Money Matters

Yesterday while discussing probability distribution, our stats professor showed us a picture of a 10 Deutsche Mark note. The note features the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, the normal distribution curve that he introduced, as well as the mathematical equation for the curve. Cool, eh?

Out of curiosity I googled other German currency notes and found that all their notes have had pictures of accomplished authors, architects, mathematicians, musicians or scientists. Apparently the Germans are genetically designed to be brilliant!  Of course I don't know much about other currencies.  All I know is that US dollar bills (except $100 which has Benjamin Franklin) have pictures of past Presidents, and all Indian notes have pictures of Mahatma Gandhi.

Speaking of USD bills, I recently found that $2 bills exist. It got me wondering how the expression "As fake as a $2 bill" came into being. Wikipedia as usual came to my rescue - The bill was discontinued in 1966, but was reintroduced 10 years later as part of the United States Bicentennial celebrations. Today, however, it is rarely seen in circulation and actual use. Production of the note is the lowest of U.S. paper money: under 1% of all notes currently produced are $2 bills. This comparative scarcity in circulation, coupled with a lack of public awareness that the bill is still in circulation, has also inspired urban legends and, on a few occasions, created problems for people trying to use the bill to make purchases."

Yes, I'm a sucker for nerdy trivia :)