[hanamizu]

Take all the presidents off

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The coinage of the late 19th century was kind of boring. Pretty much the same depiction of Liberty on the nickel, dime, quarter and half dollar. TR wanted and got more beautiful coins in the early 20th century. The nickel featured an Indian on the obverse and a buffalo on the reverse. The dime got winged liberty on obverse and the fasces representing the strength of the Union on the reverse (long before the fascists of Italy). The quarter was the standing liberty on the obverse and an eagle in flight on the reverse. The half dollar was the walking Liberty clothed in an American flag. The gold coins were also beautiful.

Lincoln was put on the cent to mark his 100th birthday, Washington on the quarter to mark his 200th birthday. FDR made it onto the dime because he was a founder of the March of Dimes which at the time had polio as its cause.

The coinage of the 1920s looked a lot better than what we have now without Presidents on them. Of course they were made (except for the nickel and cent) of real valuable metal, silver and gold.

[larrytown]

Indeed - same thing with paper currency as well. There used to be gorgeous examples, and frequently updated or changed.

It’s pretty clear that the idea that seeing these founding fathers and dead presidents would incentivize people to learn about them and their roles - that was a bust.