Raising Money

Today’s Tiny Tuesday blip is bought to you by Bob and his mates. The theme is “Money”, with additional historical notes.

Yes, the inspiration is Joe Rosenthal’s classic shot. It’s already spawned countless clones so why not one more?
Only this is Art not History. What really happened looked like this. Staff Sergeant Louis R. Lowery took several photos as the flag was raised during the battle. But there was a problem. They needed a bigger flag. After the battle was over the photographer was bought in with a fresh set of soldiers and the biggest flag that could be found to “re-create” the event. It’s very interesting to compare the two photos.


The flag in this blip is an old Australian Two Dollar paper note, which were replaced by coins in 1988. Hiding behind the sheep is John Macarthur. His two main claims to fame were “founding” the Australian wool industry and leading a successful rebellion against the Governor who tried to regulate the Rum trade that John and his army mates had a total monopoly over. “Rum” was a generic name for anything with a high alcohol content and was effectively used as currency in the colony at that time.
The rest of the paper notes were replaced by easy to launder plastic ones with fresh faces from 1992-1996. The one I miss most is the $10 Francis Greenway. What other country would put a convicted forger on a bank note?
Money