Editing Benjamin Franklin (section)

=== Likeness and image ===
[[File:2012-07 ncc 04.JPG|thumb|A life-size bronze statue of Franklin (seated with cane) in the [[National Constitution Center]] in [[Philadelphia]]]]

As the only person to have signed the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]] in 1776, [[Treaty of Alliance (1778)|Treaty of Alliance with France]] in 1778, [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1783, and [[Constitution of the United States|U.S. Constitution]] in 1787, Franklin is considered one of the leading [[Founding Fathers of the United States]]. His pervasive influence in the early history of the nation has led to his being jocularly called "the only president of the United States who was never president of the United States."<ref>[[Everything You Know Is Wrong|Firesign Theater quote, meant humorously but poignantly.]]</ref>

Franklin's likeness is ubiquitous. Since 1914, it has adorned American [[United States one-hundred-dollar bill|$100 bills]]. From 1948 to 1963, Franklin's portrait was on the [[Franklin half dollar|half-dollar]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Breen|first=Walter|title=Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Coins|publisher=Doubleday|year=1988|isbn=978-0-385-14207-6|location=New York|author-link=Walter H. Breen}}</ref> He has appeared on a [[United States fifty-dollar bill|$50 bill]] and on several varieties of the $100 bill from 1914 and 1918.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wilhite|first=Robert|url=https://archive.org/details/standardcatalogo0000krau|title=Standard Catalog of United States Paper Money (17th ed)|publisher=Krause Pubns Inc|year=1998|isbn=0-87341-653-8|url-access=registration}}</ref> Franklin also appears on the $1,000 [[United States Savings Bonds#Series EE|Series EE savings bond]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.treasurydirect.gov/instit/savbond/mat/clipart/clipart_savbond.htm |title=U.S. Savings Bond Images |website=treasurydirect.gov |access-date=October 21, 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060905172433/http://www.treasurydirect.gov:80/instit/savbond/mat/clipart/clipart_savbond.htm |archive-date=September 5, 2006 }}</ref>

On April 12, 1976, as part of a [[United States Bicentennial|bicentennial]] celebration, [[United States Congress|Congress]] dedicated a {{convert|20|ft|adj=on|0}} tall marble statue in Philadelphia's [[Franklin Institute]] as the [[Benjamin Franklin National Memorial]]. Vice President [[Nelson Rockefeller]] presided over the dedication ceremony.<ref>{{cite news |date=April 13, 1976 | title=Memorial dedicated |work=The Intelligencer |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/68328398/the-daily-intelligencer/ |access-date=January 23, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Many of Franklin's personal possessions are on display at the institute. In London, his house at 36 Craven Street, which is the only surviving former residence of Franklin, was first marked with a [[blue plaque]] and has since been opened to the public as the [[Benjamin Franklin House]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Benjamin Franklin House |journal=Nature |volume=160 |issue=4053 |page=15 |bibcode=1947Natur.160S..15. |year=1947 |doi=10.1038/160015c0 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In 1998, workmen restoring the building dug up the remains of six children and four adults hidden below the home. A total of 15 bodies have been recovered.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Schultz|first=Colin|date=October 23, 2013|title=Why Was Benjamin Franklin's Basement Filled with Skeletons?|work=Smithsonian Magazine|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-was-benjamin-franklins-basement-filled-with-skeletons-524521/|access-date=September 17, 2021}}</ref> The Friends of Benjamin Franklin House (the organization responsible for the restoration) note that the bones were likely placed there by [[William Hewson (surgeon)|William Hewson]], who lived in the house for two years and who had built a small anatomy school at the back of the house. They note that while Franklin likely knew what Hewson was doing, he probably did not participate in any dissections because he was much more of a physicist than a medical man.<ref>{{cite newsletter |magazine=The Craven Street Gazette |url=http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org/site/sections/news/pdf/Issue2.pdf  |publisher=The Friends of Benjamin Franklin House |title=Skeletons in the Closet |page=1 |access-date=September 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050929140325/http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org/site/sections/news/pdf/Issue2.pdf |archive-date=September 29, 2005 |date=August 1998 |url-status=deviated}}</ref>

He has been honored on U.S. postage stamps many times. The image of Franklin, the first postmaster general of the United States, occurs on the face of U.S. postage more than any other American save that of George Washington.<ref name="Scotts">Scotts Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps</ref> He appeared on the first U.S. postage stamp issued in 1847. From 1908 through 1923, the U.S. Post Office issued a series of postage stamps commonly referred to as the [[Washington–Franklin Issues]], in which Washington and Franklin were depicted many times over a 14-year period, the longest run of any one series in U.S. postal history. However, he only appears on a few [[:File:Ben Franklin 250th 1956 issue-3c.jpg|commemorative stamps]]. Some of the finest portrayals of Franklin on record can be found on the engravings inscribed on the face of U.S. postage.<ref name="Scotts" />

[[File:New100front.jpg|thumb|center|upright=1.8|{{center|Franklin has appeared on the [[United States one hundred-dollar bill|United States $100 bill]] since 1914.}}]]

{{Multiple image
 | align = center
 | caption_align = center
 | total_width = 800
 | image1 = Benjamin Franklin 1861 Issue-1c.jpg
 | caption1 = Issue of 1861
 | image2 = Benjamin Franklin2 1895 Issue-1c.jpg
 | caption2 = Issue of 1895
 | image3 = Benjamin Franklin 2-Big-Bens 1918 Issue.jpg
 | caption3 = Issue of 1918
 | footer = Examples of Franklin on U. S. Postage
}}