# 2057 - 1983 20c American Inventors: Nikola Tesla, Induction Motor
20¢ Nikola Tesla
American Inventors
City: Washington, DC
Quantity: 48,263,750
Printed By: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Lithographed and engraved
Perforations: 11
Color: Multicolored
Birth Of Nikola Tesla
The fourth of five children, Tesla discovered as he attended school that he had an eidetic memory – meaning he was able to retain more information and for longer than his fellow students. This sometimes got young Tesla in trouble as his teachers thought him to be cheating.
In 1875, Tesla attended Austrian Polytechnic, a higher education school in Graz, Austria. Tesla did well in his first year, but later became addicted to gambling and his success faltered. He left the school in 1878. In 1880, Tesla went to several lectures at Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague – he had been too late to formally enroll in the college.
Then in 1887, Tesla met two investors who gave him the funding to create the Tesla Electric Company in Manhattan. While working there, he developed the groundbreaking alternating current induction motor. He so impressed the Westinghouse Company, they agreed to license the technology and pay him up front. However, Westinghouse later convinced Tesla to sell them the patents for a single sum, which likely prevented Tesla from making a fortune.
20¢ Nikola Tesla
American Inventors
City: Washington, DC
Quantity: 48,263,750
Printed By: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Lithographed and engraved
Perforations: 11
Color: Multicolored
Birth Of Nikola Tesla
The fourth of five children, Tesla discovered as he attended school that he had an eidetic memory – meaning he was able to retain more information and for longer than his fellow students. This sometimes got young Tesla in trouble as his teachers thought him to be cheating.
In 1875, Tesla attended Austrian Polytechnic, a higher education school in Graz, Austria. Tesla did well in his first year, but later became addicted to gambling and his success faltered. He left the school in 1878. In 1880, Tesla went to several lectures at Charles-Ferdinand University in Prague – he had been too late to formally enroll in the college.
Then in 1887, Tesla met two investors who gave him the funding to create the Tesla Electric Company in Manhattan. While working there, he developed the groundbreaking alternating current induction motor. He so impressed the Westinghouse Company, they agreed to license the technology and pay him up front. However, Westinghouse later convinced Tesla to sell them the patents for a single sum, which likely prevented Tesla from making a fortune.