In the early days of the Republic, most nations printed money which featured images of the current leaders. Among the many things rejected by George Washington as our first elected president was the idea that the United States should embrace such overt idolatry to living men, establishing a precedence for not using the images of current, breathing leaders on our currency. Therefore, most early currency included other images such as the lady liberty and figures from Greek and Roman mythology.
In the mid 19th century, as our founding fathers passed into antiquity
their images would begin to be incorporated into our currency. By the the start of the 20th century, the practice was codified into law, expressly prohibiting the use of images of people who had not been dead for at least two years. That rule was broken, with the minting of the 1964 dime.
Lincoln, was added to the five dollar bill (or fin as it's sometime referred to in history) in 1928, succeeding Grant. In 1886, Grant succeeded James Garfield on the fin. President Garfield was assassinated in 1881, by a political dissident and his image was added to the fin the following year, succeeding Andrew Jackson. In 1869, Jackson replaced Alexander Hamilton, who's image was the first to be added to the fin, in 1861.
While this all neatly explains the chronology of images on the five dollar bill, it only hints at the why. Why has Abraham Lincoln's image graced the fin for eighty-five years?
For that matter, what are Alexander Hamilton's contributions to the founding of the Republic that his image graces the ten dollar bill?
Hint: This is an open-book quiz. It's okay to look up the answers. Just be prepared to not see them adjacent to the questions.
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