WASHINGTON– Officials announced Thursday that the Treasury Department plans to release a $0 bill into the U.S. economy. The bill, devoid of any monetary value, will be completely worthless.
“This bill will serve absolutely no real purpose whatsoever,” stated John W. Snow, Secretary of the Treasury, unveiling a zero dollar bill prototype to reporters.
A final design has not yet been approved for the bill. Under Public Law 105-124, the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Congress, selects appropriate designs for currency within the United States. A notable American figure to be used for the portrait on the bill is still under negotiation.
Several likely candidates include former presidents Rutherford B. Hayes, Lyndon B. Johnson, and noted activist Cesar Chavez. Treasury officials repeatedly stressed that the Treasury Department does not aim to belittle the figures’ contributions to American society in any way by placing them on a valueless bill.
Currency is currently used inside the United States for legal tender for all debts public and private, whether it is for purchasing consumer goods or for being placed into savings accounts to be used at later dates. However, the Treasury Department did not specify what monetary uses the zero dollar bill might have, if any.
“The zero dollar bill will have numerous uses,” stated Snow, responding to criticisms of the bill’s impracticability. “For example, you can fold it up and make little origami things, like this one swan [Economic and Financial Emissary to China Paul W.] Speltz made the other day. Or, you could get a whole stack of ‘em, and pretend you are a billionaire of some sort.”
“This bill, like other denominations of currency, will no doubt serve as a treasure trove of fun factoids,” Snow continued. “For example, did you know that, as far as coins go, Abraham Lincoln’s portrait on the one-cent piece is the only portrait facing right? It’s true, you know.”
The Treasury Department is expected to ratify a final design for the bill by next year.
