A Funnyback is a type of one-dollar silver certificate produced in 1928 and 1934 in the United States. The note marked the introduction of small-size banknotes in the United States. People referred to the note as a "Funnyback" based on the significantly lighter green ink and unusual font printed on the reverse.
The Funnyback dollar measured 6.14 in (156 mm) by 2.61 in (66 mm) characterized by a blue treasury seal on the front. The reverse was devoid of symbolism or mention of the government and collectors dubbed the currency "Funnyback". [1] The obverse carries the portrait of the first American president, George Washington. Serial numbers are found to the left and right of the portrait. Also on the obverse, the 1928 or 1934 series is found. The signatures of the Treasurer of the United States and the United States Secretary of the Treasury in the lower fields on the obverse. [2] Under the portrait of George Washington, a note states that the paper is redeemable for "one silver dollar". [3] People called the note the Funnyback based on the dramatically lighter green ink used on the reverse and unusually large font which was used for the word "ONE" in the center of the design. [2]
Planning and designing for the new small-size note was completed by October of 1927. [4] The purpose of the redesign was to make the money harder to counterfeit and make the bills smaller so they would be easier to handle. [5] Released in 1928, the note was the first U.S. small note and it was introduced to mirror other contemporary treasury paper money. [3] Initially, some people refused to accept the new smaller notes because they were not sure that they were real money. [6] [7] Prior to the introduction of the Funnyback the United States currency was of the large-note variety often referred to as "Horse Blanket". [8] The 1899 large-size "Horse Blanket" $1 measured 7.38 in (187 mm) by 3.18 in (81 mm). [9] [10] The Funnyback was nearly 32% smaller and featured a new typeface. [8] The BEP has said the reduction is size was to reduce manufacturing costs, and that the new note was made smaller by about 30 percent. The smaller notes allowed the BEP to print 12 notes per sheet instead of only eight of the large-size notes. The BEP was also concerned that there were too many different currencies in circulation and they hoped to standardize each denomination. [11]
In July of 1929, the BEP issued less than two million Funnybacks of the red-seal variety. The blue-seal variety was issued after July of 1929. [3] The Funnyback was in use from 1928 until 1935. [8]
The dollar was issued with a red seal or a blue seal. Some Funnybacks have a serial number that begins with x, y or z and all were in the B-block printing. The x, y or z indicates experimental paper; the BEP was experimenting with different combinations of linen, cotton and paper. The first of the experimental notes were printed in 1932 for 1933 circulation. [12] The 1928 red-seal Funnybacks are signed by W. O. Woods and W.H. Woodin and were printed in April and May of 1933. A total of 1,864,000 red-seal Funnybacks were released in Puerto Rico in 1948 and 1949 in response to the Recession of 1949. [12] In total, the BEP printed more than 640 million Funnybacks. [2]
In 2021 one blue-seal example of a Funnyback sold for US$7,593.75. The example had a unique serial number featuring all fives (U55555555A). [2]
When the note began circulating former BEP director Louis A. Hill said the bill was, "the poorest, confessedly the cheapest, and without doubt, the most dangerous issue of United States currency in history". In 1930 George H. Blake said the currency “…has had some severe criticism, as well as commendation. Only the future can tell whether this radical change in our paper money will be a success.” [8]
Federal Reserve Notes are the currently issued banknotes of the United States dollar. The United States Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces the notes under the authority of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and issues them to the Federal Reserve Banks at the discretion of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The Reserve Banks then circulate the notes to their member banks, at which point they become liabilities of the Reserve Banks and obligations of the United States.
A United States Note, also known as a Legal Tender Note, is a type of paper money that was issued from 1862 to 1971 in the United States. Having been current for 109 years, they were issued for longer than any other form of U.S. paper money other than the currently issued Federal Reserve Note. They were known popularly as "greenbacks", a name inherited from the earlier greenbacks, the Demand Notes, that they replaced in 1862. Often termed Legal Tender Notes, they were named United States Notes by the First Legal Tender Act, which authorized them as a form of fiat currency. During the early 1860s the so-called second obligation on the reverse of the notes stated:
This Note is a Legal Tender for all debts public and private except Duties on Imports and Interest on the Public Debt; and is receivable in payment of all loans made to the United States.
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is a government agency within the United States Department of the Treasury that designs and produces a variety of security products for the United States government, most notable of which is Federal Reserve Notes for the Federal Reserve, the nation's central bank. In addition to paper currency, the BEP produces Treasury securities; military commissions and award certificates; invitations and admission cards; and many different types of identification cards, forms, and other special security documents for a variety of government agencies. The BEP's role as printer of paper currency makes it one of two Treasury Department agencies involved in currency production. The other is the United States Mint, which mints coinage. With production facilities in Washington, D.C., and Fort Worth, Texas, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is the largest producer of government security documents in the United States.
The United States five-dollar bill (US$5) is a denomination of United States currency. The current $5 bill features U.S. president Abraham Lincoln and the Great Seal of the United States on the front and the Lincoln Memorial on the back. All $5 bills issued today are Federal Reserve Notes. As of December 2018, the average life of a $5 bill in circulation is 4.7 years before it is replaced due to wear. Approximately 6% of all paper currency produced by the U.S. Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing in 2009 were $5 bills.
The United States ten-dollar bill (US$10) is a denomination of U.S. currency. The obverse of the bill features the portrait of Alexander Hamilton, who served as the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, two renditions of the torch of the Statue of Liberty, and the words "We the People" from the original engrossed preamble of the United States Constitution. The reverse features the U.S. Treasury Building. All $10 bills issued today are Federal Reserve Notes.
The United States twenty-dollar bill (US$20) is a denomination of U.S. currency. A portrait of Andrew Jackson, the seventh U.S. president (1829–1837), has been featured on the obverse of the bill since 1928; the White House is featured on the reverse.
The United States fifty-dollar bill (US$50) is a denomination of United States currency. The 18th U.S. president (1869-1877), Ulysses S. Grant, is featured on the obverse, while the U.S. Capitol is featured on the reverse. All current-issue $50 bills are Federal Reserve Notes.
The United States one-hundred-dollar bill (US$100) is a denomination of United States currency. The first United States Note with this value was issued in 1862 and the Federal Reserve Note version was first produced in 1914. Inventor and U.S. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin has been featured on the obverse of the bill since 1914, which now also contains stylized images of the Declaration of Independence, a quill pen, the Syng inkwell, and the Liberty Bell. The reverse depicts Independence Hall in Philadelphia, which it has featured since 1928.
Large denominations of United States currency greater than $100 were circulated by the United States Treasury until 1969. Since then, U.S. dollar banknotes have been issued in seven denominations: $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100.
The United States one-dollar bill (US$1), sometimes referred to as a single, has been the lowest value denomination of United States paper currency since the discontinuation of U.S. fractional currency notes in 1876. An image of the first U.S. president (1789–1797), George Washington, based on the Athenaeum Portrait, a 1796 painting by Gilbert Stuart, is currently featured on the obverse, and the Great Seal of the United States is featured on the reverse. The one-dollar bill has the oldest overall design of all U.S. currency currently being produced. The reverse design of the present dollar debuted in 1935, and the obverse in 1963 when it was first issued as a Federal Reserve Note.
Silver certificates are a type of representative money issued between 1878 and 1964 in the United States as part of its circulation of paper currency. They were produced in response to silver agitation by citizens who were angered by the Fourth Coinage Act, which had effectively placed the United States on a gold standard. The certificates were initially redeemable for their face value of silver dollar coins and later in raw silver bullion. Since 1968 they have been redeemable only in Federal Reserve Notes and are thus obsolete, but still valid legal tender at their face value and thus are still an accepted form of currency.
Gold certificates were issued by the United States Treasury as a form of representative money from 1865 to 1933. While the United States observed a gold standard, the certificates offered a more convenient way to pay in gold than the use of coins. General public ownership of gold certificates was outlawed in 1933 and since then they have been available only to the Federal Reserve Banks, with book-entry certificates replacing the paper form.
This page is a glossary of notaphily. Notaphily is the study of paper money or banknotes.
From 1775 to 1779, the Continental Congress issued Continental currency banknotes. Then there was a period when the United States just used gold and silver, rather than paper currency. In 1812, the US began issuing Treasury Notes, although the motivation behind their issuance was funding federal expenditures rather than the provision of a circulating medium. In 1861, the US began issuing Demand Notes, which were the first paper money issued by the United States whose main purpose was to circulate. And since 1914, the US has issued Federal Reserve Notes.
A silver certificate is a certificate of ownership that silver owners hold instead of storing the actual silver. Several countries have issued silver certificates, including Cuba, the Netherlands, and the United States. Silver certificates have also been privately issued by various mints and bullion companies. One example was the Liberty Dollar issued by NORFED from 1998 to 2009.
The United States two-dollar bill (US$2) is a current denomination of United States currency. A portrait of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States (1801–1809), is featured on the obverse of the note. The reverse features an engraving of John Trumbull's painting Declaration of Independence.
The Black Eagle is a type of one-dollar silver certificate produced in 1899 in the United States. The note measured 7.38 in (187 mm) by 3.18 in (81 mm); it was of the large-size variety of bank-notes issued by the United States. The note featured a Bald eagle with its wings spread. The note was also referred to as "Eagle of the Capitol", because the United States Capitol is visible behind the eagle. The note was issued from 1899 to 1923 and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) printed 3,604,239,600 Black Eagles. Because of the large size, it is colloquially referred to as a "horseblanket".
The United States five-hundred-dollar bill(US$500) (1861–1945) is an obsolete denomination of United States currency. Since 1969 banks are required to send $500 bills to the United States Department of the Treasury for destruction.
The United States 10,000 dollar Bill(US$10000) (1878–1934) is an obsolete denomination of United States currency. The $10,000 note was the highest denomination of US currency to be used by the public. The $10,000 note was discontinued in 1969 but they are still legal tender. The notes are valuable to collectors and since they are still legal tender, banks will redeem the notes for face value.
