Just in time for our current recession, along comes a coffee table that can remind you of your own woes. Conversely, it might remind you of your own successes. The Benjamin Coffee Table is a carved wonder, a replica of the United States $100 bill, complete with the recognizable visage of one of our esteemed founding fathers. Franklin and all the other American regalia are carved into a solid slab of oak, cut 1/8 inch deep into the surface.

Benjamin Coffee Table. Designed by Gomez Carvings.

Benjamin can be carved onto any style table; you can choose its legs and aprons. Place the coffee table in your living room and admire the look of the bill you haven’t seen much of lately. Should that prove too trying, ask for a George Coffee Table instead. With only a $1 face value, that one can’t make you weep.

Gomez Carvings, the creator of such wooden wonders, works solely by custom order. I have a feeling that if you ask the company for a $3 bill with Obama stenciled in that oval frame we reserve for US currency, Gomez Carvings will happily oblige. They like a challenge: “Our business concept is to create unique, one of the kind and over the top wood creations. We can also carve flowers and grapes but prefer not to.” In short, you can choose any bill with any president, depending on how hard the recession has hit you. If Honest Abe were the least bit handsome–or even not painful to look at–I might order a round Lincoln Coffee Table, just to remind myself that things could get worse: I still have my great collection of pennies filling up jars in my mother’s basement. That’s got to be worth something.