So Alexander Hamilton is out for a yet-to-be-named woman on the $10 bill, an honor Hamilton has held for almost 90 years. Before Hamilton, several distinguished persons have been portrayed on the $10 bill, including Daniel Webster - Statesman and Orator who famously forced the Devil to void a contract to take the soul of Jabez Stone in the short story The Devil and Daniel Webster by Steven Vincent Benet. But if Mr. Stone had wanted to void his contract with Old Scratch, he needn't have resorted to a trial against a stacked jury. Instead, he could have done what Daniel Webster did in real life - file Bankruptcy, in 1841. In 1868, Daniel Webster’s finances and reputation had so fully recovered from filing Bankruptcy that his portrait graced the $10 bill as a symbol of the strength and integrity of the United States financial system.
In fact, Webster is arguably the least notable of Five People who filed Bankruptcy who have been depicted on United States currency. The other four are still in circulation. Can you name them?
$2 bill -- Thomas Jefferson (The man who made the most famous Purchase in the nation's history was a repeat filer.)
$5 bill -- Abraham Lincoln (Yes, Honest Abe. Also a repeat filer.)
$50 bill -- Ulysses Grant (1884. He was on the $5 Silver Certificate two years after filing bankruptcy.)
$500 bill -- William McKinley (1893. Three years after filing bankruptcy he was elected President of the United States.)
People often ask whether they will be able to recover from filing bankruptcy. Will they ever be able to buy a home again, or prosper, or lead a normal life? After due deliberation, the answer is a resounding Yes. You can wager your soul on it.
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