When large got small: Emergence of small-size notes leads to standardization of portraits on U.S. paper money
Portraits of Founding Fathers and past presidents were linked to specific denominations
Red was the color used on the Treasury seal and serial numbers for small-size United States notes like this Series 1953 $2 issue. A portrait of Thomas Jefferson appears on the face, and a view of his home Monticello was used as the back design. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions.
Silver certificate notes were easy to spot — the Treasury seal and serial numbers were printed in blue, like on this Series 1928A $1 silver certificate. Images courtesy of Heritage Auctions.
This small-size Series 1928 $10 gold certificate features a gold Treasury seal and gold serial numbers. The portrait on the note is of Alexander Hamilton, which began appearing on all small-size $10 notes in 1929. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions.
Editor’s note: In her September monthly Coin World cover feature, Michele Orzano told the story of small-size notes and how they changed American paper money. This is one of a series of articles from this feature that will appear online at CoinWorld.com.
Read the first posts in the series:
- When large got small: The downsizing of America's paper money
- Secret Service, agency that investigates counterfeiting, born out of 1860s Union Intelligence Service
- U.S. officials respond to paper money counterfeiting with wave of design changes in 1990s, 2000s
- Series 2009A $100 FRNs and what designs to expect in the future
The year 1929 introduced many changes to the American way of life. Perhaps the best known is the Great Depression, triggered by the Oct. 29, 1929, stock market collapse.
But another change occurred a few months before that and is still evident today for those who use or collect paper money. Small-size notes made their debut in the summer of 1929. The decision to downsize paper money and the immediate and long-term effects of the decision are interesting to explore.
Standardized designs
During the preparation to transition from large- to
small-size notes, Treasury officials made a decision to standardize
portraits and link them to specific denominations:
- George Washington on $1 notes.
- Thomas Jefferson on $2 notes.
- Abraham Lincoln on $5 notes.
- Alexander Hamilton on $10 notes.
- Andrew Jackson on $20 notes.
- Ulysses S. Grant on $50 notes.
- Benjamin Franklin on $100 notes.
- William McKinley on $500 notes.
- Grover Cleveland on $1,000 notes.
- James Madison on $5,000 notes.
- Salmon P. Chase on $10,000 notes.
Officials also decided to standardize designs, a departure from past practices when different types of notes differed radically in design.
Between 1861 and 1929, 11 types of notes (silver certificates, gold certificates, national bank notes and so on) were produced. All had different designs, with some types going through multiple design changes. Each type required different inks and printing plates.
Only six of those types would be printed in small-size versions:
United States (legal tender) notes, silver certificates, national bank
notes, Federal Reserve Bank notes, Federal Reserve notes, and gold
certificates.
Large-size legal tender notes, later named
United States notes, were first issued in 1862 and continued through
five issues total, culminating in Series 1901 notes. Several series of
small-size United States notes were issued before they were abolished
in 1993.
Small-size silver certificates were issued in denominations of $1,
$5 and $10 between 1928 and 1953. The Act of June 4, 1963, abolished
production of silver certificates.
Large-size national
bank notes were first issued in 1863 during the Civil War.
The nation desperately needed an organized system of paper
money to make up for the wartime shortage of coinage. Small-size
versions of these notes were issued from July 1929 to May 1935, when
production of national bank notes ceased.
Small-size gold
certificates were short-lived due to the Gold Reserve Act of 1933,
which required the surrender of all gold certificates both large- and
small-size. On April 24, 1964, all restrictions on the acquisition or
holding of gold certificates were removed.
The small-size
gold certificates were given a gold Treasury seal and gold serial
numbers on the face, and the back was printed in green ink.
The Federal Reserve Acts of Dec. 23, 1913, and April 23, 1918,
set into motion the process for introducing large- and small-size
Federal Reserve Bank notes and Federal Reserve notes.
Federal Reserve banks opened for business Nov. 16, 1914. Small-size
Federal Reserve notes have been printed in denominations of $1 through
$10,000 amongst the various types, though not all denominations were
used in every type of note.
Today, the $100 note is the
largest denomination printed. The small-size Federal Reserve notes
were first printed in 1929 with a series date of 1928 in multiple
denominations, the lowest of which was the $5 issue. In 1963, the
Federal Reserve Act was amended to authorize the issuance of $1 and $2
FRNs; the first $1 issues were released that same year, with the first
$2 FRNs issued in 1976.
More of Michele Orzano's story on small-size notes is on the way! Check back with CoinWorld.com for the latest, or better yet, let us tell you when a new post is up:
