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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;gboulton, post: 1017492, member: 27043&quot;]I&#039;m compelled to post a follow-up story that happened today...</p><p><br /></p><p>I told a coworker/friend about this note over the weekend.&nbsp; He asked that I bring it to work today, as he (being a history nut, but not a coin/currency guy) thought the concept behind the &quot;Educational Series&quot; was fascinating, and he wanted to see a &quot;real life example&quot;.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, this morning he saw the note, and we shared several minutes of fascination, imagination, etc.&nbsp; One of the things we did was to go around the obverse&#039;s border, naming each individual listed, and &quot;identifying&quot; them.&nbsp; &quot;Ah, yes, so-and-so, who invented the widget&quot; or whatever.&nbsp; It was a bit of amusement for two history nerds, to realize that between us we could identify and discuss each individual...</p><p><br /></p><p>Except one.&nbsp; Bancroft.&nbsp; Both of us drew a blank.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, needing to get to work, i returned to my desk.&nbsp; A while later, the coworker emails me, with a brief description of the life and accomplishments of George Bancroft, and links with more information.</p><p><br /></p><p>It was probably 2 hours later that 2 things struck me.</p><p><br /></p><p>1) This note, issued quite specifically for the very purpose of providing conversation starters, teachable moments, and opportunities to expand one&#039;s knowledge of our country&#039;s heritage...IS STILL PERFORMING THAT FUNCTION, some <b>114</b> years later.</p><p><br /></p><p>I find that fact to be utterly fascinating.&nbsp; Well beyond the &quot;value&quot;, or rarity, or condition, or anything else that matters to us as collectors...it serves today as a teaching tool...exactly as its designers intended over a century ago.</p><p><br /></p><p>2) The disparity between HOW that function is realized.</p><p><br /></p><p>Just think...when this note was new, a child may well have asked a parent &quot;Who is Bancroft?&quot;&nbsp; What would the process have been, in 1896, had the parent not known?</p><p><br /></p><p>Perhaps a set of encyclopedias was available in the house.&nbsp; One can envision a search through the &quot;B&quot; volume, perhaps in a study or reading room, and then discussion over dinner about the man.</p><p><br /></p><p>Of course, quite likely the average family could not have afforded such expensive luxuries as an encyclopedia, so a bit of travel might have been in order...maybe the next day, or several days later.&nbsp; Automobiles were by NO means common, so likely any such trip would have been by foot, or perhaps buggy or cart.</p><p><br /></p><p>To where?&nbsp; Well, if the community were large enough, perhaps a local library...but more likely, to a local educator.&nbsp; Maybe the teacher would know, or at least have access to, the information.</p><p><br /></p><p>Ultimately, in 1896 learning about George Bancroft, and how his name came to be on the one dollar bill, might well have been a significant undertaking requiring hours, days, or perhaps even weeks of effort to unravel.</p><p><br /></p><p>Today?&nbsp; A coworker sits at his &quot;computer&quot;, &quot;Googles&quot; for information, and fires off a quick &quot;e-mail&quot; with &quot;links&quot;.</p><p><br /></p><p>How utterly and completely MAGICAL.&nbsp; 114 years later, for such an artifact to still perform its intended function, but for it to be realized in such a vastly different way.</p><p><br /></p><p>If that doesn&#039;t reward you for being in this hobby, I don&#039;t know what could.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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