Silver Eagle

Silver Eagles (previously known as Dollars) are the primary currency of Columbia. Silver Eagles are used to purchase a variety of items from vending machines. Elizabeth will also randomly find Silver Eagles and hand them to Booker DeWitt if he accepts them.

Though Silver Eagles are mostly found in coin form, they can also be collected by picking up wallets, purses, and cash bags as well as silver and gold bars. Though most commodities can be bought with just a few Silver Eagles, permanent upgrades to weapons and Vigors through the Minuteman's Armory and Veni! Vidi! Vigor! vending machines respectively are far more expensive.

In BioShock Infinite, though Booker DeWitt can be revived after taking fatal damage, death has a price, and will cost the player a certain amount of Silver Eagles upon every revival. On Easy Mode, death costs 5 Silver Eagles, on Medium Mode, the price rises to 25, on Hard Mode, the cost rises again to 50, and on 1999 Mode, every death costs the player a whopping 100 Silver Eagles. Moreover, if the player doesn't have enough money to respwan in the latter difficulty, death will result in a permanent game over.

Description
Each Silver Eagle has two designs. On the heads (obverse) of the Silver Eagle is the Scroll, Sword, and Key, the three symbols associated with the Founding Fathers, the Scroll representing Father Thomas Jefferson, the Sword representing Father George Washington and the Key representing Father Benjamin Franklin. On the tails (reverse) of the Silver Eagle is the Monument Island Tower and "Columbia" inscribed on the top of the Monument's Figure.

Behind the Scenes

 * Silver Eagles are likely based on American gold coinage called Eagles, which had been a circulating denomination until it was halted in 1933. By 1986, there was an American Silver Eagle which currently serves as the official silver bullion coin of the United States.
 * Compared to the first two games, the money counter has five digits. Booker can carry as much Silver Eagles as the digits will allow.

Bugs/Glitches

 * Though not specifically a bug, a design oversight within the game allows the player to obtain a potentially infinite amount of money, along with 30 Lockpicks (the maximum amount one can carry at a time) and almost every Gear item in the game. During the chapter Return to Soldier's Field, reentering and exiting the Hall of Heroes will cause most of the level to reset, allowing the player to loot certain areas ad infinitum. The portions that respawn are the following: