A Glimpse Back at What Once Was in the U.S. by Peter Rexford on Creators.com

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A Glimpse Back at What Once Was in the U.S.

"When you're finished changing ... you're finished." —Ben Franklin

Ol' Ben had it right regarding the need to be progressive and change — especially when it came to his showcase $100 bill. Thanks to counterfeiting technology, the note featuring Ben's portrait has been changed, modified and updated with regularity, and, for good reason. Forgers continue to challenge the Bureau of Engraving and Printing with convincing knockoffs of the note. A new version of the $100 bill is on the way right now with a blue ribbon woven in to it to thwart that.

The popularity of the $100 continues to skyrocket, not just here but around the world. Here's a curiously scary fact — over 65 percent of all known $100 bills are held outside of the US

That means if there are 1 billion $100 bills in existence (that's conservative). 650 million of them reside in Mexico, Bosnia, China, the Philippines, etc. Many in the world may hate the U.S. for our politics, beliefs or whatever, but there's no question they love our paper money!

It's interesting to consider that the federal paper money we all (and evidently many foreigners) covet today is a relatively new concept. For most of our history, there was no such paper money. Instead, the currency our grandfathers and those before them used were issued by private banks or other independent financial institutions. It sounds confusing, but it worked well. More importantly, those bills offered a variety of artistic platforms that showcased our history better than most anything else of the day. It did when the bills circulated and continues today with those that survive.

Other than collectors, most people have not seen much of that paper money or the amazing engravings and illustrations on them. That's too bad. They are phenomenal. That's exactly what Richard Doty, senior curator of the Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection thought.

He had access to the nation's best collection of those vintage bills and decided to do something about it. His new book, "Pictures From a Distant Country: Seeing America Through Old Paper Money" is the result of those efforts.

In just under 300 pages, "Pictures From a Distant Country" features hundreds of obsolete bank notes issues throughout the 19th century. What makes them compelling are the intricate images included on virtually each one. Given that each of the illustrations were done without any of the computer-assisted technology we enjoy today, the level of detail and artistic acumen that went into each is borderline unbelievable.

Outside of the obvious allegorical figures of Lady Liberty, Freedom, etc., the pictures are some of the best reflections of life in early America. Taken from actual scenes of the day are images of how so many people and things were viewed including women, children, servants, slaves, the military, agriculture, the western frontier, ships and trains, "new" technology, entertainment and most anything else compelling or reflective of the time.

In 10 chapters, "Pictures From a Distant Country" offers one of the best visuals of Americana I've seen. The extensive and genuinely interesting copy is bested only with the close-up shots of the engravings filling the pages. As Doty noted about those early and forgotten engravers, "If ever there was a case of standing on the shoulders of giants, this is it."

Given the astronomical cost of some of the featured paper money (think second mortgage), the $24.95 price of the hardbound volume is most reasonable and the perfect panacea for the armchair collector. Plus, the forward by Q. David Bowers, arguably the premier numismatist ever, is icing on the cake.

"Pictures From a Distant Country" is available at many larger hobby or coin dealers as well as some mainstream booksellers. It can also be found online from the publisher at: www.WhitmanBooks.com.

Editor's Note: A JPEG visual of a page of obsolete currency has been sent with this column.

To find out more about Peter Rexford and features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.