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BRANDON
DENGLER
CURRENCY
There have been multiple currency types throughout the history of the United States before Federal Reserve Notes became the sole currency in 1971. These include Continental Currency, Treasury Notes, Demand Notes, United States Notes, Fractional Currency, Interest Bearing Notes, Compound Interest Notes, Gold Certificates, National Bank Notes, National Gold Bank Notes, Silver Certificates, Refunding Certificates, United States Postal Notes, Treasury/Coin Notes, Federal Reserve Bank Notes, and Federal Reserve Notes.
UNITED STATES NOTES
Also called "Legal Tender Notes" due to their creation under the "First Legal Tender Act" of 1862 and their reverse clause that reads "This Note is Legal Tender," they also carried the term "greenbacks" from their predecessor currency (and the first paper currency issued by the United States), the Demand Note. These are the longest issued currency in the United States, issued for 109 years from 1862 to 1971. Beginning in 1928, they were reduced in size and are are easily identifiable by their RED treasury seals. After gold ownership was banned in 1933, silver redemption ceased in 1968, and their resemblance to the Federal Reserve Notes proved too much, circulation of these notes officially ended in 1971. This left the Federal Reserve Notes as the only paper currency issued by the United States to this day.
With many people hoarding precious metals and using postage stamps as currency during the Civil War, the Untied States was forced to issue "Fractional Currency" in dominations of less than a dollar: 3 cents, 5 cents, 10 cents, 15 cents, 25 cents, and 50 cents. These were carried out across 5 issues between 1862 and 1876.
FRACTIONAL CURRENCY
These were issued from 1865 until the gold recall in 1933. Prior to 1928, the "large size" notes featured a completely gold back. Beginning in 1928, the "small size" notes featured the gold treasury seal.
GOLD CERTIFICATES
Arguably the most collectable currency type because they were issued from private "hometown" banks across the country, these notes were issued in 3 "large size" series from 1869-1882, 1882-1902, and 1902-1922. They were brought back as a "small note" emergency issue in 1929 due to the Great Depression. These were issued in 2 different types, the second of which displayed the charter number next to the serial numbers. They were also known as "brown seal notes" due to their BROWN treasury seal. This issue was very similar to the other small currency notes at the time, as opposed to the decorative earlier "large size" note designs that exaggerated the name of the issuing bank. These notes were created due to the unstable and unregulated private bank notes prior to the Civil War, often by fraudulent banks that issued worthless bank notes. In order to be backed by the United States Treasury, National Banks were limited to issuing bank notes up to 90 percent of the bonds they deposited with the Treasury. They were permanently retired after the Gold Reserve Act of 1933, when U.S. currency was consolidated into United States Notes, Silver Certificates, and Federal Reserve Notes.
NATIONAL BANK NOTES
First issued in 1878, they were discontinued in 1964 along with all silver coinage. These were also printed in "large size" until 1928 and "small size" thereafter. The 1896 "Educational Series" is considered to be the most artistically designed currency notes produced by the United States. The "small size" notes are easily identifiable by their BLUE seal, with the exception of the $1 1935 "Hawaii" note that has a BROWN seal and the $1, $5, and $10 1935 "North Africa" note that have a yellow seal.
SILVER CERTIFICATES
With the creation of the Federal Reserve system in 1914, these notes were issued alongside Federal Reserve notes; however, these bank notes were only backed by the individual Federal Reserve Bank that issued them. Like the other notes above, they were reduced to "small size" notes after 1928 until they were discontinued in 1934. The "small size" notes used the same paper template as the National Bank notes and are thus very similar with a BROWN treasury seal.
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK NOTES
Unlike the Federal Reserve Bank notes, these notes were backed by the entire Federal Reserve system and are the only notes produced today since production of United States Notes ceased in 1971. The initial "large size" notes featured a RED treasury seal before they were quickly changed to BLUE. Thus, the red seals are much more rare. After being reduced to "small size" notes in 1928, the treasury seal was changed to GREEN, with the exception of the 1935 $5, $10, and $20 "Hawaii" notes that again featured a BROWN seal. $1 notes were added in 1963 to replace silver certificates and have not been updated since 1969. $2 notes were added in 1976, 10 years after the United States Notes were last issued. $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 notes have been continuously printed since 1914 and were all colorized beginning in 2004. $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 notes were printed from 1914 until being discontinued in 1969, making the $100 bill the largest denomination of U.S. currency since that time and arguably the most popular note in the world today.
FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES
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