Why the $5 bill just became my favorite piece of paper money

For money I actually carry around on a regular basis, I used to love the ten dollar bill.  There's something uncommon about it.  I've always got a pocket full of Washingtons and Lincolns and Jacksons, but Hamilton is a little more elusive.  I don't know, maybe there are less $10's in circulation than the other guys.  

Take some cash out of your pocket and have a look at it.  Washington looks kind of pissed off, and Lincoln has one eyebrow slightly arched, like he's checking out something in the distance.  Jackson looks like he's about to cry.  And Hamilton has this cocky little smirk on his face, like he just took the clothes out of your gym locker and hid them while you were in the shower.  And all the guys are facing to the right, except Hamilton, who is facing to the left.  What an oddball.  Maybe that's why Burr put a bullet into him.   Either way, when I've got a ten I try to keep him around for a while.  

Until today.  Because today I finally found out what it is that Lincoln is looking at in the distance. Take a peek.

This spot is for Bontrust, a German financial consulting company.   Lincoln's friend is Clara Schumann, the famous German pianist who appears on the 100 Deutschmark.  And the new man in town is played by the inscrutable Mao Tse-Tung, face of the Chinese Yuan.  Even without any titles, the message is pretty clear.  Your money needs to be working hard, in markets all over the world, to create more money.  Lincoln is clearly unafraid to work hard.  And that is why the $5 bill just became my new favorite piece of paper money.

Credits to Optix Digital Pictures in Hamburg for a job well done.