Why is the Star of David on the the back of a 1 dollar bill?

Answer 1

This was ordered by George Washington. He asked Hayim Solomon (1740-1785), a wealthy Philadelphia Jew, what we would like as a personal reward for his key role in the American colonies' fight to win independence from the British crown.

He had been imprisoned in 1778 by the British in New York City for aiding the Revolutionaries and was condemned to death, but he escaped to Philadelphia. Together with Robert Morris, he brokered a loan of $400,000 in 1779 that gave George Washington the funds to pay his soldiers in the Continental Army. (It is thought that Salomon may have contributed his own funds to this aid package.)

Solomon said that he wanted nothing for himself but rather something for his people. The Jewish Star (Star of David) on the American Great Seal is the result.

Despite his great contribution to American independence, Hayim Solomon died impoverished.

Answer 2

Because the six-pointed star was an extremely common element seen on numerous 18th century flags, seals, emblems, and familial coat-of-arms, its appearance on the dollar bill should not be surprising. Now when it comes to the dollar bill's Great Seal of the United States, the decision to include a six-pointed star above the Eagle's head was neither a strange or unique occurrence. In fact, George Washington's family banner was a blue field filled with a great number of white SIX-POINTED stars arrayed in a symmetrical set of horizontal rows. Not only that, but there is also enough evidence and flag remnants from the Revolutionary era to clearly see that use of the six-pointed star figure was never a primarily Jewish or mostly Jewish practice.

One early version of the U.S. flag (called the 1777 Francis Hopkinson Flag) was composed of all the elements contained in the final, official version of the Stars and Stripes except for the 13 barely noticeable six-pointed Stars of David upon the upper left, dark blue background. In conclusion, there really isn't a Jewish Star of David on back of the one dollar, just a commonly used six-pointed star made of exactly 13 tiny five-pointed stars. Here are some relevant comments about the issue:

Over its (bald eagle's) head there appears a 'glory' with 13 mullets (stars) on a blue field. In the current (and several previous) dies of the Great Seal, the 13 stars above the eagle are arranged in rows of 1-4-3-4-1, forming a six-pointed Star [of David]

- Great Seal of the United States, Wikipedia

Above the American bald eagle's head the stars of the original 13 states are composed to form a Solomon's sealsymbolic of the union of soul and body, spirit and matter. Each of the interlaced equilateral triangles, one upward turned, the other downward...the two represent the physical world as informed by the spiritual..

- Joseph Campbell, The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor as Myth and as Religion (The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell)

U.S. government versions of the Great Seal show the constellation of 13 stars in a Hexagram pattern (two triangles intersecting to form a six-pointed star). There has been much speculation about the symbolic intent of this Hexagram...

- "Thirteen Stars Forming a Constellation", GreatSeal.com

The first die...was cut sometime between June and September, 1782 (i.e. between the design being accepted and its first use), although the exact date is not known. The identity of the engraver is also not known...The blazon does not specify the arrangement of the stars...nor the number of points; the engraver chose Six-Pointed Stars (typical of English heraldry), and arranged them in a larger Six-Pointed Star. No drawing made by the engraver has ever been found...This first die was used until 1841.

- Great Seal of the United States, Wikipedia