When it comes to gifts usually it's what's on the inside that counts, but that's not necessarily the case for the gifts Edwina Rogers gives -- she wraps her presents in money. Uncut sheets of real, government-issued, dollar bills.
The wife of Washington lobbyist Ed Rogers gets the money sheets from the United States Bureau of Engraving (you can order them for yourself here) and then slices and dices as you would any wrapping paper to best fit the gift and get the best pattern on the front of the package (in this case it's lining up Washington's face just right). No matter that she regularly cuts several bills in half in the process, to be frugal she sticks to the dollar paper and only uses it to wrap "small" gifts.
A sheet of money paper consisting of 32 $1 bills sells for $55.
Via Trendhunter
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
9-08-2008 @ 7:38PM
caribbeauty said...
I don't understand how the government can allow this when girls were getting the dollars bills cut up as finger nails tips that was ban.
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9-09-2008 @ 1:38PM
William said...
what?
9-09-2008 @ 3:56PM
ADOA said...
What do you mean Caribeauty? People were ignorant enough to use filthy dollar bills as tips on their nails? Yes, I can see how that would be banned, after all it is unsanitary. I'm thinking that you mean people tried to use dollar bills instead of linen or silk or plastic tips to lengthen their nails.
9-08-2008 @ 8:47PM
quanta said...
Incidentally, Steve Wozniak of Apple fame also handles uncut sheets of money, but he likes to pay for purchases with them as a practical joke. To add to the zaniness he uses uncut $2 bills.
According to Wikipedia, he even has them bound into notepads.
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9-09-2008 @ 8:04AM
Cliff said...
The sad part is since her husband is a lobbyist in Washington, it is our tax dollars that are paying most of those lobbyist and they are wrapping presents in money. It is a really neat idea though.
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9-26-2008 @ 3:12PM
Planx said...
I don't think you understand very well who pays for lobbyists.
9-09-2008 @ 11:39AM
John said...
That's just stupid...$55 for $32 worth of $1 bills!
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9-09-2008 @ 12:20PM
ricosuave said...
You think that's bad, scraps from the printing press are sold in 5 inch baggies to the public.
I'm the proud owner of one. It was a gift.
9-09-2008 @ 1:38PM
William said...
how do they justify the extra $23? Even taking into shipping, it seems a little exorbitant...
9-09-2008 @ 2:13PM
John said...
It's like paying $0.75 to get a stamped penny. Besides, I suppose it helps offset the cost of replacement (since you could bring them into a bank after cutting them apart in pieces and get them replaced with normal bills)
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9-09-2008 @ 2:21PM
Janeyre said...
What can I say? This country is going down fast. No comment...
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9-09-2008 @ 2:24PM
KARIN said...
It's very simple. They charge $55 for a sheet of $32, because people PAY $55 for $32. But at least you're getting something for something, instead of paying thousands, playing the lottery, and getting nothing in return.
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9-09-2008 @ 2:31PM
Melanie said...
I commented earlier but I don't think that it went through, so I will do it again :O)
Isn't defacing money illegal? I have always heard that it is a crime if you write, cut, or throw away money. Hmmmmm.
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9-09-2008 @ 3:00PM
wendygoerl said...
It depends on your intent. A single cut isn't "defacing" and the money is perfectly spendable once you cut them apart (as long as more than 50% of the bill is there, it's legal tender). Penny presses quote the regulation chapter and verse to show they're legal. The legislation was enacted after a number of banks got the bright idea of stamping ads onto every coin that went past their tellers.
9-09-2008 @ 6:25PM
mikem3621 said...
It is not illegal as long as you do not mess with the serial numbers. You can color all over it, but if you mark over a serial number, it is no longer legal tender and you have committed a crime. The government will not hunt you down for doing this to one bill though, so don't freak out. I heard someone say if the bill has one corner on it, it is still legal for use. So you can cut off three of the sides and still spend it legally.
9-09-2008 @ 2:41PM
Lassie said...
Sounds pretty outrageous. But. I think it would be a hoot to wrap a "small" gift using new $1 bills. You have to pay $4, $5, or $6 for wrapping paper anyway. Make a card out of those bills, too, with blank paper inside for writing a message on. The price of greeting cards is obscene. I make many of my own cards, using card stock, stickers, rubber stamp letters...that, and buying wrapping material from the Dollar Store saves ME $$$.
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9-09-2008 @ 2:48PM
ralph said...
Lobbysts must be go to the electric chair.
They ruined this country.
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9-09-2008 @ 2:50PM
clarkecoln said...
And to think, we are supposedly in the throes of an economic recession. The horror!
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9-09-2008 @ 2:57PM
Kate said...
Edwina and Ed Rogers are Republican lobbyists. Their 18, 000 square foot mansion is called "The Republican Shangri-La". Using money as wrapping paper when ordinary working people are struggling to pay mortgages and other bills, when financial aid for poor students is being cut, when blue collar jobs are being sent over seas is very contemptuous of the average working American.
Yet, Obama may lose because these same average working Americans are more afraid of people of color, of gay rights, of women’s reproductive choice and of immigrants than they are of losing everything they have worked so hard for. They fail to see the true threat to their well being, the absolute corruption and greed of corporate America and the ultra wealthy who control it.
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9-09-2008 @ 6:31PM
Barb said...
Kate, U sound jealous of ppl who have more than you. Just bc THEY made it & others didn't, doesn't make them BAD ppl!!! They can do what they want w/THEIR money. Isn't this a "free" country?