Promotional fake United States currency is faux "currency" that makes no assertion of being
legal tender
Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in ...
. This money is often created by individuals as a way to promote
practical joke
A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...
s, or social statements. It is legal to print so long as it makes no assertion, whether by appearance or statement, of authenticity.
Promotional United States fake currency is not to be confused with
counterfeit currency
Counterfeit money is currency produced without the legal sanction of a state or government, usually in a deliberate attempt to imitate that currency and so as to deceive its recipient. Producing or using counterfeit money is a form of fraud or fo ...
or conflated with legitimate currency that has been
demonetized
Legal tender is a form of money that Standard of deferred payment, courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which wh ...
.
History
In the 1970s, copper coins known as ''Nixon pennies'' were made about one-quarter the size of a regular U.S. cent and depicted President
Richard M. Nixon on the obverse. The reverse showed the
Watergate Hotel
The Watergate complex is a group of six buildings in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. Covering a total of 10 acres (4 ha) just north of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the buildings incl ...
. They were issued as novelty items and as political commentary on inflation that occurred under President Nixon. Other types of coins have been similarly miniaturized before and since as souvenirs or collectors' items. Though a gold
three-dollar coin was produced in the 1800s, no three-dollar bill has ever been produced. Various fake US$3 bills have also been released over time. These generally poke fun at politicians or celebrities such as
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
,
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...
,
George W. Bush, both
Bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Pla ...
and
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
, and
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
in reference to the idiomatic expression "queer as a three-dollar bill" or "phony as a three-dollar bill". In the 1960s, ''
Mad'' printed a $3 bill that featured a portrait of
Alfred E. Neuman and read: "This is not legal tender—nor will a
tenderizer help it." ''Mad'' writer
Frank Jacobs
Franklin Jacobs (May 30, 1929 – April 5, 2021) was an American author of satires, known primarily for his work in ''Mad (magazine), Mad'', to which he contributed from 1957 to 2014. Jacobs wrote a wide variety of lampoons and spoof, but was bes ...
said that the magazine ran afoul of the
US Secret Service
The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...
because the $3 bill was accepted by
change machine
A change machine is a vending machine that accepts large denominations of currency and returns an equal amount of currency in smaller bills or coins. Typically these machines are used to provide coins in exchange for paper currency, in which c ...
s at
casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...
s.
The United States has never issued a million dollar bill. However, many businesses print million dollar bills for sale as novelties. Such bills do not assert that they are legal tender. The
Secret Service
A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. Fo ...
has declared them legal to print or own and does not consider them
counterfeit
To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...
.
The
Libertarian Party makes an annual tradition of handing out informational fliers made to look like $1,000,000 bills on April 15 to draw attention to its anti-
income tax
An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Ta ...
platform. A notable example of a 7-figure bill is currency from ''
The Mad Magazine Game
''Mad'' (stylized as ''MAD'') is an American humor magazine first published in 1952. It was founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines, launched as a comic book series before it became a magazine. It was widely imitated and i ...
'' which features a $1,329,063 bill that serves as an
Old Maid
An old maid is a spinster.
Old maid or Old Maid may also refer to:
Games
*Old maid (card game), a simple game popular around the world, existing in many variants
*, a German card game (variant of ) whose name translates as 'old maid'
Film
* ' ...
in the game. Players compete in this game to lose all their money. The bill features a portrait of
Alfred E. Neuman.
See also
*
Disney Dollars
*
Hell money
Hell banknotes in Thailand resembling United States Dollar, and Thai Baht banknotes">Thai_Baht.html" ;"title="United States Dollar, and Thai Baht">United States Dollar, and Thai Baht banknotes
Hell money () is a modernized form of joss paper p ...
*
Monopoly money
Monopoly money is a type of play money used in the board game '' Monopoly''. It is different from most currencies, including the American currency or British currency upon which it is based, in that it is smaller, one-sided, and does not have di ...
*
Wooden nickel
In the United States, a wooden nickel is a wooden token coin, usually issued by a merchant or bank as a promotion, sometimes redeemable for a specific item such as a drink.
Scrip and tokens have often been issued locally in times of severe econ ...
References
External links
Promotional Million Dollar Bill{{US currency and coinage
Practical joke devices
Novelty items
Private currencies
Currencies of the United States