Throw me a Bone

There's a billboard near my house advertising that any size soft drink costs "one bone" at a certain golden-arched fast food establishment. That got me thinking: when did bones become currency? And are they really only worth one dollar? Does that mean that an adult human is only worth $206? And that would be for a perfect specimen: I bet broken or otherwise damaged bones would have to be discounted in some way, like dented cans at the supermarket. However, if that's true then human infants would be worth around $300, making them more valuable which is in line with how our culture views babies versus adults in terms of worth (based on legislation to protect and care for the two.) That still seems kind of low to me, given what it costs for medical care in general. Although I think most medical care deals with the softer and/or squishier parts of the human body, and so I suppose those parts are more valuable than the bones?

I was curious to know where the term came from, and after doing some admittedly light internet research I can say that I have absolutely no idea how a "bone" came to be synonymous with a "dollar". The closest I can guess is that it came from a secret Masonic code, but that's kind of a cop-out really; the Masons get the credit/blame for a lot and they seem to be the easy go-to scapegoat for anything we can't explain in society.

So what do you, my vast, international audience think? (Kris spends half a year in Antarctica, and another quarter abroad so I'm counting that as "international!") Would you accept a bone in place of a dollar bill? Or would you rather a greenback, buck, ace, frogskin, or clam (as another billboard for the same company uses)? OR... would you simply smile awkwardly, don a pair of gloves, take the bone from the person offering it as payment, and quietly call the police?