Q 01/05

Which US agency was founded in 1865 solely to catch counterfeiters of American paper money?

A) US Marshals

B) Secret Service

C) Customs Service

D) Postal Inspectors

Answer · why

B) Secret Service

The Secret Service spent its first decades chasing forgers for the Treasury, and took on full-time protection of presidents only after William McKinle...

Q 02/05

Which president on a US bill fiercely opposed paper money and the national bank while in office?

A) Andrew Jackson

B) George Washington

C) Abraham Lincoln

D) James Madison

Answer · why

A) Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson came to distrust banknotes after land deals on credit nearly bankrupted him, yet his portrait has fronted the $20 since 1928.

Q 03/05

Which metal were 1943 US pennies made of so that copper could be saved for wartime ammunition?

A) Nickel

B) Silver

C) Steel

D) Aluminum

Answer · why

C) Steel

Steel cents rusted at the edges and stuck to the magnets that vending machines used to catch slugs, so the Mint went back to a copper alloy for 1944.

Q 04/05

Which blend of fibres, rather than wood pulp, makes up the paper used for US banknotes?

A) Hemp and silk

B) Bamboo and mulberry

C) Wool and rayon

D) Cotton and linen

Answer · why

D) Cotton and linen

Cotton and linen, in a 75-to-25 mix, make up every Federal Reserve note, and all of that paper comes from a single firm in Dalton, Massachusetts.

Q 05/05

In 1942, US bills were stamped with which territory's name so they could be voided if Japan invaded?

A) Alaska

B) Hawaii

C) Guam

D) Midway

Answer · why

B) Hawaii

Hawaii was stamped across the notes after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and islanders were ordered to hand in their ordinary dollars for the marked ones...