The 'Where's George?' project tracked a trail of $1 bills across the US.

Dive into the fascinating journey of a Federal Reserve note

Ever wondered how long an individual dollar bill lasts? After cash is designed and produced, money circulates in the economy, with $100 bills staying in use for the longest on average—roughly 15 years—and the $10 lasting just less than five.

The portrait of George Washington was first placed on the one-dollar bill in 1869

Trace the history of the US dollar from its colonial roots to its adoption as the national currency. The video explores the word's Germanic origins, how the dollar sign evolved from the Spanish peso, and how Washington's portrait came to define US paper currency.

A mysterious man named Emmerich Juettner once produced thousands of counterfeit $1 bills

After his wife died in 1937, Juettner fell into financial trouble and soon began replicating $1 bills. These bills aren’t typically prime targets for counterfeiting given their low value.

See the value of currency in circulation in billions of dollars as of December 31 of each year.

Each design detail on the US $1 bill has significance

The eye in the triangle floating above the pyramid, for instance, is “the Eye of Providence watching over and ensuring the endurance of the structure of the American government.” This article details every design choice’s significance on the dollar—and a few conspiracies around these choices as well.

Up to to $68M in coins ends up in American landfills each year.

Waste facilities and TSA say they collect thousands of dollars of discarded money per year. A Wall Street Journal reporter visited a waste facility and learned what you can do with your extra change.

The United States had a washing machine that cleaned dirty dollar bills

In the early 1900s, the US Treasury Department had a machine that washed and ironed old, soiled paper bills. The machine helped the Treasury save money by decreasing printing costs for new dollar bills, but had nothing to do with the modern understanding of money laundering.

America's most misunderstood dollar

The $2 bill isn't rare; it's just hiding. First printed in 1862, stopped in 1966, and revived in 1976, there are still 1.6 billion in circulation. People just don't spend them.

A man who counterfeited over $1M explains how to counterfeit money

In 2019, after Jeff Turner forged US banknotes such as the 1996-series $100 bill and the 2013 “blue note,” he was indicted on federal conspiracy and served 10 months in prison. In this video, Turner explains how to spot a fake banknote, and provides information about the materials and processes required to make fake money.

The US has discontinued a variety of different currency denominations over the years—including a $100K bill.

The US Currency Education Program created a guide to authenticating currency

This video was created to teach everyday people a few easy ways to spot some counterfeit banknotes. Specifically, it outlines the main security features to check for that are common across many US banknotes, such as the color-shifting ink visible when tiling US banknotes $10 or higher.

Every printed bill has its own unique serial number

In the US, each bill also has its own plate number, series year, Treasury seal, and more. Each design helps track money and combat counterfeiting.

The US has used a wide variety of different currencies between the 1690s and today

From colonial money to national banknotes, people have used all kinds of forms of currency throughout the history of the United States before settling on the dollar bills and quarters that we pay for things with today.

The Federal Reserve follows the health of the US economy by tracking the money supply

That includes all of the physical and electronic money in circulation. It tracks not only US coins and bills, but also the money that moves through bank deposits. The Fed uses metrics called trackers to follow different types of transactions through the money supply.

The $1 bill hasn't been redesigned in over 60 years, making it one of the least secure American banknotes from a counterfeiting and forgery perspective.

Hamilton has appeared on US paper currency since the Civil War

Since the US began printing money in 1861, Alexander Hamilton has appeared at different times on the $5, $2, $20, $50, $500, and $1000 bills. Since 1928, he has remained on the $10 bill—making him, alongside Benjamin Franklin, one of the two non-presidents currently on US currency.

The US developed a coin circulation problem in 2020

As people reduced the frequency with which they paid for things in cash and change during the COVID-19 pandemic, opting for tap-to-pay systems or online shopping instead, the number of coins in circulation decreased. Those who did make cash purchases were more likely to keep their change at home rather than use it on a subsequent purchase.

Contrary to popular belief, the $2 bill is still in circulation today, although usage has been in decline for decades.

Governments have historically used counterfeiting for economic warfare

Inserting fake currency into an economy can help destabilize it. During the American Revolution, for instance, the British distributed counterfeit “Continental Dollars” in an effort to devalue the currency being used in the US at the time with the goal of undermining America’s growing financial credibility. The Nazis also ran an extensive counterfeiting scheme during WWII.

There have been many versions of US banknotes throughout history

From the Civil War to the present day, the US has gone through many, many versions of paper money (or “notes”). Some notes, like “demand notes,” were created to finance the Civil War. Others, like “treasury notes,” helped pay for silver.

Some argue that the $2 bill could be more useful than the $1 bill

Inflation has made purchasing items with just a $1 bill extremely rare. At a time when dollar stores are no longer true to their name, it seems that the $2 note may be the more practical small bill to keep on hand. This article advocates for the use of $2 bills, while detailing their history of being overlooked and the communities that swear by them.

The lifespan of a dollar bill

Durable, made of a cotton blend, and with billions in circulation, the common dollar bill is made to last. This video from 1440 goes inside the life of the country's paper currency, from printing to purchasing, in this quick 60-second overview.

Harriet Tubman will be featured on the $20 bill in 2028

While the face of money is changing, most of the historical figures that grace US currency haven’t changed in a long time. From President George Washington on the $1 bill and quarter to President Abraham Lincoln on the penny and $5 bill, this article details all the people you can find on your cash.

The $3B project scientists called 'junk'

In 1990, scientists set out to map all of human DNA. A $3B bet many called "junk." But the Human Genome Project's radical transparency and a race with a private company sped it to completion in just 13 years. Today, that once-contested map underpins nearly every breakthrough in genetics and personalized medicine.

Track how much the US government has spent on bailouts.

A ‘supernote,’ or nearly-perfect counterfeit $100 bill, was recently found in South Korea

These “supernotes” have even fooled US government officials. North Korea is widely believed to be behind the creation of these counterfeit banknotes.

The Secret Service was originally formed to combat counterfeiting

By the 1860s, an estimated one-third of US currency in circulation was counterfeit. In 1865, the Secret Service was created specifically to combat the country's serious counterfeiting problem, which had led to widespread financial instability. This was partly due to the lack of federal currency standardization in the country at the time.

A life measured on the backs of coffee receipts

Years ago, a storyteller doodled on the back of a receipt. Hundreds of doodles later, Odding Wang has created a digital diary with a tactile feel. Click through the project's website to peruse the portals into Wang's life and mind. Hovering over a comic will reveal the receipt on the other side.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

Get the inside story of the duck hunt that birthed the Federal Reserve

Pseudo-duck hunters, private train cars in Hoboken, and a thrilling work week over Thanksgiving 1910—all and more are featured in the wild story of how a group of fed-up bankers and lawmakers tried to create an enduring central bank for the US. Records of the meeting managed to remain hidden for decades.

Visualize government spending with USAFacts

This resource turns complex federal budget data into clear charts and summaries, letting users explore how much the government spends; where the money goes; and how revenue, deficits, and debt change over time.

Browse a list of the most important scientific breakthroughs from each state

Although scientific discoveries involve experimentation, analysis, and collaborations among many individuals across a variety of locations, some observations, advancements, and breakthroughs have their origins in facilities within the US. These include the polio vaccine in Pennsylvania, the breathalyzer in Indiana, the observation of Pluto in Arizona, and the invention of nylon and Teflon in Delaware. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

The story of a bitcoin loophole that gave one man millions

James Parker discovered a glitch in an Australian cryptocurrency exchange that would allow him to cash in credits worth over $20M and make big gifts to his friends. Like most loopholes, the authorities found out, but not before his life was transformed. The first in a six-part series.

How companies track you around the internet, explained

Being able to track how users behave on websites is a massive opportunity for companies to hone their products, target their ads, and more. Dozens of trackers are on the average website you visit, depending on how you deal with that site's cookie policy, and Google is the chief tracker of them all. Learn about these companies and what they are tracking with this informative blog visualization.

Where the world's most wanted pirate hid in the 1600s

Metal detectorists who discovered 500-year-old silver coins have helped support the theory that notorious 16th-century pirate Henry Every hid out in several American colonies.

Tracking where people moved in the US in 2022

The latest data from the US Postal Service's change of address request system shows a decline in migration in 2022. See where people are moving and where they are leaving with this data breakdown.

Worldcoin: the cryptocurrency collecting biometric data

An ambitious project launched by OpenAI's founder Sam Altman, Worldcoin aims to provide a global financial and identity network based on proof of personhood through biometric scanning of individuals' irises.

Visualizing 40 years of interest rates

The history of interest rates are a proxy of macroeconomic conditions, with higher interest rates indicating periods of decline requiring artificial central stimulation. In a series of charts illustrating rates and their background conditions, you can see the movement of the economy over a forty-year period ending in 2020. Dive into the data here.

Worldwide cryptocurrency heists tracker

A look at the biggest cryptocurrency heists, be they from an exchange, smart contract, or a business, including amounts, methods, reparations, and consequences.

Maryland required cholera researchers to fly a yellow warning flag—signifying quarantine dangers in the 1970s

University of Maryland Hospital researchers intentionally infected volunteers with the cholera bacterium in the late 1970s to further their understanding of the disease. They proceeded with this work following the recommendation of a US government panel. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

An anthropologist spent years riding garbage trucks to understand what our trash says about us

Robin Nagle rode with New York City sanitation workers to trace the hidden life of what we throw out. Her research explores what the things we discard reveal about who we are. 1440 explores the hidden life of trash.

See to the edge of the universe with this two-decade astronomy project

A New Mexico telescope has captured astronomical data for two decades to compile this map of the universe. Starting from earth and ending at the "edge" of the universe, it shows one slice of the cosmos: a total of 200,000 galaxies.

Browse a list of the most important invention from each state

From Alabama's electric hearing aid and Idaho's television to Washington's artificial heart and Wisconsin's space suit, this map highlights technological breakthroughs with outsized impacts from each US commonwealth. The District of Columbia is also featured as the state of origin for the telegraph and Morse code. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

The history of credit cards begins with the 'Fresno Drop.'

On a 1958 morning in Fresno, California, about 60,000 people woke up to find a strange rectangular piece of plastic on their doorstep without explanation. Those chosen for the "Fresno Drop" didn't know it yet, but Bank of America was behind the credit card delivery stunt.

The enduring history of universal basic income

Distributing money to everyone is a radical idea provoking heated debates. The historical record shows pockets of civilizations exploring the notion around the world. The practice resembles what many prehistoric societies did as well. Trace the history of this income distribution approach with this fascinating overview.

A Canadian tourism campaign turns every whale sighting—including ones from decades ago—into a live, crowdsourced migration biography

Humpback flukes (or tails) are as individually distinct as fingerprints, which means a single photo is enough to match a whale to its full sighting history. Every upload adds a chapter (the database goes back to the 1970s) and the site uses AI to render that data as narrative, not just data.

The funding behind Google's origin, including an NSF digital libraries grant

Over $4.5M in funding from the National Science Foundation was allocated to the Stanford Integrated Digital Library Project, which aimed to develop the infrastructure for an accessible universal library of digital information sources. Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page were working on this project when developing the PageRank search algorithm.

Humans can track smells on the ground quite well—our ability to crawl is a limiting factor

As part of a scientific bet, neurobiology researchers dragged a chocolate bar across the grass and sought to see if a human could track it—she could. This led to a more in-depth experiment on human olfactory capabilities and behavior when other senses were blocked.

Mapping the world records held by each US state

What world record does your state hold? Check out this map of the United States to see what weird accomplishment took place near you.

Explore 'The Big Mac Index,' an economic indicator created by The Economist as a cheeky reference for the purchasing power of consumers across different countries (paywall may apply).