Your local convenience storage may not accept bill larger than $ 20 , but once upon a time you could have paid for your gingiva with a nice , fresh $ 10,000 billhook . What ’s the tale behind the large - denomination bills that the government used to issue ?
What big bills has the U.S. issued?
In 1928 , the federal government overhauled its system of printing banknotes . It shaved about an inch of distance and just under a half of an inch in width off the bills and issued the new smaller bills in the $ 1 to $ 100 denominations with which we ’re familiar . However , the Treasury also issued large designation . They boast William McKinley ( $ 500 ) , Grover Cleveland ( $ 1,000 ) , James Madison ( $ 5,000 ) , and Salmon P. Chase ( $ 10,000 ) .
Who the heck was Salmon P. Chase?
His name might not be as conversant as those of the presidents featured on the other large bills , but once upon a time Chase was a big wheel in American politics . Chase , a mid-19th C politico , serve as Chief Justice of the United States , spent stints as Ohio ’s governor and senator , and was Lincoln ’s first Secretary of the Treasury .
Nice resume, but how did Chase end up on the $10,000 bill?
He was in the proper place at the ripe meter . When the federal government started issuing Federal Reserve note notes in 1861 , Chase , as Secretary of the Treasury , was in charge of designing and popularise the new currency . The politically challenging Chase had to pick a portrait subject for the first $ 1 nib , and he prefer Salmon P. Chase .
Although putting his expression in everyone ’s pocketbooks never prompt Chase to the presidentship , when the Treasury set forth come out the new $ 10,000 bills in 1928 they put Chase ’s portrayal on the obverse to abide by the man who helped insert modern banknotes .
Even if you do n’t have a $ 10,000 posting Chase ’s name might still be in your wallet . Chase National Bank , the forerunner to Chase Manhattan Bank , was name in his honor .
Why on earth was the government printing such giant bills in the first place?
Believe it or not , it was n’t just to save space in fat CT ' wallets . When the Treasury started printing these giant bills , their master purpose was making transfer defrayment between banks and other financial institutions . Before sophisticated wire transfer system were fully originate , it was apparently easier and safer just to ramify over a $ 5,000 bill to settle up with a fellow savings bank . Once transportation technology became safer and more secure , there really was n’t much need for the self-aggrandising neb any longer .
What’s the largest denomination of currency the U.S. has printed?
That would be the Series 1934 $ 100,000 gold certificate . The Bureau of Engraving and Printing only made these Federal Reserve note during a three - week stretch during December 1934 and January 1935 . Even the few plutocrats who had that much hard currency during the Depression could n’t carry one of the $ 100 K bills , though . They were only used for official transactions between Federal Reserve Banks , and the Treasurer of the United States only issued them to Fed savings bank that had an adequate amount of amber in the Treasury . The eminence featured a pic of Woodrow Wilson .
Are any of these bills left in circulation?
There sure as shooting are , but do n’t expect to determine a $ 500 bill the next time you make an ATM onanism . The Treasury herald on July 14 , 1969 , that it would give up publish the $ 500 , $ 1,000 , $ 5,000 , and $ 10,000 notes straight off , since the account were so sparsely circulated . It ’s not like the Bureau of Engraving and Printing had to stop the presses , either ; the placard had n’t consider an actual photographic print run since 1945 .
When the Treasury discontinued the bill , they rapidly fell out of circulation . However , a few are still hang around ; as of May 2009 , there were still 336 $ 10,000 bill at large . At the same time , Slatereported that there were also 342 $ 5,000 bill and 165,732 $ 1,000 bills still floating around .
If they’re out of circulation, can you still spend them?
Although the Treasury is no longer issuing these bills , according to the Fed they ’re still legal tender . So yes , although it would believably raise some brow , you could take the air into Best Buy and clunk down a $ 1,000 card to pay for a new television .
That would n’t be the smart move , though . Most of the high-pitched - appellation bills that are leave in circulation are in collectors ' safe , and at auction bridge the banker’s bill run to fetch prices that far overstep their typeface values . For instance , a pristine $ 10,000 bill can command a Mary Leontyne Price as gamey as $ 140,000 on the open market depending on stipulation .
What happens if you bring one of these big bills to a bank?
If you put it in your safety deposit box seat , your bill will be good . Chase Bank really acquired one of the $ 10,000 notice in its currency aggregation when a deceased customer ’s family found the flier in her deposit box and swop it for $ 10,000 in cash . bank the historical loot into your checking account , though , and it ’s big news for the bill . You ’ll get the cash deposited in your accounting , but since the 1969 order to stop distributing these bill , Fed banks have been pulling the promissory note from circulation and destroying them whenever they are received .
So there was never a real $1 million bill?
Nope , but that does n’t mean that multitude have n’t test to make one . In 2004 , a woman in Covington , Georgia , attempt to pick up a $ 1,675 tablet at a local Wal - Mart with a forged $ 1 million bill sport a word picture of the Statue of Liberty . Police quickly arrested her . It ’s operose to say what ’s more ludicrous : trying to devolve off a million - clam account or cogitate that Wal - Mart would just fork over $ 998,325 in modification .
Someone gave me a fake $1 million bill as a joke. Was that illegal?
As long as you do n’t render to pass it or deposit it , you ’re in the open . Gag manufacturer and some spiritual and political group have print freshness $ 1 million bill for decades . In 1982 , these gewgaw eyeshade make out to the attending of the Secret Service , which ruled that since there was n’t a real $ 1 million bill , these antic version were n’t technically forgeries or usurpation of any laws .
What about the opposite of these bills: the elusive $2 bill?
Although you do n’t see the $ 2 vizor all that often , it ’s still a circulating denomination of American currency . consort the U.S. Treasury , there are over $ 1.5 billion Charles Frederick Worth of $ 2 bank bill currently circulating around the world . However , since the bill change hands less frequently than other denominations , it ’s not print as often , either .
