Dollar Bill was an athlete and used his superior physical prowess to defeat criminals.

He had been a star athlete in college in his home state of Kansas. A major banking chain hired him to be their private superhero with the hope that would deter bank robberies at their branches. His official costume, designed by the publicity department of the bank, included an unwieldy cape that ultimately caused Dollar Bill's death when it got caught in the bank's revolving door, trapping him in the sights of a robber's gun.

Dollar Bill was universally well liked, even by the more curmudgeonly costumed heroes. His tenure with the Minutemen was cut short by his untimely death, but he was spoken of with great fondness by all his teammates.

• Hollis Mason wrote in Under the Hood that his own costume was designed for functionality above all and offered the tale of poor Dollar Bill as an illustration the danger of form over function in superhero costumes.