United States Notes, also known as Legal Tender Notes, succeeded Demand Notes as the main currency form of the United States. Historical banknotes Continental Currency
For table standards, see the banknote specification table. These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimetre. The phrase " We the People" from the Constitution Obverse of the Great Seal of the United States Since 2004, all notes (except $1 and $2) were progressively changed to have different colors to make them more easily distinguishable from each other, until the last such note was introduced in 2013 (the $100).Ĭurrent circulating banknotes of the United Statesĭeclaration of Independence by John Trumbull Starting 1996, all notes except $1 and $2 were redesigned to have a larger portrait of the people depicted on them. The denomination proved to be unpopular and is now treated as a curiosity, although it is still being printed. In 1976, a $2 note was added, 10 years after the $2 denomination of United States Note was officially discontinued. Since United States Notes were discontinued in 1971, Federal Reserve Notes are the only type of currency circulating in the US. A $1 note was added in 1963 to replace the $1 Silver Certificate after that type of currency had been discontinued.
The $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 denominations were last printed in 1945 and discontinued in 1969, making the $100 bill the largest denomination banknote in circulation. They switched to small size in 1929 and are the only type of currency in circulation today in the United States. After that date they stopped to be redeemable in anything, much like United States Notes (which later led to the halting of the production of United States Notes). Federal Reserve Notes were first issued in 1914, and differ from their predecessor Federal Reserve Bank Notes in that they were liabilities of the whole Federal Reserve System.