The Assassination of President Garfield and Its Unexpected Effect on Currency Portrait Selection in the 1880s
When Charles Guiteau shot President James A. Garfield on July 2, 1881, the political shockwaves reached all the way to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, reshaping which faces appeared on American paper money for decades. This deep dive explores how mourning, politics, and Treasury Department policy collided to redirect US currency portrait selection in ways that still affect the notes collectors hunt today.
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