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Cash Facts: Trivia about money you probably never knew

Jessica Mozo | 03/09/2011 |

We carry around dollar bills of different quantities every day, and chances are you've got a George Washington or an Abe Lincoln floating around in your pocket or purse right now. But did you know that same $1 bill that sports the image of America's first president won't even exist 18 months from now?

That's because bills that get worn out from everyday use are taken out of circulation and replaced by the U.S. Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and different denominations of bills typically last for different amounts of time. Like we said, a $1 bill has the shortest life, lasting only 18 months. A $5 bill lasts about two years; a $10 bill, three years; and a $100 bill, nine years. Interesting stuff, huh?

Read on for more surprising facts about money you can use to impress your friends and family.

1. The first paper bills were printed in 1862 in denominations of 1 cent, 5 cents, 25 cents and 50 cents.

2. Nearly half (48 percent) of all bills are $1 notes.

3. Martha Washington is the only woman whose face has been printed on a U.S. currency note. It appeared on $1 silver certificates of 1886, 1891 and 1896.

4. Bills are made of 25 percent linen and 75 percent cotton, with red and blue synthetic fibers distributed throughout the paper.

5. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints 38 million new notes every day, valuing around $541 million. About 95 percent of those bills are used to replace worn-out bills already in circulation.

6. Paper bills are pretty resilient – you would have to fold a U.S. currency note forward and backward about 4,000 times before it would tear.

7. "In God We Trust" first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864 and became the national motto a century later.

8. The largest bill in existence is for $100,000, and Woodrow Wilson's portrait is printed on it. However, it was never made available to the public and was limited to transactions between the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve.

9. The $2 bill is still a valid form of U.S. currency, though many people hold on to them. They were last printed in 2003, and as of April 2007, there were $1,549,052,714 worth of $2 bills in circulation worldwide.

10. The largest bill currently printed is for $100.

11. The distribution of currency in denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 was stopped by the Federal Reserve in 1969 because safer payment methods such as bank transfers and check writing were available. Those large bills can still be found circulating today, however, and they remain legal tender if you can ever get your hands on one.