In 1869, Americans could walk into a store and spend a dollar bearing the images of George Washington and Christopher Columbus. Washington occupied the center of the banknote, while Columbus stood aboard his ship as his sailors spotted land. It was an extraordinary pairing, but one that made perfect sense to Americans at the time.
Today, that colorful piece of currency ranks among the most recognizable collectible banknotes of the nineteenth century. Yet few people realize just how prominently Columbus once appeared on American money.
