Take out a dollar bill and look at it.
The one dollar bill you're looking at
first came off the presses in 1957 in
its present design.
This is true. According to the U.S.
Treasury Department, that is when the
motto, "In God We Trust" started
being used on paper money. It was in
use on coins long before that.
This so-called paper money is in fact
a cotton and linen blend, with red
and blue minute silk fibers running
through it. It is actually material.
We've all washed it without it falling
apart. A special blend of ink is used,
the contents we will never know. It is
overprinted with symbols and then it
is starched to make it water resistant
and pressed to give it that nice crisp
look. If you look on the front of the
bill, you will see the United States
Treasury Seal. On the top you will
see the scales for the balance-a bal
anced budget.
That may be somebody's interpretation
of the scales, but the Treasury
Department has little to do with
whether the budget is balanced. That's
handled by congress. According to the
U.S. Treasury Department, the balanc
ing scales represent justice.
In the center you have a carpenter's
T-square, a tool used for an even cut.
It is not a carpenter's T-square. It is a
chevron with 13 stars representing the
13 original colonies.
Underneath is the key to the United
States Treasury.
It is not the key to the United States
Treasury
It is using the key as a symbol of
authority. That's all pretty easy to
figure out, but what is on the back of
that dollar bill is something we
should all know. If you turn the bill
over, you will see two circles. Both
circles, together, comprise the Great
Seal of the United States.
This is true.
The back of the dollar bill has
become so familiar to Americans,
that many may not have realized two
things. One is that the symbols are
from the official Great Seal of the
United States. The other is that the
Great Seal actually has two sides.
The First Continental Congress
requested that Benjamin Franklin
and a group of men come up with a
Seal. It took them four years to
accomplish this task and another two
years to get it approved.
Before the adjournment of the
Continental Congress on July 4th,
1776, a committee was appointed to
develop a seal for the United States.
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A/J /
Uplifting e-malls we would like to share....
The committee was Benjamin Franklin,
John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson,
three of the five men who had drafted
the Declaration of Independence. They
were merely the first committee, how
ever. It took six years, the work of two
additional committees and a total of 14
men before a final version of the Great
Seal was approved. The final proposal,
which was accepted by Congress, was
submitted on June 13, 1782 by Charles
Thompson who had the title Secretary
of Congress.
If you look at the left hand circle, you
will see a pyramid. Notice the face is
lighted and the western side is dark.
This country was just beginning. We
had not begun to explore the west or
decided what we could do for west
ern civilization.
In keeping with last issue's "gullibility virus"
warning, we went to TruthOrFiction.com to
check out the patriotic "back of the dollar bill"
e-mail we received. TruthOrFiction's response to
the e-mail is in italics.
Now, if only we knew we could trust them.. .
First, the pyramid was not a part of the
proposals for the Great Seal until the
third committee. It was not suggested
by Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams. As
to the lighting on the East or West of
the pyramid, we did not find any such
official explanation.
The pyramid is UN-capped, again
signifying that we were not even
close to being finished.
This appears to be accurate. The
unfinished state of the pyramid was
intentional. Also, Charles Thompson,
in his remarks to congress about the
symbolism on the Great Seal, said the
pyramid represented "Strength and
Duration."
Inside the capstone you have the all
seeing eye, an ancient symbol for
divinity. It was Franklin's belief that
one man couldn't do it alone, but a
group of men, with the help of God,
could do anything.
Although Franklin's committee did not
suggest a pyramid, it did originate the
suggestion of the eye. The term "the
all-seeing eye" is never used in
describing it. The Franklin committee
wanted the seal to include a reflection
of divine providence and discussed a
variety of themes including the
Children of Israel in the Wilderness.
The eye as representing "the eye of
providence" has a long history.
"IN GOD WE TRUST" is on this
currency. The Latin above the pyra
mid, ANNUIT COEPTIS, means
"God has favored our undertaking."
The Latin below the pyramid,
NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM,
means "a new order has begun." •
The government's translation of this
phrase is, "A new order for the ages."
At the base of the pyramid is the
Roman Numeral for 1776. .
This is true.
If you look at the right-hand circle,
and check it carefully, you will learn
that it is on every National Cemetery
in the United States. It is also on the
Parade of Flags Walkway at the
Bushnell, Florida National Cemetery
and is the centerpiece of most hero's
monuments. Slightly modified, it is
the seal of the President of the
United States and it is always visible
whenever he speaks, yet no one
knows what the symbols mean.
The Presidential Seal has the eagle fac
ing to the eagle's left toward the olive
branch instead of toward the eagle's
right as on the Great Seal. This was a
change ordered by President Harry
Truman in 1945.
The bald eagle was selected as a sym
bol for victory for two reasons: first,
he is not afraid of a storm; he is
strong and he is smart enough to
soar above it. Secondly, he wears no
material crown. We had just broken
from the King of England.
We could not find this particular expla
nation of the imagery of the eagle in
the official records. Most references to
the eagle indicate that it represents
something of uniquely American ori
gin. One of the original design pro
posals for the Great Seal featured a
small crested white eagle, which is not
uniquely American.
Also, notice the shield is unsupport
ed. This country can now stand on its
This is accurate. Charles Thompson
said it denoted that the United State of
America ought to rely on their own
At the top of that shield you have a
white bar signifying congress, a uni
fying factor. We were coming togeth
er as one nation. In the eagle's beak
you will read, "E PLURIBUS
UNUM", meaning "one nation from
many people."
Actually, the shield consists of red and
white stripes with a blue bar above and
which does represent CongrEss. The
colors are taken from the American
flag and officially, the red represents
hardiness and valor, the white repre
sents purity and innocence, and the
blue, vigilance, perseverance, and jus
tice.
Above the eagle you have thirteen
stars representing the thirteen origi
nal colonies, and any clouds of mis
understanding rolling away.
The thirteen stars do represent the
Colonies. We could not find anything
official about the "clouds of misunder
standing."
Again, we were coming together as
one. Notice what the eagle holds in
his talons. He holds an olive branch
and arrows. This country wants
peace, but we will never be afraid to
fight to preserve peace. The eagle
always wants to face the olive
branch, but in time of war, his gaze
turns toward the arrows.
The official meaning is that the olive
branch and the arrows "denote the
power of peace & war." As noted
above, the design has been with the
eagle facing the arrows except for
when President Harry Truman turned
the face toward the olive branch on the
Presidential Seal.
They say that the number 13 is an
unlucky number. This is almost a
worldwide belief. You will usually
never see a room numbered 13, or
any hotels or motels with a 13th floor
But, think about this: 13 original
colonies, 13 signers of the
Declaration of Independence, 13
stripes on our flag, 13 steps on the
Pyramid, 13 letters in the Latin
above, 13 letters in "E Pluribus
Unum", 13 stars above the eagle, 13
plumes of feathers on each span of
the eagle's wing, 13 bars on that
shield, 13 leaves on the olive branch,
13 fruits, and if you look closely, 13
arrows. And for minorities: the 13th
Amendment.
The significance of the number 13 in
all the symbolism represents the begin
ning of the country, the 13 colonies.