Taken from our e-mail file, this history lesson comes to us from one of our most prolific writer-contributors, Anthony Ghezzo.

Take out a one-dollar bill and look at it. The one-dollar bill you're looking at, in its present design, first came off the United States Treasury presses in 1957. This so-called 'paper money' is in fact a cotton and linen blend fabric, with red and blue minute silk fibers running through it. It is actually printed material and that's why the slang expression 'rags' for 'paper money' came into being. We've all washed our money, at some time or another, and seen it turn into a rag without it falling apart. To print it, a special blend of ink is used, a blend kept secret by our "United States Treasury Department", its formula we will never know. Water resistant, our "paper money" gets its nice crisp look from starch baths and steam pressing.

If you look at our dollar bill, you will find that's it's overprinted with symbols. On the front of it, you will see the United States Treasury Seal. On the top of it you will see the scales for the balance -- to signify a balanced budget. In the center you have a carpenter's T-square, a tool used for an even cut. Underneath is the Key to the United States Treasury.

That's all pretty easy to figure out, but what is on the back of that dollar bill is something we should all know about. If you turn the bill over, you will see two circles. Both circles together comprise the Great Seal of the United States. The First Continental Congress requested that Benjamin Franklin and a group of men come up with a Seal. It took them four years to accomplish this task and another two years to get it approved. If you look at the left hand circle, you will see a Pyramid with its face lighted and its western side dark. It symbolizes the beginning of our country. We had not yet begun to explore the West nor had we decided what we could do for Western Civilization. The Pyramid is uncapped, again signifying that we were not even close to being finished. Inside the capstone you have the all-seeing eye, an ancient symbol for divinity.

It was Franklin's belief that one man couldn't do it alone, but a group of men, with the help of God, could do anything. "IN GOD WE TRUST" is on this currency. The Latin above the pyramid, ANNUIT COEPTIS, means, "God has favored our undertaking." The Latin below the pyramid, NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM, means, "a new order has begun." At the base of the pyramid is the Roman numeral for 1776. If you look at the right-hand circle, and check it carefully, you will learn that it is on every National Cemetery in the United States. It is also on the Parade of Flags Walkway at the Bushnell National Cemetery, in Florida, and is the centerpiece of most heroes' monuments. Slightly modified, it is also the seal of the President of the United States and it is always visible wherever he appears and whenever he speaks, yet no one knows what the symbols mean.

Selected as our national symbol was the Bald Eagle, itself victorious over its environment. First of his capabilities is that he is not afraid; he is strong and smart enough to soar above everything. Secondly, he wears no material crown. Notice what the Eagle holds in his talons. He holds an olive branch and arrows. This country wants peace, but we will never be afraid to fight to preserve peace. The Eagle always wants to face the olive branch, but in time of war, his gaze turns towards the arrows.

We had just gained our independence from England, a country ravaged by the crazy antics of its sitting King, George III. An unsupported shield symbolizes that event. This country can now stand on its own. At the top of that shield you have a white bar signifying congress, a unifying factor. We were coming together as one nation. In the Eagle's beak you will read, "E PLURIBUS UNUM", meaning "one nation from many people." Above the Eagle you will notice that there are thirteen stars representing the thirteen original colonies, and any clouds of misunderstanding rolling away. Again, we were coming together as one.

They say that the number 13 is an unlucky number. That is almost a worldwide belief. You will usually never see a room numbered 13, or any hotels or motels with a 13th floor. But think about this: 13 original colonies, 13 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 13 stripes on our flag, 13 steps on the Pyramid, 13 letters in the Latin above, 13 letters in "E Pluribus Unum", 13 stars above the Eagle, 13 plumes of feathers on each span of the Eagle's wings, 13 bars on that shield, 13 leaves on the olive branch, 13 fruits, and if you look closely, 13 arrows. And for minorities: the 13th Amendment.

I always ask people, "Why don't you know this?" Your children don't know this and their history teachers don't know this. Too may veterans have given up too much to ever let the meaning of our dollar bill fade away. Many veterans remember coming home to an America that didn't care. Too many veterans never came home at all.

EDITOR'S NOTE:
I now appreciate our dollar bills more. I can't seem to spend one without looking at it first to get used to what I had always taken for granted, the value of a dollar bill.