03:57.129 --> 00:03:59.870 Exactly. But fighting a massive war requires 00:03:59.870 --> 00:04:03.169 a unified federal money supply. So the government 00:04:03.169 --> 00:04:05.090 issued these legal tender notes, which were often 00:04:05.090 --> 00:04:07.430 called greenbacks, and they were fiat money. 00:04:07.629 --> 00:04:09.590 Meaning they weren't backed by physical gold 00:04:09.590 --> 00:04:12.270 or silver in a vault. Right. They were backed 00:04:12.270 --> 00:04:14.710 entirely by the government's promise, like just 00:04:14.710 --> 00:04:17.350 a promise that they had value and had to be accepted 00:04:17.350 --> 00:04:21.220 to pay debts. So. Damon P. Chase was essentially 00:04:21.220 --> 00:04:24.779 putting his own face on a massive, unprecedented... 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:27.220 financial experiment. I have to admit, as an 00:04:27.220 --> 00:04:30.319 experiment, it seems wildly arrogant for the 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:32.660 Treasury Secretary to just put his own face on 00:04:32.660 --> 00:04:34.279 the money instead of, you know, the ultimate 00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:37.420 founding father. Why did it take so long to get 00:04:37.420 --> 00:04:39.959 George Washington on the front of the nation's 00:04:39.959 --> 00:04:42.699 most basic currency? Well, you have to consider 00:04:42.699 --> 00:04:44.459 the psychological state of the United States 00:04:44.459 --> 00:04:46.600 in the mid 19th century. I mean, it was a young 00:04:46.600 --> 00:04:49.180 nation actively trying to figure out its visual 00:04:49.180 --> 00:04:51.660 identity on a global scale. So they were just 00:04:51.660 --> 00:04:53.920 making it up as they went along. Kind of, yeah. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:56.920 There was no standardized template for what American 00:04:56.920 --> 00:04:59.379 money was supposed to look like. And furthermore, 00:04:59.620 --> 00:05:01.680 currency design was basically an arms race. An 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:05.439 arms race against who? Counterfeiters. The treasury 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:08.040 was constantly updating and printing entirely 00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:11.040 new note designs just to take one step ahead 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:13.439 of a massive counterfeiting industry. They were 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:17.120 throwing like different historical figures, allegorical 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:19.759 scenes, and really complex designs at the wall 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:22.399 to see what commanded the most visual authority. 00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:25.019 It sounds like an absolute wild wester graphic 00:05:25.019 --> 00:05:27.670 design. It really was. Because the source material 00:05:27.670 --> 00:05:31.389 notes that in 1886, the Treasury shifted gears 00:05:31.389 --> 00:05:34.689 again and put Martha Washington on the $1 bill. 00:05:35.029 --> 00:05:37.529 And that made her the first woman to appear on 00:05:37.529 --> 00:05:40.029 U .S. currency. Yes, which is a huge milestone. 00:05:40.269 --> 00:05:42.110 But it wasn't a legal tender note, right? It 00:05:42.110 --> 00:05:44.850 was a silver certificate. Exactly. Which changes 00:05:44.850 --> 00:05:46.970 the underlying financial mechanics entirely. 00:05:47.529 --> 00:05:49.649 A silver certificate meant that the piece of 00:05:49.649 --> 00:05:51.970 cotton linen in your hand was a literal receipt. 00:05:52.110 --> 00:05:53.709 So you could trade it in. Yeah, you could walk 00:05:53.709 --> 00:05:56.490 into a bank. Hand them that specific Martha Washington 00:05:56.490 --> 00:05:58.769 note and they were legally obligated to hand 00:05:58.769 --> 00:06:02.790 you back one physical silver dollar coin straight 00:06:02.790 --> 00:06:04.959 from the Treasury's vaults. And from what the 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:08.160 sources show, these early notes were physically 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:10.680 massive compared to what we use today. Like there's 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:14.279 this whole chaotic large size note era. Oh, the 00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:16.160 large size notes are fascinating. You get the 00:06:16.160 --> 00:06:18.800 1890 coin notes, which the government used to 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:22.000 buy up Silver Bullion. Then you have the 1896 00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:24.639 educational series, which sounds incredibly boring. 00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:27.379 Right. It sounds like a boring PBS documentary, 00:06:27.379 --> 00:06:31.019 but it was actually this wildly ornate bill completely 00:06:31.019 --> 00:06:35.019 covered in allegorical figures represent history 00:06:35.019 --> 00:06:37.259 instructing youth standing in front of Washington 00:06:37.259 --> 00:06:40.639 DC. Very dramatic. Super dramatic. And then comes 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:44.939 the 1899 black eagle note featuring this giant 00:06:44.939 --> 00:06:47.779 bald eagle taking up the whole center with these 00:06:47.779 --> 00:06:50.240 tiny little portraits of Abraham Lincoln and 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:52.860 Ulysses S. Grant just shoved to the bottom. I 00:06:52.860 --> 00:06:55.360 mean, it wasn't until 1923 that designs for the 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:57.740 same denomination actually started to standardize. 00:06:57.939 --> 00:07:01.360 And that decades long design chaos really reflects 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:04.420 a government experiment. in real time with how 00:07:04.420 --> 00:07:06.779 to project stability. They were actively testing 00:07:06.779 --> 00:07:09.000 visual language. Like seeing what people trusted 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:12.160 more. Exactly. Did an elaborate neoclassical 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:14.339 painting make citizens trust the paper more? 00:07:14.939 --> 00:07:17.600 Did a giant eagle project more federal authority? 00:07:18.060 --> 00:07:20.620 It took decades of trial and error to settle 00:07:20.620 --> 00:07:23.699 on a unified psychological message that would 00:07:23.699 --> 00:07:26.339 resonate with the public and also prove too complex 00:07:26.339 --> 00:07:29.199 for counterfeiters to easily copy. And that brings 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:31.199 us to the modern era, which is where this gets 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:33.939 really interesting. They finally shrank the physical 00:07:33.939 --> 00:07:36.240 dimensions of the bill to its modern size in 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:39.480 1928, mostly just to save on printing costs. 00:07:39.899 --> 00:07:42.180 Practical reasons. But once the size was locked 00:07:42.180 --> 00:07:45.079 down, they set about creating an iconic design. 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:47.860 And they did such an effective job that the front 00:07:47.860 --> 00:07:49.899 of the dollar bill hasn't fundamentally changed 00:07:49.899 --> 00:07:53.480 since 1963. So let's unpack the specific art 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:56.100 they chose to project that stability. OK, so 00:07:56.100 --> 00:07:58.360 starting with the obverse on the front of the 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:01.160 bill, we finally see George Washington permanently 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:03.319 anchored in the center. But it's important to 00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:05.779 note, it is not just a generic drawing. Right, 00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:08.699 it's very specific. It's an engraving based on 00:08:08.699 --> 00:08:12.300 a specific piece of art. Gilbert Stuart's famous 00:08:12.300 --> 00:08:16.139 yet unfinished 1796 painting, known as the Athenian 00:08:16.139 --> 00:08:18.519 Portrait. And the intricate etching used on the 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:21.680 bill was executed by an engraver named GFC Smilly. 00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:24.139 OK, so we have Washington looking out of us. 00:08:24.569 --> 00:08:27.709 But he is flanked by these two distinct, really 00:08:27.709 --> 00:08:30.250 highly detailed seals. And I see these every 00:08:30.250 --> 00:08:32.909 day, but I never actually look at them. What 00:08:32.909 --> 00:08:35.929 exactly is the seal on the left side of his portrait? 00:08:36.350 --> 00:08:38.309 So that one is the Federal Reserve District seal. 00:08:38.769 --> 00:08:41.029 And it serves a purely logistical routing function. 00:08:41.429 --> 00:08:43.809 It features a specific bold letter ranging from 00:08:43.809 --> 00:08:46.950 A through L and a corresponding number. So it's 00:08:46.950 --> 00:08:50.309 basically a tracking code. Exactly. That alphanumeric 00:08:50.309 --> 00:08:52.769 code identifies exactly which of the 12 regional 00:08:52.769 --> 00:08:55.129 Federal Reserve banks authorize the issuance 00:08:55.129 --> 00:08:58.110 of that particular note. For instance, A is Boston, 00:08:58.429 --> 00:09:00.649 B is New York, all the way down to L for San 00:09:00.649 --> 00:09:02.549 Francisco. Okay, so the left side is all about 00:09:02.549 --> 00:09:04.389 logistics, but the right side has the Treasury 00:09:04.389 --> 00:09:06.169 Department seal, and that one is just packed 00:09:06.169 --> 00:09:08.350 with imagery. I mean, it features a chevron with 00:09:08.350 --> 00:09:11.370 13 stars, a set of scales, and a key. Yeah, and 00:09:11.370 --> 00:09:13.230 the iconography there is heavily deliberate. 00:09:13.830 --> 00:09:17.190 The scales represent justice and fairness in 00:09:17.190 --> 00:09:20.169 the nation's finances. And the key represents 00:09:20.169 --> 00:09:22.990 official authority and the safekeeping of trust. 00:09:23.909 --> 00:09:26.409 And then sitting right at the bottom is the date 00:09:26.409 --> 00:09:29.269 1789. which is the year the Department of the 00:09:29.269 --> 00:09:32.409 Treasury was officially established. Every single 00:09:32.409 --> 00:09:35.350 element on the front of that bill is engineered 00:09:35.350 --> 00:09:38.509 to project institutional history and absolute 00:09:38.509 --> 00:09:40.929 legal stability. But let's be honest, it's the 00:09:40.929 --> 00:09:43.750 back of the bill, the reverse that really captures 00:09:43.750 --> 00:09:46.590 people's imaginations. Oh, absolutely. This specific 00:09:46.590 --> 00:09:50.190 design debuted a bit later in 1935, and our source 00:09:50.190 --> 00:09:52.730 material actually notes that it required President 00:09:52.730 --> 00:09:54.950 Franklin D. Roosevelt's conditional approval 00:09:54.950 --> 00:09:57.960 to flip the proposed images around. It prominently 00:09:57.960 --> 00:10:00.220 features the great seal of the United States. 00:10:00.419 --> 00:10:03.000 And this is where we see an intense, almost obsessive 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:06.000 use of national symbolism to tell a story to 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:08.000 the rest of the world. OK, I want to push back 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:10.440 on a massive pop culture myth here, though. Let's 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:13.019 do it. Because you watch thriller movies or you 00:10:13.019 --> 00:10:16.019 read internet forums, and there is this pervasive, 00:10:16.460 --> 00:10:20.259 sensationalized idea that the back of the $1 00:10:20.259 --> 00:10:23.200 bill is just littered with secret society codes. 00:10:23.399 --> 00:10:26.070 Oh, right. The Illuminati theories. Exactly. 00:10:26.389 --> 00:10:30.730 Floating eyes, hidden maps, grand global conspiracies 00:10:30.730 --> 00:10:33.750 orchestrated by the Freemasons. But when you 00:10:33.750 --> 00:10:35.730 actually look closely at the source material, 00:10:36.169 --> 00:10:39.190 there is no grand conspiracy. The theme at the 00:10:39.190 --> 00:10:41.169 back of the bill is literally just the federal 00:10:41.169 --> 00:10:42.590 government hitting us over the head with the 00:10:42.590 --> 00:10:44.750 number 13 to represent the original colonies. 00:10:45.090 --> 00:10:48.110 It really is an overwhelming exercise in repetitive 00:10:48.110 --> 00:10:51.139 branding. The designers basically wanted to ensure 00:10:51.139 --> 00:10:54.179 that the foundational concept of the 13 original 00:10:54.179 --> 00:10:57.860 colonies was absolutely impossible to miss. Let's 00:10:57.860 --> 00:10:59.440 actually count them for the listener just to 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:01.179 show how aggressive this is. If you look at the 00:11:01.179 --> 00:11:03.440 circular seal on the left, you see a barren landscape 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:06.139 with an unfinished pyramid. Right. And if you 00:11:06.139 --> 00:11:07.919 take the time to actually count the tiers of 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:11.159 that pyramid, there are exactly 13 steps. OK, 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:13.139 now look at the obverse of the seal on the right 00:11:13.139 --> 00:11:15.940 side, the one featuring the bald eagle. Suspended 00:11:15.940 --> 00:11:19.039 right above the eagle's head is a glory. or like 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:23.240 a cluster of exactly 13 stars. And covering the 00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:25.820 eagle's breast is a shield featuring exactly 00:11:25.820 --> 00:11:28.419 13 vertical stripes. And what about what the 00:11:28.419 --> 00:11:31.450 eagle is holding? Well, in its left talons, the 00:11:31.450 --> 00:11:34.409 eagle grasps a bundle of exactly 13 arrows. And 00:11:34.409 --> 00:11:36.710 in its right talons, it holds an olive branch. 00:11:37.090 --> 00:11:39.370 But let me guess. Yep. If you look closely at 00:11:39.370 --> 00:11:42.450 the engraving, that branch have exactly 13 leaves 00:11:42.450 --> 00:11:45.610 and exactly 13 olives. It is not a secret code 00:11:45.610 --> 00:11:48.210 at all. It's just incredibly aggressive colonial 00:11:48.210 --> 00:11:51.230 marketing. Pretty much. But there is a deeper 00:11:51.230 --> 00:11:53.610 meaning to the arrows and the olive branch, isn't 00:11:53.610 --> 00:11:55.470 there? I mean, it isn't just about forcing the 00:11:55.470 --> 00:11:57.730 number 13 in there again. No, it's actually a 00:11:57.730 --> 00:12:01.000 profound statement. geopolitical posture nations 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.980 use currency to visually communicate their power 00:12:03.980 --> 00:12:06.919 to anyone anywhere in the world who happens to 00:12:06.919 --> 00:12:09.820 hold that money like a tiny billboard exactly 00:12:09.820 --> 00:12:12.080 so the eagle holding both arrows represented 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:15.289 the capacity for war and an olive branch representing 00:12:15.289 --> 00:12:18.070 the desire for peace, is projecting the foundational 00:12:18.070 --> 00:12:21.029 values of the United States. Furthermore, the 00:12:21.029 --> 00:12:23.169 eagle's head is specifically turned toward the 00:12:23.169 --> 00:12:25.789 olive branch, visually signaling that the nation 00:12:25.789 --> 00:12:28.710 prefers peace, but retains the arsenal of war. 00:12:28.870 --> 00:12:30.850 And the designers were so committed to this imagery 00:12:30.850 --> 00:12:33.070 that even the Latin phrases hanging around the 00:12:33.070 --> 00:12:35.690 seals get in on the action. Above the pyramid, 00:12:35.710 --> 00:12:38.649 you have Enuit Coeptus, which translates to, 00:12:38.809 --> 00:12:41.750 he favors our undertaking. Right. Below the pyramid 00:12:41.750 --> 00:12:44.700 is Novus Ordo Seclorum, meaning order of the 00:12:44.700 --> 00:12:48.259 ages. And my absolute favorite detail, the ribbon 00:12:48.259 --> 00:12:51.559 held in the eagle's beak reads e pluribus unum, 00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:54.820 out of many, one. And the mathematical precision 00:12:54.820 --> 00:12:56.820 actually continues there as well. If you count 00:12:56.820 --> 00:12:59.259 the letters in the phrases e pluribus unum and 00:12:59.259 --> 00:13:01.700 annuit coeptis, they would contain exactly 13 00:13:01.700 --> 00:13:03.740 letters. It's just a stunning piece of unified 00:13:03.740 --> 00:13:05.960 design. And except for the addition of the phrase, 00:13:06.039 --> 00:13:08.960 in God we trust, in 1957, which was mandated 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:12.279 by a 1955 law, this whole symbolic canvas has 00:13:12.279 --> 00:13:14.639 essentially remained untouched since FDR approved 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:17.639 it in the 1930s. Which creates a really fascinating 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:20.320 dilemma, because we've established this strict, 00:13:20.980 --> 00:13:23.240 standardized, highly symbolic design that the 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:26.590 public completely trusts. But what happens when 00:13:26.590 --> 00:13:29.509 the government is forced by extreme circumstances 00:13:29.509 --> 00:13:32.690 to intentionally mess with this perfect recipe? 00:13:32.970 --> 00:13:34.850 Oh, you're talking about the experimental dollars. 00:13:34.990 --> 00:13:37.610 Yes. Specifically, the incredible logistical 00:13:37.610 --> 00:13:39.990 maneuvers the Treasury had to pull off during 00:13:39.990 --> 00:13:44.190 World War II. Because in 1942, the U .S. issued 00:13:44.190 --> 00:13:47.549 special emergency notes for highly specific geographic 00:13:47.549 --> 00:13:49.610 regions. Right, which was completely unprecedented. 00:13:49.850 --> 00:13:52.350 For Hawaii, they printed dollar bills with the 00:13:52.350 --> 00:13:54.750 word Hawaii stamped boldly on the left and right 00:13:54.730 --> 00:13:57.129 sides of the front and horizontally across the 00:13:57.129 --> 00:13:59.730 entire back. They also changed the ink on the 00:13:59.730 --> 00:14:02.049 treasury seal from standard green to brown. And 00:14:02.049 --> 00:14:03.669 at the same time, they printed special notes 00:14:03.669 --> 00:14:06.149 for allied troops preparing to assault North 00:14:06.149 --> 00:14:08.809 Africa, marking those notes with a bright yellow 00:14:08.809 --> 00:14:11.250 seal. So consider the underlying mechanics of 00:14:11.250 --> 00:14:14.750 that strategy. It is brilliant in its sheer pragmatism, 00:14:15.009 --> 00:14:16.970 because if the Imperial Japanese military were 00:14:16.970 --> 00:14:19.789 to successfully invade and occupy Hawaii, or 00:14:19.789 --> 00:14:22.350 if the allied troops in North Africa were overrun 00:14:22.350 --> 00:14:25.629 and their supply lines captured, Exactly. The 00:14:25.629 --> 00:14:27.889 enemy would suddenly be in possession of millions 00:14:27.889 --> 00:14:30.610 of US dollars. But by color -coding the seals, 00:14:31.230 --> 00:14:34.350 the US government built in a fail safe. They 00:14:34.350 --> 00:14:37.289 could instantly pass a regulation declaring any 00:14:37.289 --> 00:14:39.830 dollar bill with a brown or yellow seal to be 00:14:39.830 --> 00:14:42.750 completely worthless, literally stripping the 00:14:42.750 --> 00:14:45.409 enemy of any financial gain. It is literally 00:14:45.409 --> 00:14:47.970 a financial self -destruct button. Right. You 00:14:47.970 --> 00:14:50.350 capture our cash, we push a legislative button, 00:14:50.809 --> 00:14:53.149 and suddenly you are just holding a massive pile 00:14:53.149 --> 00:14:57.269 of useless 13 -starred denim. It's a brilliant 00:14:57.269 --> 00:15:00.769 logistical trick for fighting a global war. But 00:15:00.769 --> 00:15:02.769 they weren't just experimenting with ink colors 00:15:02.769 --> 00:15:05.350 for active war zones. No, they had to do tests 00:15:05.350 --> 00:15:08.070 domestically, too. Because of severe wartime 00:15:08.070 --> 00:15:10.629 material shortages in 1942, they actually had 00:15:10.629 --> 00:15:13.110 to test alternative types of paper right here 00:15:13.110 --> 00:15:15.529 at home. Yes, the supply chains for the specific 00:15:15.529 --> 00:15:17.769 cotton and linen required for the bills were 00:15:17.769 --> 00:15:20.669 severely disrupted by the whole war effort. The 00:15:20.669 --> 00:15:22.950 Treasury really needed to know if alternative, 00:15:23.190 --> 00:15:25.649 cheaper paper blends could survive that 6 .6 00:15:25.649 --> 00:15:27.639 -year lifespan we talked about earlier. So they 00:15:27.639 --> 00:15:31.120 took standard series 1935A notes and stamped 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:33.840 a red S on them, standing for special experimental 00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:36.980 paper. Yep. And they tested those against a control 00:15:36.980 --> 00:15:39.039 group of notes printed on the standard blend, 00:15:39.100 --> 00:15:41.679 which they stamped with a red R for regular. 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:44.059 And they didn't test these in the lab. They just 00:15:44.059 --> 00:15:45.980 released them directly into circulation to see 00:15:45.980 --> 00:15:48.100 how they would hold up in the pockets and wallets 00:15:48.100 --> 00:15:50.379 of everyday Americans. And by doing that, they 00:15:50.379 --> 00:15:53.519 utilized the entire American public as this massive 00:15:53.519 --> 00:15:57.000 decentralized real world focus group. They just 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:59.519 monitored how quickly the SNR notes were returned 00:15:59.519 --> 00:16:02.039 to banks due to physical wear and tear. It's 00:16:02.039 --> 00:16:04.899 so clutter. It is. And incidentally, because 00:16:04.899 --> 00:16:07.779 those specific red stamp notes are highly valued 00:16:07.779 --> 00:16:10.340 by collectors today, counterfeiters frequently 00:16:10.340 --> 00:16:13.580 try to fake those red SNR stamps on standard 00:16:13.580 --> 00:16:17.279 1935A notes. To authenticate one, you literally 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:19.820 have to cross -reference the serial numbers to 00:16:19.820 --> 00:16:21.940 prove it was actually part of the original treasury 00:16:21.940 --> 00:16:24.649 test batches. The government's experimentation 00:16:24.649 --> 00:16:27.330 didn't stop in the 1940s either. The sources 00:16:27.330 --> 00:16:30.149 mention a major mechanical test in the 1990s 00:16:30.149 --> 00:16:32.809 called the Web Notes experiment. Ah, the Web 00:16:32.809 --> 00:16:35.889 Notes. And this was driven purely by the sheer 00:16:35.889 --> 00:16:38.549 staggering global demand for the one dollar bill. 00:16:39.549 --> 00:16:41.710 See, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing traditionally 00:16:41.710 --> 00:16:44.350 prints money on single flat square sheets that 00:16:44.350 --> 00:16:47.720 hold 32 individual notes at a time. But to speed 00:16:47.720 --> 00:16:49.879 things up, they tried printing both sides of 00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:52.620 the note simultaneously on massive, continuous 00:16:52.620 --> 00:16:55.720 rolls of paper, which is exactly how a high -speed 00:16:55.720 --> 00:16:58.220 newspaper press operates. And that highlights 00:16:58.220 --> 00:17:00.399 the friction between the bill's physical makeup 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:03.879 and modern manufacturing. The webpress technique 00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:06.500 is incredibly fast, but remember, they are not 00:17:06.500 --> 00:17:08.900 printing on standard woodpull paper. Right, they're 00:17:08.900 --> 00:17:11.099 printing on that tough textile blend of cotton 00:17:11.099 --> 00:17:13.900 and linen. Exactly. And that denim -like fabric 00:17:13.900 --> 00:17:16.039 didn't behave well on high -speed rollers, did 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:18.650 it? Not at all. The immense tension of the continuous 00:17:18.650 --> 00:17:20.910 web press caused the continent and material to 00:17:20.910 --> 00:17:24.190 stretch and warp and tear. The massive rolls 00:17:24.190 --> 00:17:27.109 would frequently jam or snap, causing the intricate 00:17:27.109 --> 00:17:29.589 engravings on the front and back to misalign 00:17:29.589 --> 00:17:32.349 entirely. What a nightmare. It was. It resulted 00:17:32.349 --> 00:17:34.769 in massive operator errors and mechanical failures, 00:17:35.170 --> 00:17:37.250 forcing the Treasury to finally scrap the entire 00:17:37.250 --> 00:17:40.390 project in 1996. So if you are listening to this 00:17:40.390 --> 00:17:42.809 right now and wondering if you have one of these 00:17:42.809 --> 00:17:45.609 rare web notes in your wallet, you can actually 00:17:45.609 --> 00:17:47.549 check. Yeah, they're easy to spot if you know 00:17:47.549 --> 00:17:49.740 what to look for. Because they were printed on 00:17:49.740 --> 00:17:52.559 continuous rolls instead of flat sheets, the 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:54.880 webinars are missing their face check letters 00:17:54.880 --> 00:17:57.859 and quadrant numbers. And for the listener, those 00:17:57.859 --> 00:18:00.240 are the tiny little alphanumeric codes usually 00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:02.200 located in the corners of the bill that tell 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:05.140 the Bureau exactly where on the original 32 -note 00:18:05.140 --> 00:18:07.680 printing plate that specific bill was positioned. 00:18:08.099 --> 00:18:10.619 Without sheets, they just didn't need the quadrant 00:18:10.619 --> 00:18:12.880 numbers. Which really brings us to a fascinating 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:15.799 psychological phenomenon regarding the $1 bill 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:18.329 today. Because the fundamental design of the 00:18:18.329 --> 00:18:21.210 bill has remained completely static since 1963, 00:18:22.009 --> 00:18:23.970 our brains are just hardwired to notice when 00:18:23.970 --> 00:18:27.230 something is slightly off. Exactly. These anomalies, 00:18:27.490 --> 00:18:29.950 like the brown seals, the web notes, the red 00:18:29.950 --> 00:18:32.549 stamps, they aren't just dry history. They have 00:18:32.549 --> 00:18:35.549 created an entire subculture of collectors. It 00:18:35.549 --> 00:18:37.930 turns the mundane change in your wallet into 00:18:37.930 --> 00:18:40.529 a literal treasure hunt. Let's look at star notes. 00:18:40.990 --> 00:18:43.539 Star notes are a perfect example. of industrial 00:18:43.539 --> 00:18:46.319 error correction basically becoming a collector's 00:18:46.319 --> 00:18:49.599 item. How so? Well, when the Bureau of Engraving 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:51.880 and Printing is running massive sheets of currency 00:18:51.880 --> 00:18:54.259 and a printing error occurs, like a smudge, a 00:18:54.259 --> 00:18:57.140 tear, a misalignment, they legally have to destroy 00:18:57.140 --> 00:19:00.319 that flawed sheet. But they still need to account 00:19:00.319 --> 00:19:02.720 for the exact serial numbers they just destroyed. 00:19:02.920 --> 00:19:05.519 Right, for security. So they replace the messed 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:08.519 up bills with new ones from a highly specific 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:11.660 replacement run. To indicate it is a replacement, 00:19:11.940 --> 00:19:14.400 they print a small star right next to the serial 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:16.779 number. And there are currently rumors circulating 00:19:16.779 --> 00:19:19.420 in the numismatic community that the 2021 series 00:19:19.420 --> 00:19:22.039 might actually be the very last to feature star 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:24.880 notes, mostly because modern printing tracking 00:19:24.880 --> 00:19:27.500 technology is making them obsolete. So if you 00:19:27.500 --> 00:19:29.460 were listening to this right now, I playfully 00:19:29.460 --> 00:19:31.720 invite you to pause the deep dive, pull out your 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:34.059 wallet and see if you have a star note. You might 00:19:34.059 --> 00:19:36.339 literally be holding a tiny piece of mechanical 00:19:36.339 --> 00:19:39.829 printing history. It's true. However, This intense 00:19:39.829 --> 00:19:42.769 focus on every tiny detail of a static design 00:19:42.769 --> 00:19:45.390 also means that our human pattern recognition 00:19:45.390 --> 00:19:48.630 can sometimes go into overdrive, and that leads 00:19:48.630 --> 00:19:51.069 to massive misunderstandings. Oh, you were talking 00:19:51.069 --> 00:19:54.170 about the Dallas JFK coincidence. This is one 00:19:54.170 --> 00:19:56.049 of the wildest stories in the source material. 00:19:56.289 --> 00:19:59.059 It's unbelievable how this spread. In 1963, the 00:19:59.059 --> 00:20:02.099 Treasury printed a massive batch of $1 bills 00:20:02.099 --> 00:20:05.160 for the 11th Federal Reserve District. Now, as 00:20:05.160 --> 00:20:07.319 we learned earlier, the 11th District is headquartered 00:20:07.319 --> 00:20:10.119 in Dallas, Texas. So the Federal Reserve seal 00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:12.799 on the left side of the bill featured the letter 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:15.759 K. which is the 11th letter of the alphabet and 00:20:15.759 --> 00:20:17.799 the prominent number 11 in the corners. Which 00:20:17.799 --> 00:20:20.339 again is just standard boring bureaucratic routing 00:20:20.339 --> 00:20:23.019 information. Right. But these specific bills 00:20:23.019 --> 00:20:25.200 were released into general circulation right 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:29.019 around November 1963, the exact time President 00:20:29.019 --> 00:20:31.500 John F. Kennedy was tragically assassinated in 00:20:31.500 --> 00:20:33.640 Dallas. The public looked at these bills and 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:36.180 their brains just connected the dots. They saw 00:20:36.180 --> 00:20:39.180 the 11 for November, the K for Kennedy, the Black 00:20:39.180 --> 00:20:42.519 Federal Reserve seal and the Dallas origin and 00:20:42.519 --> 00:20:44.859 wild rumors. immediately sparked that the government 00:20:44.859 --> 00:20:47.920 had quickly issued some kind of eerie secret 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:50.680 commemorative morning note, but it wasn't. It 00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:53.819 was just a total random coincidence. It perfectly 00:20:53.819 --> 00:20:56.579 illustrates how desperately we want this static 00:20:56.579 --> 00:20:59.400 trusted object to have deeper hidden meanings 00:20:59.400 --> 00:21:02.119 and we see the exact same psychological quirk 00:21:02.119 --> 00:21:05.579 with famous bar notes. Yes, Joseph W. Barr. He 00:21:05.579 --> 00:21:07.579 served as the Secretary of the Treasury for exactly 00:21:07.579 --> 00:21:10.400 31 days at the very end of 1968 and the beginning 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:14.079 of 1969. Collectors went absolutely crazy hoarding 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:15.799 any dollar bill that featured his signature. 00:21:16.940 --> 00:21:18.940 I mean, the logic seems sound. If a guy was only 00:21:18.940 --> 00:21:21.079 in office for a month, a bill with his signature 00:21:21.079 --> 00:21:23.619 must be incredibly rare, right? Yeah, but that 00:21:23.619 --> 00:21:26.039 logic fails because it fundamentally underestimates 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:28.619 the staggering scale of industrial currency production. 00:21:29.059 --> 00:21:31.000 Because the Bureau of Engraving and Printing 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:33.440 didn't just stop the presses when he left office, 00:21:33.900 --> 00:21:36.460 they continued using his engraved signature plates 00:21:36.460 --> 00:21:38.759 for a while. And because the printing presses 00:21:38.759 --> 00:21:41.720 run continuously to meet global demand, they 00:21:41.720 --> 00:21:45.569 ended up printing over 458 million. bar notes. 00:21:45.589 --> 00:21:48.009 It's an astronomical number. Right. Because so 00:21:48.009 --> 00:21:50.670 many were printed and because hundreds of thousands 00:21:50.670 --> 00:21:52.930 of people hoarded them in pristine condition 00:21:52.930 --> 00:21:54.769 thinking they would pay for their kids' college, 00:21:55.250 --> 00:21:57.089 they are essentially worthless to collectors 00:21:57.089 --> 00:22:00.150 today. Which brings up a much larger structural 00:22:00.150 --> 00:22:03.089 question about all of this. We are hoarding these 00:22:03.089 --> 00:22:05.630 bills. We're tracking their minute printing errors. 00:22:05.769 --> 00:22:08.900 We're obsessed with their symbolism. But why 00:22:08.900 --> 00:22:11.240 does the paper one dollar bill still exist at 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:14.359 all? Now, that is the multibillion dollar question. 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:17.440 The Government Accountability Office, the GAO, 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:20.299 has run the numbers multiple times. They estimate 00:22:20.299 --> 00:22:22.579 that if the United States finally retired the 00:22:22.579 --> 00:22:24.779 paper one dollar bill and replaced it entirely 00:22:24.779 --> 00:22:27.359 with a one dollar coin, it would save the government 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:29.380 roughly four point four billion dollars over 00:22:29.380 --> 00:22:32.920 30 years. Because coins last for decades. Exactly. 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:36.089 Coins last forever. basically. Cotton linen bills 00:22:36.089 --> 00:22:38.609 have to be shredded and reprinted every 6 .6 00:22:38.609 --> 00:22:41.250 years. So why are we keeping a piece of fabric 00:22:41.250 --> 00:22:43.670 that costs us billions of dollars just because 00:22:43.670 --> 00:22:46.269 we're emotionally attached to it? It's honestly 00:22:46.269 --> 00:22:48.789 a master class in behavioral economics. It proves 00:22:48.789 --> 00:22:51.569 that money is not just a math equation or a cold 00:22:51.569 --> 00:22:55.150 unit of exchange. It's a deeply ingrained psychological 00:22:55.150 --> 00:22:57.569 comfort object. So people just don't like change. 00:22:57.809 --> 00:22:59.789 Well, the resistance to a dollar coin isn't just 00:22:59.789 --> 00:23:01.990 about math. It's about lobbying and emotion. 00:23:02.230 --> 00:23:04.259 You have the powerful vending machine and car 00:23:04.259 --> 00:23:07.619 wash industries lobbying heavily because refitting 00:23:07.619 --> 00:23:09.920 their machines for coins or digital payments 00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:12.319 is expensive. But more importantly, you have 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:15.140 advocacy groups, literal coalitions like Save 00:23:15.140 --> 00:23:18.380 the Greenback actively fighting in Congress against 00:23:18.380 --> 00:23:20.740 groups like the Coin Coalition. We are fighting 00:23:20.740 --> 00:23:23.099 actual political battles in the halls of Congress 00:23:23.099 --> 00:23:25.480 over keeping a specific piece of design from 00:23:25.480 --> 00:23:30.039 1963 alive. And apparently the nostalgia is winning. 00:23:30.650 --> 00:23:33.210 Congress has actively included provisions in 00:23:33.210 --> 00:23:35.769 recent federal budgets that specifically prohibit 00:23:35.769 --> 00:23:39.150 the Treasury from spending a single cent to redesign 00:23:39.150 --> 00:23:42.109 the $1 bill. There are currently no plans to 00:23:42.109 --> 00:23:44.670 redesign it and no plans to replace it. We just 00:23:44.670 --> 00:23:47.109 stubbornly refuse to let it go. Because the American 00:23:47.109 --> 00:23:49.650 public rejects structural change when it comes 00:23:49.650 --> 00:23:52.569 to their most basic... fundamental unit of value. 00:23:53.309 --> 00:23:55.650 A $1 coin feels different. It changes the tactile 00:23:55.650 --> 00:23:58.269 experience of spending, tipping, and just interacting 00:23:58.269 --> 00:23:59.849 with the economy. Yeah, it doesn't have that 00:23:59.849 --> 00:24:02.650 snap. Right. The green dollar bill is familiar. 00:24:02.910 --> 00:24:05.430 It represents stability, which, as we discussed 00:24:05.430 --> 00:24:07.569 with the scales of justice, the pyramid and the 00:24:07.569 --> 00:24:10.690 eagle, is the exact psychological goal the Treasury 00:24:10.690 --> 00:24:12.670 Department set out to achieve over a century 00:24:12.670 --> 00:24:15.569 ago. They succeeded so well in building that 00:24:15.569 --> 00:24:18.430 visual trust that now we literally cannot bring 00:24:18.430 --> 00:24:20.529 ourselves to modernize it. They built a brand 00:24:20.529 --> 00:24:23.230 that was just too strong to kill. So let's step 00:24:23.230 --> 00:24:25.150 back and look at the journey we have taken today. 00:24:25.470 --> 00:24:28.789 We started with a fragile experimental fiat note 00:24:28.789 --> 00:24:31.170 during the Civil War featuring Sam and P. Chase. 00:24:31.730 --> 00:24:34.690 We watched it transform into a durable one gram 00:24:34.690 --> 00:24:37.170 cotton linen canvas plastered with aggressively 00:24:37.170 --> 00:24:40.730 redundant colonial symbols and exactly 13 of 00:24:40.730 --> 00:24:46.069 everything. Exactly. We uncovered its secret 00:24:46.069 --> 00:24:48.809 life as a self -destructing wartime asset in 00:24:48.809 --> 00:24:51.690 Hawaii and North Africa. We explored the mechanical 00:24:51.690 --> 00:24:54.589 failures of the web press. And we finally arrived 00:24:54.589 --> 00:24:57.049 at the modern day vending machine politics that 00:24:57.049 --> 00:24:59.970 keep this specific piece of art completely frozen 00:24:59.970 --> 00:25:03.230 in time. It's just a remarkable, deeply human 00:25:03.230 --> 00:25:06.089 evolution for an everyday object that most people 00:25:06.089 --> 00:25:08.700 never even look closely at. And considering how 00:25:08.700 --> 00:25:10.759 hard we have fought to keep this physical object 00:25:10.759 --> 00:25:13.460 exactly the same for over 60 years, I think this 00:25:13.460 --> 00:25:16.099 raises a final vital question for you, the listener. 00:25:16.920 --> 00:25:19.500 If the physical $1 bill is essentially a piece 00:25:19.500 --> 00:25:23.279 of 1960s design tax appeal, a physical artifact 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:25.339 sustained almost entirely by human habit and 00:25:25.339 --> 00:25:27.440 tactile nostalgia, what happens to our shared 00:25:27.440 --> 00:25:29.599 sense of national identity when our currency 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:31.960 inevitably goes entirely digital and we permanently 00:25:31.960 --> 00:25:34.640 lose this everyday physical canvas of our history?