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Hello, and welcome to Metal Floss Video
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From an eagle who once resided in a U.S. mint, to answering the question
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why do some coins have ridges on them, to learning some behind-the-scenes secrets of game shows
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we're going to be talking all about money today in this episode presented by Discover Card
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Let's get started. Alright, money, give me some
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We're going to start our episode on money with a story about a dead bird
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A historic dead bird, because that makes it all better. His name was Peter the Eagle, and he was a bald eagle who also happened to be a resident of the Philadelphia Mint during the early 19th century
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He mostly just lived at the Mint at night. During the daytime, Peter would leave the building and fly around Philadelphia, but he'd come back to the same building every evening
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And it's said that he lived there for around six years in total. The Mint employees were really fond of him. According to one legend, Peter took an extra
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long trip on the 4th of July one year. He landed high up in a tree at an intersection in the city
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where a crowd of people formed to watch him. One of the Mint employees tracked him down and coaxed
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him down off the tree and onto his shoulder, saying he loves me as if he were my own son
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Sadly, Peter died in an accident at the Mint. He was sitting on some equipment that damaged his
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wing. All of the employees contributed some money to have him stuffed, and you can visit
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Peter in the lobby of the Philadelphia Mint to this day. Over the years, he's been
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used as a model for people designing coins with eagles on them. Some say he was used
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for the Gobrecht dollar, which contained an eagle that was in turn used as a model for
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the flying eagle's scent. We've heard some interesting facts about money in its coin form, but what about the
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importance of finances and relationships. In 2017, Discover Card and Match Media Group surveyed
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2,000 American adults who used online dating services to find out what they looked for in
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a partner and their relationship histories. The big takeaway was that if you're into online dating
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you might want to worry less about pumping up your biceps and more about boosting your credit score
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Once the responses to this survey were tallied, the findings were pretty surprising. 58% of surveyed
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daters said that a good credit score was more attractive than driving a fancy car
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But good credit scores don just outshine a nice set of wheels 50 of responders said a high credit score was more attractive than a prestigious job title and 40 ranked it over a physically fit body
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These are my kind of people. That said, I am very glad that I came of age before the online dating era
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So why are daters so interested in potential partners' credit scores? Well, the survey found that over half of respondents said that finances had caused a strain in
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a previous or current relationship. Money was in fact a more common cause of disagreement than politics or children, so
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it pays to find a financially compatible partner. And that's where your credit score can be useful, because a high credit score can serve
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as an indicator of financial responsibility. The same survey asked respondents to indicate whether certain traits were very or extremely
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important qualities that they looked for in a date. Financial responsibility was very or extremely important to 69% of respondents
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In fact, financial responsibility came in ahead of a sense of humor, courage, and modesty
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Now that we've learned about the importance of talking about your finances and your credit score
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Discover Card wants to help you be better informed with their free credit scorecard
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It is free for everyone, even if you aren't a customer. You can visit discover.com backslash credit scorecard to learn more
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Here in the United States, the dollar bill denominations that get produced are 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100
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But historically, there have been other ones, including $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000
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During the 1930s, there was even a $100,000 bill. But that wasn't ever actually in circulation
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It was used to make Federal Reserve bank transactions easier. But we are not here to talk about that
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Today, we're going to talk about the history of the $1,000 bill
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This bill has a surprisingly extensive past. In fact, it stretches even earlier than bills we'd recognize today
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There was a different kind of paper money when the Continental Congress was in charge because the Federal Reserve didn't exist yet
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So technically, back during the Revolutionary War, there were $1,000 bills just floating around
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Money was kind of a mess for the 100 years that followed. There was an official currency of coins in the U.S
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thanks to the Coinage Act, but there were also a lot of banknotes from various banks floating around
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that didn't have much consistency throughout the country. In 1878, something called silver certificates were created
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These could be traded in for silver, and there was a $1,000 silver certificate. They lasted about 100 years
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In 1913, the Federal Reserve System was created, And in 1918, they started producing bills for $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000
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They were a little bigger back then about an inch longer and half an inch wider than today dollars But 10 years later they were reduced to the size they are today Despite the long history of the bill its production ended in the 1940s along with the other large denomination bills you won come across today It didn
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make sense to keep reducing them, partly because it was an expensive process for a little-used bill
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In 1969, it was announced that they'd no longer be distributed. But as of 2009, it was reported
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that there are 165,732 of them still out there somewhere. Most are just being held by collectors
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You can still technically spend them, but when federal reserve banks come across them, they get destroyed
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Isn't that sad? Plus, it doesn't make much sense to spend them as they're worth more than $1,000 nowadays
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In 2013, a $1,000 United States Treasury note was auctioned off for $2.5 million
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But it was from 1891, making it one of two of its kind
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One from 1918 might be worth more like $7,000. Why do some U.S. coins have ridges
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The US Mint that Amanda talked about was built in 1792, the same year that Congress passed the Mint and Coinage Act
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That act laid out some rules about how coins would be made. There were $10, $5, and $2.50 gold coins, and there were silver coins worth $1, $0.50, $0.25, $0.10, and $0.05
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The coins were made of enough gold or silver to be worth about the cost of the coin
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One cent and half cent coins were made of less valuable copper
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Fraudsters were able to use this system to their advantage. They could take a coin and trim a little bit around the edge of it
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That way, most people wouldn't notice the coin was any different, but the scammer would have a tiny amount of gold or silver
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which would eventually add up to be worth something. The U.S. Mint caught on pretty quickly
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and they solved it by adding ridges to the more valuable coins. If someone shaved off the edges, people would notice that the ridges were gone
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Pennies and nickels kept their smooth edges because no one was messing with them
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Unpopular coins. Eventually the U.S. phased out gold and silver coins At least circulating ones, they sell some for collectors
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Gold were the first to go in the 1930s And silver coins ceased production thanks to the Coinage Act of 1965
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But the ridges stayed At first this was just a money-saving move
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Mints had a coin creation process that already involved adding ridges to coins of a certain size
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Rather than get new equipment, they just stuck with their old ways Eventually these systems could have been replaced
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but the distinct appearances of coins help us recognize them. Plus the different edges are especially useful for people with visual impairment By the way the United States wasn the first country to have currency with ridges There were ridged coins in Europe as early as the 16th century
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So this episode probably has you wanting to make some extra cash
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One way to go about doing that is a game show. And I want to give you all the intel I can so you know exactly what you're getting yourself into
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First of all, you're going to have to spend a long time waiting, depending on the show. It could be months between taking an online test, auditioning, competing, and actually seeing your episode air
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As for when you're on the set, many of these shows are shot in bulk. Some shoot five episodes in one workday, so if you happen to win, you'll probably have to stick around on that same day
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And even if you don't have to film all five episodes, your day doesn't end when the game does
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For winners, and I'm sure you're planning to win, there's paperwork involved. As you've probably heard, taxes are a thing if you win an American game show
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Some estimate that you could lose about 50% of your winnings to taxes
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For example, in 1999, a contestant won a million dollars on a game show
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and an estimated 400,000 of that went to taxes. And that's true of whether you win money or a physical prize
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If you win something like a car, you'll typically receive paperwork that explains how much you owe in taxes
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which you have to pay before you even get the car. So you're allowed to decline the prize if it's just not feasible for you, which is a bummer
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If you choose to pay the taxes, it could still be a while before you see your car. According to one former game show contestant
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you may be waiting for up to five months for the show to make sure you've done everything you need
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to do and get your prize delivered. And maybe that's a good thing because you're probably going to be asked to keep some secrets until your episode airs. Some shows let you reveal whether
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you won to friends and families, but you might have to keep the game clues to yourself. Others
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are stricter. One TV winner of $1 million claims she had to keep it a secret for about five months
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between taping and her episode's release. You may even have to sign a contract that says you'll lose
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your prizes if you reveal how the episode plays out before it airs. Whew
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High pressure. So there you have a brief intro to game show contestanting. Doesn't seem like the easiest way to make money, but hey, it could be worse
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You could work. Thank you
