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I had a question posed. Can anyone help?
Julian
Posts: 3,370 ✭✭✭
Why is the dollar bill called a buck?
Many thanx.
Julian
jmlbc@comcast.net
Many thanx.
Julian
jmlbc@comcast.net
PNG member, numismatic dealer since 1965. Operates a retail store, also has exhibited at over 1000 shows.
I firmly believe in numismatics as the world's greatest hobby, but recognize that this is a luxury and without collectors, we can all spend/melt our collections/inventories.
eBaystore
I firmly believe in numismatics as the world's greatest hobby, but recognize that this is a luxury and without collectors, we can all spend/melt our collections/inventories.
eBaystore
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<< <i>A sawbuck is device for holding rough wood so that it may be sawn into pieces of length usable in a stove or fireplace. Easily made in the field from rough material, it consists of two "X" forms, one at each end, which are stabilized by a central piece. The stock to be cut is placed in the upward facing "V"s of the end pieces where it may then be sawn.
Sawbuck is also slang for a U.S. ten dollar bill. The term may derive from the fact that older versions of the bill included the roman numeral for ten, "X", which resembles one of the ends of the wood supporting device described above; however, this is somewhat problematic because the first use of sawbuck in known print refers to the money and not the wood device. This name was most common in the days of large-sized notes. In poker terminology, "sawski" refers to a sawbuck. >>
Russ, NCNE
"Incidentally, while "buck" as slang for "one dollar" is often traced to the use of buckskins (deer pelts) as a medium of exchange in early America, that theory has never been verified and "buck" in the "dollar" sense has not been found before the mid-19th century. One wonders whether "buck" might not have been derived from "sawbuck" by the logic of "A sawbuck is ten dollars, so one dollar must be just 'a buck'." Hey, it's not impossible.
"However, the "buck" in Harry Truman's famous motto "The buck stops here" (meaning "I accept the responsibility") has nothing to do with money. In 19th century poker games, the dealer of the current hand was designated by an object called a "buck" (supposedly originally a knife with a buckhorn handle) placed on the table. When the next player's turn to deal came, the "buck" was "passed," a phrase which came to mean "transfer (or evade) responsibility" by the early 20th century."
Sawbuck does have a recognized origin - when 19th century paper money had Roman numerals on the back, the $10 bill had an X. The shape of the X reminded people of the shape of a sawhorse (aka a sawbuck). The Roman numerals also were the origin of why a $100 bill is commonly called a C-note. (C = 100 in Roman numerals)
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
<< <i>Why is a quarter "two bits"? >>
That one is too easy. Think "pieces of eight".
Russ, NCNE
All The Way - And Then Some
I collect Modern Commemoratives
and anything Franklin.
<< <i>In 19th century poker games, the dealer of the current hand was designated by an object called a "buck" (supposedly originally a knife with a buckhorn handle) placed on the table. When the next player's turn to deal came, the "buck" was "passed," a phrase which came to mean "transfer (or evade) responsibility" by the early 20th century." >>
Cool, wondered why that was done. Most tables call it a button now I believe