Month: January 2020

HELP! What was this plaque used for?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Item highlightLeave a comment

Several years ago, I picked up this brown and white enamel plaque that has a portrait of a woman on it.  When I purchased it, I was told by the dealer that it was a decoration off of the front of a stove that was made around the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s.

The dealer also said that they thought it was enameled copper.

Ever since the day I got it, I have been poking around to see what exactly it is.  The first thing that I ran across was a picture of Queen Elizabeth during her Diamond Jubilee of 1897.  The picture was pretty close to the image on the front of the plaque.

Another thing that really threw me for a loop was that I saw another listing on the internet that said these plaques were used on a front door of a house.

Bottom of front Is it really a decoration for a stove or a door?  Was it really made of copper?  If it was off of a stove, what brand was it on?  If you know what this is, feel free to drop me a line.  I would love to know is what this was used for.

What are some nicknames for paper money that is printed in the United States?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Money, PaperLeave a comment

Greenbacks, moola, clams and even loot—we have all heard some of the nicknames for paper money.  What are some that may not be as well known?

We all know that the $1 bill is sometimes called a “single,” a “buck,” a “greenback” but did you know that it’s even called an “ace”?

The $2 bill is sometimes referred to as a “deuce” and it is even called a “Tom”.

The $5 bill has been referred to as a “fin”, “fiver” or even a “five-spot”, but did you know that the $10 bill is called a “sawbuck“?  And since we are talking about sawbucks, the $20 bill is also called a “double sawbuck”.

Horse racing gamblers are known to call the $50 bill a “frog” and it is considered unlucky.

The $50 bill is a “half a yard” while the $100 bill is called a “yard”, so $300 is “3 yards”.

“A rack” is $10,000 in the form of one hundred $100 bills that was banded by a bank.  The nickname “Blue cheese” is the new U.S. 100-dollar bill that was introduced in 2009 (this deals with the color of the bill).

The United States Mint has also printed $1000 notes occasionally, and they are referred to as “large” (“twenty large” being $20,000, etc.).

 In slang, a thousand dollars may also be referred to as a “stack” and is also known as a “band”.

$100,000 US dollars is called a “brick”. This is only a small portion of the nicknames for the United States money that you will run across.  What have you heard?