Currency Comparison

I am currently enrolled in a course called "Estonian Country Studies." It is, more or less, a weekly field trip for Erasmus students to various points of interest around Tallinn. Today, we headed to the Estonian Bank Museum, which housed currency specimens dating back to the Russian czarist era. (Less than 100 years, and they had five-soon to be six- currencies!)

I noticed something striking about their choice of national figures to grace their bills.

2 kroon- Karl Ernst von Baer: First president of the Russian Entomological Society and co-founder of the Russian Geographical Society. Von Baer was born in what is now Estonia, though it was Russian territory at the time.

5 kroon- Paul Keres: Estonian Chess Grandmaster.

10 kroon- Jakob Hurt: Linguist who compiled many Estonian songs and fairy tales into the first written volume. (Prior to this point, Estonian was primarily a spoken language.)

25 kroon- Anton Hansen Tammsaare: Author of "Truth and Justice," which is considered the great Estonian novel.

50 kroon- Rudolf Tobias: The first Estonian professional composer.

100 kroon- Lydia Koidula: Poet and dramatist, considered the founder of Estonian theatre.

500 kroon- Carl Robert Jakobson: Leader of the Estonian Awakening in the mid 19th century, which helped demand equal rights for the ethnic Estonians to the Baltic Germans who controlled the region.

All coins, meanwhile, have the national seal. When Estonia take the euro in January, the Estonian euro coins will feature an outline of Estonia.



Compare this to the American currency. With the exception of the $10 bill and the $100 bill, all of our paper money features the face of a former president. Alexander Hamilton, whose portrait graces the $10 bill, was the first Secretary of the Treasury. Meanwhile, Benjamin Franklin... well, what didn't Benjamin Franklin do? The important bit is that he, too, is a major political figure even if he never held the presidency.

All of this got me thinking about what really comprises the American identity. I think it might be harder to really pin an American identity down- maybe "melting pot" really is the only description upon which most people could agree. If we were, for example, to pick ONE writer to honor with a place on our currency, whom would we choose? (I almost want to say Tocqueville, though I think many Americans would balk at the idea of having a Frenchman on our currency.) Which composer? Which poet? The leaders of which social movements?

This isn't to say that our choice in presidents aren't controversial. I'm sure half of Glenn Beck's viewers would take up the call to remove FDR from the dime should he ever bring the issue up on his show. (I hope I'm not giving anyone ideas, here.) Meanwhile, many people today might consider Andrew Jackson (of $20 bill fame) an odd choice for such a high level of commemoration. (Assuming, of course, that most people actually know anything about Jackson's presidency.) It's worth pointing out, however, that both figures were fairly popular during their rule. Meanwhile, some of the figures who are on our currency are loved now, but were NOT widely loved at the time of their presidency. Abraham Lincoln did, after all, hold the highest office while the country was in the midst of a civil war.

Since I'm curious, I do want to know if you had to pick a politician, two writers, a musician, an athlete, a social leader, and someone you think was just absolutely intrinsic in the formation of the American identity to honor on our bills, whom would you pick?