( the following was emailed to me by a fellow Homeland employee and

most of his patriotic rhetoric and personal assertions are omitted)

Our present dollar bill design first came off the presses in 1957.

It is a cotton and linen blend, with red and blue minute silk fibers running through it with a special blend of ink, contents we will never know.
It is overprinted with symbols and then it is starched to make it water resistant and pressed to give it that nice crisp look.
If you look on the front of the bill, you will see the United States Treasury Seal.
On the top you will see the scales-- for a balanced budget?
In the center is a carpenter's square, a tool used for an even cut.
Underneath is the Key to the United States Treasury.

On the backside are two circles.
Both circles, together, comprise the Great Seal of the United States.
The First Continental Congress requested that Benjamin Franklin and a group of men come up with a Seal.
It took them four years to accomplish this task and another two years to get it approved.
The left circle is an uncapped Pyramid.
the face is lighted, and the western side is dark.
Inside the capstone you have the all-seeing eye, an ancient symbol for divinity.
It was Franklin's belief that one man couldn't do it alone, but a group of men, with the help of God, could do anything. "IN! GOD WE TRUST" is on this currency.
The Latin above the pyramid, ANNUIT COEPTIS, means, "God has favored our undertaking."
The Latin below the pyramid, NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM, means, "A new order has begun."
At the base of the pyramid is the Roman numeral for 1776.
The right circle is on every national cemetery and the Parade of Flags at the Bushnell, Florida National Cemetery. It is the centerpiece of most heroes' monuments.  A slightly modified version is the seal of the President of the United States, and it is always visible whenever he speaks. 
The Bald Eagle was selected as a symbol for victory because it is strong and not afraid of a storm; and smart enough to soar above it.

The unsupported shield likely signifying America’s ability to stand on its own. At the top of that shield is a white bar signifying congress.
In the Eagle's beak is written: "E PLURIBUS UNUM" (one nation from many people).  Above the Eagle are the thirteen stars, representing the thirteen original colonies.  In the eagle’s talons is an olive branch and arrows.

The Eagle faces the olive branch Except in time of war, its gaze turns toward the arrows.

The Number 13 believed to be unlucky.
But, there are:
13 original colonies,
13 signers of the Declaration of Independence,
13 stripes on our flag,
13 steps on the Pyramid,
13 letters in the Latin above,
13 letters in "E Pluribus Unum,"
13 stars above the Eagle,
13 bars on that shield,
13 leaves on the olive branch,
13 fruits, and if you look closely,
13 arrows.