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.
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.
On banknotes of the United States dollar, the series refers to the year appearing on the obverse of a bill, indicating when the bill's design was adopted. The series year does not indicate the exact date a bill was printed; instead, the year indicates the first year that bills of the same design were originally made. For example, $2 bills bearing the series year of 1928 were printed until the early 1950s.
Gold certificates were issued by the United States Treasury as a form of representative money from 1865 to 1933. While the United States observed a gold standard, the certificates offered a more convenient way to pay in gold than the use of coins. General public ownership of gold certificates was outlawed in 1933 and since then they have been available only to the Federal Reserve Banks, with book-entry certificates replacing the paper form.
The history of the United States dollar began with moves by the Founding Fathers of the United States of America to establish a national currency based on the Spanish silver dollar, which had been in use in the North American colonies of the Kingdom of Great Britain for over 100 years prior to the United States Declaration of Independence. The new Congress's Coinage Act of 1792 established the United States dollar as the country's standard unit of money, creating the United States Mint tasked with producing and circulating coinage. Initially defined under a bimetallic standard in terms of a fixed quantity of silver or gold, it formally adopted the gold standard in 1900, and finally eliminated all links to gold in 1971.
A Demand Note is a type of United States paper money that was issued from August 1861 to April 1862 during the American Civil War in denominations of 5, 10, and 20 US$. Demand Notes were the first issue of paper money by the United States that achieved wide circulation. The U.S. government placed Demand Notes into circulation by using them to pay expenses incurred during the Civil War including the salaries of its workers and military personnel.
The Series of 1928 was the first issue of small-size currency printed and released by the U.S. government. These notes, first released to the public on July 10, 1929, were the first standardized notes in terms of design and characteristics, featuring similar portraits and other facets. These notes were also the first to measure 6.313" by 2.688", smaller than the large-sized predecessors of Series 1923 and earlier that measured 7.438" by 3.141".
This page is a glossary of notaphily. Notaphily is the study of paper money or banknotes.
The Philippine twenty-peso note (₱20) is a denomination of Philippine currency. It is the smallest banknote denomination in general circulation in the Philippines. Philippine president Manuel L. Quezon is currently featured on the front side of the note, while the Banaue Rice Terraces and the Asian palm civet is featured on the reverse side.
The Philippine fifty-peso note (₱50) is a denomination of Philippine currency. Philippine president and former House Speaker Sergio Osmeña is currently featured on the front side of the bill, while the Taal Lake and the giant trevally are featured on the reverse side.
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.
In early 18th century Colonial America, engravers began experimenting with copper plates as an alternative medium to wood. Applied to the production of paper currency, copper-plate engraving allowed for greater detail and production during printing. It was the transition to steel engraving that enabled banknote design and printing to rapidly advance in the United States during the 19th century.
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 United States one-hundred-thousand-dollar bill (US$100,000) is a former denomination of United States currency, issued for two years from 1934 to 1935 as designated for Federal Reserve use. The bill never circulated publicly, rather having been used as a large denomination note for gold transactions between Federal Reserve Banks. Featuring President Woodrow Wilson, the $100,000 bill was initiated by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing under the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in response to the hoarding of gold during the Great Depression, believed to be slowing economic regrowth. Executive Order 6102, signed by President Roosevelt, was ratified by the United States Congress in 1934. Executive Order 6102 prohibited the hoarding of gold certificates, accompanied also by bullion and coins.
