MT: Steamships and $2 Bills
ANA
August 18, 1999
STEAMSHIPS AND $2 BILLS
By Lance Campbell
On this date in 1807, America's first steamship set sail from New York
harbor. Little did its inventor, Robert Fulton, realize that his
achievement would be commemorated on a $2 bill, more than 90 years later.
Robert Fulton was one of America's greatest inventors. Even as a boy
he showed an aptitude for inventing. As a teenager, he invented a
rudimentary rocket to celebrate Independence Day and a hand-propelled
paddle-wheel boat to use on fishing trips with his friends. He became a
jeweler's apprentice, and then a noted artist. Several of his paintings
were exhibited at the Royal Academy in London. But at the age of 28, he
abandoned art for his inventions.
Boats were his life's passion. Fulton built and launched a 25 foot
submarine powered by a hand crank. He tried, unsuccessfully, to convince
the French that British warships could be destroyed by submarines attaching
underwater bombs, and then escaping undetected.
But it was steam-powered vessels that built his reputation as an
inventor. His first experimental steam-powered boat was launched on the
Seine river in Paris.
Five years later, Fulton launched America's first steamship, the
Clermont. It was launched from New York City on a 300 mile round-trip to
Albany. The trip took 2 1/2 days to complete.
In 1896, Fulton was honored on a $2 bill. Along with Samuel Morse, the
inventor of the telegraph, Fulton's portrait appeared on the back of what
many collectors consider the most beautiful piece of American paper money.
In keeping with the theme of invention, the face of the note features an
allegorical scene of "Miss Science" presenting "Steam" and "Electricity,"
represented as children, to "Miss Commerce" and "Miss Manufacturing."
"Money Talks" is a copyrighted production of the American Numismatic
Association, 818 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80903, 719/632-2646,
a...@money.org, http://www.money.org.
Novsibir
Incidentally there actually is a steamship on the $2.00 bill of 1918, actually
a steam powered battleship. A rare and desirable note also.
D. Parrish
My website on Scottish paper money and coins:
http://www.geocities.com/~dalriata
Nemo me impune lacessit!