Man seeks change for $1m dollar bill

[canuck31003]

Some people just aren't cut out for a life of crime, I guess. In Pittsburgh, PA:

A man who handed over a counterfeit million-dollar bill to a cashier at a Pittsburgh supermarket and asked for change has been arrested...

Police told the BBC the man became abusive when a manager at the Giant Eagle store confiscated the fake note.

He broke an electronic funds-transfer machine at the counter and reached for a scanner gun, said police.

There is no real US bill worth $1m (£490,000). Since 1969, the $100 note has been the highest in circulation.--bbc.co.uk (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7036098.stm)

[Fireand'chutes77]

Some people just aren't cut out for a life of crime, I guess. In Pittsburgh, PA:

A man who handed over a counterfeit million-dollar bill to a cashier at a Pittsburgh supermarket and asked for change has been arrested...

Police told the BBC the man became abusive when a manager at the Giant Eagle store confiscated the fake note.

He broke an electronic funds-transfer machine at the counter and reached for a scanner gun, said police.

There is no real US bill worth $1m (£490,000). Since 1969, the $100 note has been the highest in circulation.--bbc.co.uk (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7036098.stm)

Can you say... De-de-dee! :alumnus: :dubiety:

[campy]

Some people just aren't cut out for a life of crime, I guess. In Pittsburgh, PA:

A man who handed over a counterfeit million-dollar bill to a cashier at a Pittsburgh supermarket and asked for change has been arrested...

Police told the BBC the man became abusive when a manager at the Giant Eagle store confiscated the fake note.

He broke an electronic funds-transfer machine at the counter and reached for a scanner gun, said police.

There is no real US bill worth $1m (£490,000). Since 1969, the $100 note has been the highest in circulation.--bbc.co.uk (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7036098.stm)

Can you say... De-de-dee! :alumnus: :dubiety:
Did the story say whose picture is on the bill? I'm really curious. :errr:

[canuck31003]

This is the image they had in the original article--looks like a masculine Statue of Liberty.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39870000/jpg/_39870894_dollar_ap203body.jpg

[kyojikasshu]

There is only one thing I could possibly come up with in response to a story like this...

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/1/12/Vreenak.jpg
"IT'S A FAAAAAAAKE!"

[TransWarpDrive]

The U.S. Mint has, in the past, issued large-denomination bills ($1000, $10,000, $100,000); but those were mostly used to transfer large sums of money between banks and were not put into general circulation. I remember this because my local bank once displayed some of those large bills in a display case in its lobby.
That was back in the mid-80's, though; I'm not sure if they still use those large bills today. I could look it up on the 'Net and get back to you if you'd like.
EDIT: Found it! The largest denomination note ever printed was the $100,000.00 gold certificate, Series 1934, Gold Seal. Here's a link to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing's web page that explains it all:
http://www.moneyfactory.gov/section.cfm/5/42
BTW, Rob, it looks like you're right. According to the link I just posted, that million-dollar bill is a fake. That guy not only faces charges for disorderly conduct, but also forgery for trying to pass that note. :errr:

[canuck31003]

Well, the original article did say the bill was counterfeit.

Thanks for the link, TWD. Looks like Woodrow Wilson is the $100k man. :) I wonder how long a president has to be dead before being eligible to have their face on a bill or coin.

[kyojikasshu]

Well, Wilson is definitely the most recent President to appear on official paper currency.

What's interesting are the bills featuring Salmon P. Chase, thus showing that Ben Franklin is not the only non-President to be featured on our bills...

Of course, the smallest currency ever put out at the federal level was the half-cent piece, equal to five mills ($0.005). The mill ($0.001) was never minted by the U.S., but several states did issue one-mill coins as late as the Great Depression. And the mill is still a very real currency; these days, we just round it out in our normal daily transactions (i.e. when buying gasoline that costs $3.099/gallon). We also vote on millage - increases in our taxes for public services based on mills-per-dollar.

[Commander Argus]

I have seen the 100K bill at the Smithsonian - and I actually keep forgetting if it was a 100K or 500K bill.

On another note - I utterly HATE the gas station practice of pricing gas by mills. It should be sold by the lowest PRACTICAL unit, which is the penny. (it's a stupid practice that make us think we're paying $2.79 for a gallon when we're really paying $2.80.)

[campy]

On another note - I utterly HATE the gas station practice of pricing gas by mills. It should be sold by the lowest PRACTICAL unit, which is the penny. (it's a stupid practice that make us think we're paying $2.79 for a gallon when we're really paying $2.80.)Please, no. Your idea would cost me an extra dime or fifteen cents every time I filled up. That adds up over a lifetime.

[jeriddian]

I have seen the 100K bill at the Smithsonian - and I actually keep forgetting if it was a 100K or 500K bill.

On another note - I utterly HATE the gas station practice of pricing gas by mills. It should be sold by the lowest PRACTICAL unit, which is the penny. (it's a stupid practice that make us think we're paying $2.79 for a gallon when we're really paying $2.80.)

It's an advertising ploy, although I don't think it works worth a darn.

As to the currency, I thought I would put this stuff up:

The $500 bill featured a portrait of William McKinley (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/William_McKinley)
The $1,000 bill featured a portrait of Grover Cleveland (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/Grover_Cleveland)
The $5,000 bill featured a portrait of James Madison (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/James_Madison)
The $10,000 bill featured a portrait of Salmon P. Chase (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase)
The $100,000 bill featured a portrait of Woodrow Wilson (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/Woodrow_Wilson)
The reverse designs featured abstract scrollwork with ornate denomination identifiers. All were printed in green, except for the $100,000. The $100,000 is an odd bill, in that it was not generally issued, and printed only as a gold certificate of Series of 1934. These gold certificates (of denominations $100, $1,000, $10,000, and $100,000) were issued after the gold standard (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/Gold_standard) was repealed and gold was compulsorily purchased by presidential order of Franklin Roosevelt (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/Franklin_Delano_Roosevelt) on March 9 (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/March_9), 1933 (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/1933) (see United States Executive Order 6102 (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/United_States_Executive_Order_6102)), and thus were used only for intra-government transactions. They are printed in orange on the reverse. All known pieces are in government museums. This series was discontinued in 1940. The other bills are printed in black and green as shown by the $10,000 example (pictured at right).
Although they are still technically legal tender in the United States, high-denomination bills were last printed in 1945 (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/1945) and officially discontinued on July 14 (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/July_14), 1969 (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/1969), by the Federal Reserve System (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/Federal_Reserve_System).[1] (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/board/l%20_note-Money_Factory) The $5,000 and $10,000 effectively disappeared well before then: there are only about 200 $5,000 and 300 $10,000 bills known, of all series since 1861. Of the $10,000 bills, 100 were preserved for many years by Benny Binion (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/Benny_Binion), the owner of Binion's Horseshoe (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/Binion%27s_Horseshoe) casino in Las Vegas, Nevada (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/Las_Vegas%2C_Nevada), where they were displayed in a glass case. The case is no longer there, and the bills were sold to collectors.
Circulation of high-denomination bills was halted in 1969 (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/1969) by executive order (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/Executive_order_%28United_States%29) of President (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/President) Richard Nixon (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/Richard_Nixon), in an effort to combat organized crime (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/Criminal_organization).
For the most part, these bills were used by banks and the Federal Government for large financial transactions. This was especially true for gold certificates from 1865 to 1934. However, the introduction of the electronic money (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/Electronic_money) system has made large-scale cash transactions obsolete; when combined with concerns about counterfeiting (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/Counterfeiting) and the use of cash in unlawful activities such as the illegal drug trade (http://www.globaljusticealliance.com/wiki/Illegal_drug_trade), it is unlikely that the U.S. government will re-issue large denomination currency in the near future. According to the US Department of Treasury website, "The present denominations of our currency in production are $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100... Neither the Department of the Treasury nor the Federal Reserve System has any plans to change the denominations in use today."[1] (http://www.treas.gov/education/faq/currency/denominations.shtml)

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/4716/250pxus100000dollarsbilpi6.jpghttp://img254.imageshack.us/img254/4743/250pxus100000dollarsbilwp7.jpg
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/7886/250px100001fut8.jpghttp://img254.imageshack.us/img254/1634/250px100001bmv1.jpg
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/9859/250px5000fwp6.jpghttp://img254.imageshack.us/img254/4199/250px5000baw2.jpg
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/8408/250px10002fhi3.jpghttp://img254.imageshack.us/img254/31/250px10002bsm1.jpg
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/7518/250px5002fow5.jpghttp://img254.imageshack.us/img254/606/250px5002bmy2.jpg


I thought the way these bills look is real interesting.:)

[TransWarpDrive]

Interesting post, jeriddian.
And you're right about the big bills only being used for inter-bank transactions. The sign in the display case I saw at my local bank all those years ago said the same thing.
A neat little historical coincidence I thought I'd point out here:
Although they are still technically legal tender in the United States, high-denomination bills were...officially discontinued on July 14, 1969, by the Federal Reserve System.
That was just two days before Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins were launched to the moon aboard Apollo 11. :alumnus:

[campy]

A neat little historical coincidence I thought I'd point out here:
Although they are still technically legal tender in the United States, high-denomination bills were...officially discontinued on July 14, 1969, by the Federal Reserve System.
That was just two days before Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins were launched to the moon aboard Apollo 11. :alumnus:Coincidence? HA! That's what they want you to think. Actually, the "discontinued" bills were put aboard Apollo 11 and taken to the moon to pay off the aliens. It's a conspiracy, I tell you! :surprised:

:huh: (But I thought the moon landing was really staged in New Mexico?)

[TransWarpDrive]

A neat little historical coincidence I thought I'd point out here:
Although they are still technically legal tender in the United States, high-denomination bills were...officially discontinued on July 14, 1969, by the Federal Reserve System.
That was just two days before Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins were launched to the moon aboard Apollo 11. :alumnus:Coincidence? HA! That's what they want you to think. Actually, the "discontinued" bills were put aboard Apollo 11 and taken to the moon to pay off the aliens. It's a conspiracy, I tell you! :surprised:


:laugh::laugh:
Yeah, those cute little aliens are a greedy bunch, let me tell you. "E.T.," my eye....:thumbdown:
:laugh: