US $1 Myth

Don't believe any of it.

The most unusual feature on the dollar bill is likely the Unfinished Pyramid half of the Great Seal. This features and unfinished pyramid, representing the continuing growth of the Republic, and the eye watching over the pyramid represents the deity.

There is some Latin text on the seal:
Annuit Coeptis: "[God] Has Favored our Undertakings"
Novus Ordo Seclorum: "A New Order for the Ages"

Both of these phrases pretty much mean the same thing as the pyramid image: The United States was the beginning of a new type of government, which was looked upon by God with favor.

According to the Wikipedia article, the Mason connotations of the seal, such as the "All-Seeing Eye", did not arrive until after the seal was used for the US.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_...nited_States

The back of the current design American $1 note depicts both sides of the Great Seal of the United States. If there are hidden cryptic messages to be found, they are there because they are on the Seal, not on the note per se.

The "front" of the Seal is the coat of arms of the United States. This design has been used as seen on the note on official Documents of State (Treaties, Presidential communiques, etc) since 1885; earlier versions of the Seal used cruder, less realistic-looking eagles and had other design differences.

Unlike the front, the "back" of the Seal, the part depicting the Unfinished Pyramid, does not physically exist. Although the design was set down by resolution in 1782, it was never actually cut into a seal. The 1782 resolution expected the Seal to be used pendant-fashion, as was normal for the time and which would have necessitated both a front and back die, but pendant-seals went out of fashion shortly afterwards so an actual seal depicting the reverse has never been needed, and therefore never been made. The one depicted on the note is therefore an artist's interpretation of what it might look like, if they were to make one.

As for the symbolism: yes, some of the symbols used on the Seal, particularly the pyramid-side, are also used by Freemasons. It should be recognized, however, that the symbols are actually older than either the United States or modern Freemasonry. The Eye of Providence, for example, was popularized by artists during the Protestant Reformation who desired to depict God in their artwork in some fashion that did not appear too "Catholic-looking". The oldest known record of the Freemasons using the Eye, on the other hand, is 1797, 14 years after the resolution describing the Seal was passed. So if anything, the Freemasons borrowed the idea from the designers of the Seal, not the other way around.

Some of the myths concerning the $1 bill, including the "eagle turns toward the arrows when America is at war" and the "secret owl", are explored in this old thread.

Sap's post is a good one. I would point out that the Seal was designed at a time when Masons where in high esteem and influence. It is not inconceivable that the seal was designed in whole or part using Masonic motifs; as was the Capital itself.

The Freemasons weren't behind the seal on the back of the $1 note, but they were totally involved in hiding the owl on there.