The Currency of the United States in Steven Universe consists of bills and coins.
Appearance[]
Bills[]
Bills closely resemble the real-life United States banknotes. Each bill is a green, rectangular piece of paper. On the obverse side, a number word is printed in the middle for most denominations; the $100 bill displays the numeral here instead of the word. To the left and right of the number are the designs of an upside down diamond and a snake, respectively. In each of the four corners of a bill is a numeral. The words "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" are centered at the top and "[NUMBER] DOLLAR" centered at the bottom. The reverse side appears to be blank. The known denominations are $1, $2, $3, and $100.
Coins[]
Steven holding two quarters in "Arcade Mania".
Nickels, quarters, and silver dollars are silver/white in color. As seen in "Keep Beach City Weird", some coins have an engraved image of a coiled snake on one side and a shield superimposed on a star on the opposite side. As seen in "Arcade Mania", quarters and silver dollars appear to be engraved with a face that resembles Pearl on one side. Pennies are presumably in circulation, though the only penny that has been seen in-show is the giant penny in Rose's Armory; it is copper in color and bears the United States' 2010 Union Shield design on one side.
History[]
Pilot[]
Steven uses this currency to buy donuts for the Crystal Gems at the Big Donut.
"Frybo"[]
Peedee and Steven place coins in the slots of the Jelly Jiggler and Tsunami rides,
"Cat Fingers"[]
Steven buys a donut and surprises Sadie and Lars by letting the cat finger give them the buck.
"Arcade Mania"[]
After Garnet becomes addicted to Meat Beat Mania, Steven inserts quarters into the machine in an attempt to break her out of her trance.
"Onion Trade"[]
Greg gives Steven a bag of quarters so he can try to replace the G.U.Y.S. toy he lost.
"Keep Beach City Weird"[]
Ronaldo Fryman tells Steven his theory about the symbols printed on the bills. According to Ronaldo, the snake on the right side of the dollar represents the Snake People's hold on the country. The diamond on the left symbolizes the Snake People's "underground mines... or their sharp teeth." Later, Ronaldo revises his theory of the diamond's meaning: "Polymorphic Sentient Rocks" (which, unknown to him, describes Gems). Ronaldo also says that Polymorphic Sentient Rocks are part of the Great Diamond Authority.
"Watermelon Steven"[]
Steven sets up a stand to give out Watermelon Stevens for free. Sadie, however, insists on paying for one, leading to other citizens to follow suit.
"Alone Together"[]
Stevonnie buys two donuts for themself to eat, but Sadie and Lars let them keep their money, saying it's on the house.
"Mr. Greg"[]
Greg and Steven are seen handing stacks of bills to the employees of Empire City's Le Hotel multiple times. For example, when they first enter, they give Ricky some cash to book a suite.
"Greg the Babysitter"[]
While Greg is singing "I Think I Need a Little (Change)" at the Beach City Pier for money, a passerby drops a dollar bill into Greg's guitar case. This turns out to be the only money he earned, since two bottle caps and a button were the only other things inside.
"Crack the Whip"[]
Steven and Connie give Sadie money to make up for the donuts that Amethyst stole while disguised as Lars.
"Future Boy Zoltron"[]
Several characters use quarters to have their fortunes read by the Zoltron machine.
Trivia[]
$3 bill model sheet for "Watermelon Steven"
- Three dollar bills are not currently used in the United States, but they did exist in several states in the country's formative years before a unified currency was created, and several fake three dollar bills have been created to satirize politicians and celebrities.
Join, or Die political cartoon
- The snake design seen on currency may be a reference to the significant use of snake symbols throughout the history of the United States.
- Benjamin Franklin's Join, or Die political cartoon depicts a snake. Franklin had also proposed the rattlesnake as the national animal in a satirical commentary in 1751; he more seriously suggested this in 1775.
- The Gadsden flag, used during the American Revolution, depicts a rattlesnake.
- The rattlesnake was used on the 20 dollar bill issued in 1778 by the state of Georgia.
- A rattlesnake appears on the seal and emblem of the United States Department of the Army.
- The dollar bill confirms Beach City is in America.
- The upside down diamond on the bill resembles Pink Diamond's gemstone.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
.png "Frybo (122).png (508 KB)")
.png "Cat Fingers (103).png (1.37 MB)")
.png "Cat Fingers (105).png (1.03 MB)")
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.png "Keep Beach City Weird (090).png (953 KB)")
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.png "Keep Beach City Weird (271).png (1.25 MB)")
.png "Watermelon Steven (123).png (1.36 MB)")
.png "Watermelon Steven (124).png (1.36 MB)")
.png "Watermelon Steven (125).png (1.38 MB)")
.png "Watermelon Steven (133).png (1.28 MB)")
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.png "Watermelon Steven (135).png (1.75 MB)")
.png "Watermelon Steven (136).png (1.77 MB)")
.png "Watermelon Steven (137).png (1.76 MB)")
.png "Watermelon Steven (138).png (1.75 MB)")
.png "Watermelon Steven (139).png (1.29 MB)")
.png "Watermelon Steven (169).png (1.98 MB)")
Model Sheets[]
Blog Images[]
