View source for United States Note

{{Short description|Type of paper money that was issued from 1862 to 1971 in the United States}}
{{For|the current US note|Federal Reserve Note}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}
[[Image:USNotes.jpg|thumb|Large-sized Series of 1880 United States Notes; the $20 note displays [[Alexander Hamilton]] and a red scalloped [[United States Department of the Treasury|Treasury]] seal, and the $10 note displays [[Daniel Webster]] and a large red spiked Treasury seal]]
A '''United States Note''', also known as a '''Legal Tender Note''', is a type of [[Banknote|paper money]] that was issued from 1862 to 1971 in the United States. Having been current for 109 years, they were issued for longer than any other form of U.S. paper money other than the currently issued [[Federal Reserve Note]]. They were known popularly as "'''greenbacks'''", a name inherited from the earlier [[Greenback (1860s money)|greenbacks]], the [[Demand Note]]s, that they replaced in 1862. Often termed Legal Tender Notes, they were named United States Notes by the First Legal Tender Act, which authorized them as a form of [[fiat currency]]. During the early 1860s the so-called ''second obligation'' on the reverse of the notes stated:<ref>Friedberg, Arthur L. and Ira S., 2006, ''Paper Money of the United States, 18th Edition'', Clifton, NJ, The Coin & Currency Institute, Inc. {{ISBN|0-87184-518-0}}</ref>

{{blockquote|This Note is a Legal Tender for all debts public and private except Duties on Imports and Interest on the Public Debt; and is receivable in payment of all loans made to the United States.}}

By the 1930s, this obligation would eventually be shortened to:

{{blockquote|This note is a legal tender at its face value for all debts public and private}}

They were originally issued directly into circulation by the [[United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Treasury]] to pay expenses incurred by the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] during the [[American Civil War]]. During the next century, the legislation governing these notes was modified many times and numerous versions were issued by the Treasury.

United States Notes that were issued in the [[large-sized note|large-size]] format, before 1929, differ dramatically in appearance when compared to modern American currency, but those issued in the small-size format, starting 1929, are very similar to contemporary [[Federal Reserve Note]]s of the same denominations with the distinction of having red [[Seal of the United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Treasury Seals]] and [[serial number]]s in place of green ones. Also, while a variety of denominations were issued as United States Notes during the large-size era, only the $1, $2, $5, and $100 denominations were ever issued as small-size notes.

Existing United States Notes are still fully usable and are considered [[legal tender]]. However, as no United States Notes have been issued since January 1971, all issues have all but disappeared from circulation, and command higher prices than face value as items of [[numismatics|numismatic]] interest.

==History==
{{see also|Union (American Civil War)#Economy}}

===Demand Notes===
{{main|Demand Note}}
[[File:Demand Legal comparison.jpg|thumb|Comparison of a $5 Demand Note (upper image) and an 1862 issue $5 United States Note (lower image) in which the words "On Demand" and the phrase "Receivable in Payment of All Public Dues" are removed and the Treasury Seal is added]]
During 1861, the first year of the [[American Civil War]], the expenses incurred by the Union Government much exceeded its limited revenues from taxation, and borrowing was the main vehicle for financing the war. The Act of July 17, 1861<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=012/llsl012.db&recNum=290 United States Congress. Act of July, 17 1861 Chapter V. Washington D.C.: 1861]</ref> authorized [[United States Secretary of the Treasury]] [[Salmon P. Chase]] to raise money via the issuance of $50,000,000 in [[Treasury Note (19th century)|Treasury Notes]] payable on demand.<ref name="Greenbacks">Mitchell, Wesley Clair, "A History of the Greenbacks With Special Reference To the Economic Consequences of Their Issue 1862–65",  University of Chicago, Chicago, 1903.</ref>  These Demand Notes were paid to creditors directly and used to meet the payroll of soldiers in the field.  While issued within the legal framework of Treasury Note Debt, the Demand Notes were intended to circulate as currency and were of the same size as banknotes and closely resembled them in appearance.<ref>Chittenden, L.E., ''Recollections of President Lincoln and His Administration'', Harper & Brothers, New York, 1891.</ref>  During December 1861, economic conditions deteriorated and with the [[Demand Note#Suspension of Specie Payment|suspension of specie payment]] the government broke the promise to redeeming the Demand Notes on demand. It did however continue to accept them as payment for import duties and almost all Demand Notes were eventually redeemed.

===The Legal Tender Acts===
[[Image:RunningtheMachine-LincAdmin.jpg|thumb|A political cartoon from the [[1864 United States presidential election|1864 U.S. presidential election]] depicting [[William P. Fessenden|Secretary Fessenden]] of the Lincoln administration operating "[[Salmon P. Chase|Chase]]'s Mill" at left to flood the country with Greenbacks.]]
The beginning of 1862 found the Union's expenses increasing, and the government was having trouble funding the escalating war.  U.S. Demand Notes&mdash;which were used, among other things, to pay Union soldiers&mdash;were unredeemable, and the value of the notes began to deteriorate.  Congressman and [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]] banker [[Elbridge G. Spaulding]] prepared a bill, based on the Free Banking Law of New York, that eventually became the [[National Bank Act|National Banking Act of 1863]].<ref>D.S. & Heidler, J.T. (2000). [https://books.google.com/books?id=SdrYv7S60fgC&pg=PA1167 Heidler, ''Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: a political, social, and military history'' (p. 1168)]. New York, NY: W.W. Norton</ref>

Recognizing, however, that his proposal would take many months to pass Congress, during early February Spaulding introduced another bill to permit the U.S. Treasury to issue {{US$|long=no|150}} million in notes as legal tender.<ref>McPherson, J.M. [https://books.google.com/books?id=GXfGuNAvm7AC&pg=PA445 (1988). ''Battle cry of freedom: the Civil War era'' (p.445)]. New York, NY: Oxford University Press</ref>  This caused tremendous controversy in Congress,  as hitherto the Constitution had been interpreted as not granting the government the power to issue a paper currency. "The bill before us is a war measure, a measure of ''necessity'', and not of choice," Spaulding argued before the House, adding, "These are extraordinary times, and extraordinary measures must be resorted to in order to save our Government, and preserve our nationality." Spaulding justified the action as a "''necessary means'' of carrying into execution the powers granted in the Constitution 'to raise and ''support'' armies', and 'to provide and ''maintain'' a navy{{'"}}.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dqWy8Qe4pqgC&pg=PA29 Spaulding, E.G. (1869). ''History of the legal tender paper money issued during the great rebellion''] (p.29). Buffalo, NY: Express Printing.</ref>  Despite strong opposition, President [[Abraham Lincoln]] signed the [[First Legal Tender Act]],<ref name="FirstLegal">ch. 33, {{USStat|12|345}}</ref> enacted February 25, 1862, into law, authorizing the issuance of United States Notes as a [[legal tender]]&mdash;the paper currency soon to be known as "greenbacks".

Initially, the emission was limited to {{US$|long=no|150000000}} total face value between the new Legal Tender Notes and the existing Demand Notes. The Act also intended for the new notes to be used to replace the Demand Notes as soon as practical. The Demand Notes had been issued in denominations of [[United States five-dollar bill|$5]], [[United States ten-dollar bill|$10]], and [[United States twenty-dollar bill|$20]], and these were replaced by United States Notes nearly identical in appearance on the obverse. In addition, notes of entirely new design were introduced in denominations of [[United States fifty-dollar bill|$50]], [[United States one hundred-dollar bill|$100]], [[Large denominations of United States currency|$500 and {{US$|long=no|1000}}]]. The Demand Notes' printed promise of payment "On Demand" was removed and the statement "This Note is a Legal Tender" was added.

Legal tender status guaranteed that creditors would have to accept the notes despite the fact that they were not backed by gold, bank deposits, or government reserves, and had no interest. However, the First Legal Tender Act did not make the notes an ''unlimited legal tender'' as they could not be used by merchants to pay customs duties on imports and could not be used by the government to pay interest on its bonds. The Act did provide that the notes be receivable by the government for short term deposits at 5% interest, and for the purchase of 6% interest 20-year bonds at par. The rationale for these terms was that the Union government would preserve its credit-worthiness by supporting the value of its bonds by paying their interest in gold. Early in the war, customs duties were a large part of government tax revenue and by making these payable in gold, the government would generate the coin necessary to make the interest payments on the bonds. Lastly, by making the bonds available for purchase at par in United States Notes, the value of the latter would be confirmed as well.<ref name="Greenbacks"/> The limitations of the legal tender status were quite controversial.  [[Thaddeus Stevens]], the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee of Ways and Means, which had authored an earlier version of the Legal Tender Act that would have made United States Notes a legal tender for ''all'' debts, denounced the exceptions, calling the new bill "mischievous" because it made United States Notes an intentionally depreciated currency for the masses, while the banks who loaned to the government got "sound money" in gold. This controversy would continue until the removal of the exceptions during 1933.

By the First Legal Tender Act, Congress limited the Treasury's emission of United States Notes to {{US$|long=no|150000000}}; however, by 1863, the [[Second Legal Tender Act]],<ref name="SecondLegal">ch. 142, {{USStat|12|532}}</ref> enacted July 11, 1862, a Joint Resolution of Congress,<ref name="JointRex">[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=012/llsl012.db&recNum=853 United States Congress. Resolution of January 17, 1863, No. 9. Washington D.C.: 1863]</ref> and the [[Third Legal Tender Act]],<ref name="ThirdLegal">ch. 73, {{USStat|12|709}}</ref> enacted March 3, 1863, had expanded the limit to {{US$|long=no|450000000}}, the option to exchange the notes for United States bonds at par had been revoked, and notes of [[United States one-dollar bill|$1]] and [[United States two-dollar bill|$2]] denominations had been introduced as the appearance of fiat currency had per [[Gresham's law]] driven even silver coinage out of circulation. As a result of this [[monetary inflation|inflation]], the greenback began to trade at a substantial discount from gold, which prompted Congress to pass the short-lived [[Anti-Gold Futures Act of 1864]], which was soon repealed after it seemed to accelerate the decrease of greenback value.

The largest amount of greenbacks outstanding at any one time was calculated as {{US$|long=no|447300203.10}}.<ref>Backus, Charles K., "The Contraction of the Currency", The Honest Money League of the Northwest, Chicago, 1878.</ref> The Union's reliance on expanding the circulation of greenbacks eventually ended with the emission of [[Interest Bearing Note|Interest Bearing]] and [[Compound Interest Treasury Note]]s, and the passage of the [[National Banking Act]]. However, the end of the war found the greenbacks trading for only about half of their nominal value in gold.<ref name="Greenbacks"/> The [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] was founded on July 5, 1865, to minimize [[Counterfeit money|counterfeiting]], which accounted for up to half of the currency.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How much currency is circulating in the economy, and how much of it is counterfeit? Is currency included in the money supply statistics?|url=https://www.frbsf.org/education/publications/doctor-econ/2004/april/money-supply-currency-counterfeit/|access-date=January 16, 2022|website=Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco|date=April 2004 |language=en}}</ref>

===Post Civil War===
[[File:US-$10-LT-1901-Fr.114.jpg|thumb|Series of 1901 {{US$|long=no|10}} Legal Tender depicting military explorers [[Meriwether Lewis]], [[William Clark (explorer)|William Clark]], and an [[American bison]]]]
At the end of the [[American Civil War]], some economists, such as [[Henry Charles Carey]], argued for building on the precedent of non-interest-based fiat money and making the greenback system permanent.<ref>Carey, Henry Charles (March 1865) [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?sid=932372736069d66b3b26927f407796bf&c=moa&idno=AEU5158.0001.001&view=toc  The Way to Outdo England Without Fighting Her]</ref> However, [[Hugh McCulloch|Secretary of the Treasury McCulloch]] argued that the Legal Tender Acts had been war measures, and that the United States should soon reverse them and return to the [[gold standard]]. The [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] voted overwhelmingly to endorse the Secretary's argument.<ref name="Cyclo">"United States Notes", [[John Joseph Lalor]], ''Cyclopaedia of Political Science, Political Economy, and of the Political History of the United States'', Rand McNally & Co, Chicago, 1881.</ref> With an eventual return to gold convertibility in mind, the Funding Act of April 12, 1866<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=014/llsl014.db&recNum=62 United States Congress. Act of April 12, 1866 Chapter XXXIII. Washington D.C.: 1866]</ref> was passed, authorizing McCulloch to retire {{US$|long=no|10}} million of the Greenbacks within six months and up to {{US$|long=no|4}} million per month thereafter. This he proceeded to do until only {{US$|long=no|356000000}} were outstanding during February 1868. By this time, the wartime economic prosperity was ended, the crop harvest was poor, and a financial panic in Great Britain caused a recession and a sharp decrease of prices in the United States.<ref name="Studenski">Studenski, Paul; Krooss, Hermand Edward (1952). ''Financial History of the United States'', New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. {{ISBN|1-58798-175-0}}.</ref> The contraction of the money supply was blamed for the deflationary effects, and caused debtors to agitate successfully for a halt to the notes' retirement.<ref>[http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h171.html The Greenback Question.] Retrieved May 30, 2009.</ref>

During the early 1870s, Treasury Secretaries [[George S. Boutwell]] and [[William Adams Richardson]] maintained that, though Congress had mandated {{US$|long=no|356000000}} as the minimum Greenback circulation, the old Civil War statutes still authorized a maximum of {{US$|long=no|400000000}}{{#tag:ref |While the three Legal Tender Acts had authorized {{US$|long=no|450000000}} of notes, the Second Legal Tender Act, in taking the total from {{US$|long=no|150000000}} to {{US$|long=no|300000000}} had reserved {{US$|long=no|50000000}} of the increase for the purpose of redeeming balances in a temporary deposit program. The Act of June 30, 1864, reiterated this limitation, and as the temporary loan program had ceased to exist, only {{US$|long=no|400000000}} of the {{US$|long=no|450000000}} ceiling were available.| group="nb"}}—and thus they had at their discretion a "reserve" of {{US$|long=no|44000000}}. While the Senate Finance Committee under [[John Sherman]] disagreed, being of the opinion that the {{US$|long=no|356000000}} was a maximum as well as a minimum, no legislation was passed to assert the committee's opinion. Starting in 1872, Boutwell and Richardson used the "reserve" to counteract seasonal demands for currency, and eventually expanded the circulation of the Greenbacks to {{US$|long=no|382000000}} in response to the [[Panic of 1873]].<ref name="Timberlake">Timberlake, Richard H.(1993). ''Monetary Policy in the United States: An Intellectual and Institutional History'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|978-0-226-80384-5}}.</ref>

In June 1874, Congress established a maximum for Greenback circulation of {{US$|long=no|382000000}}, and in January 1875, approved the [[Specie Payment Resumption Act]], which authorized a reduction of the circulation of Greenbacks towards a revised limit of {{US$|long=no|300000000}}, and required the government to redeem them for gold, on demand, after January 1, 1879. As a result, the currency strengthened and by April 1876, the notes were on par with silver coins which then began to re-emerge into circulation.<ref name="100Greatest">Bowers, Q. David; David Sundman (2006). ''100 GREATEST AMERICAN CURRENCY NOTES'', Atlanta, Georgia: Whitman Publishing. {{ISBN|0-7948-2006-9}}.</ref> On May 31, 1878, the contraction in the circulation was halted at {{US$|long=no|346681016}}—a level which would be maintained for almost 100 years afterwards.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F0CE0DE1639E433A25757C2A9639C946297D6CF The National Balance Sheet; It Includes {{US$|long=no|71000000}} of Debits Which Might Well Be Dropped"] ''[[New York Times]]'' May 24, 1903, Sunday</ref> While {{US$|long=no|346681016}} was a significant figure at the time, it is now a very small fraction of the total currency in circulation in the United States. The year 1879 found Sherman, now Secretary of the Treasury, in possession of sufficient specie to redeem notes as requested, but as this brought the value of the greenbacks into parity with gold for the first time since the Specie Suspension of December 1861, the public voluntarily accepted the greenbacks as part of the circulating medium.<ref name="Cyclo"/>

While the United States Notes had been used as a form of debt issuance during the Civil War, afterwards they were used as a way of moderately influencing the money supply by the federal government—such as through the actions of Boutwell and Richardson. During the [[Panic of 1907]], President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] attempted to increase liquidity in the markets by authorizing the Treasury to issue more Greenbacks, but the [[Aldrich–Vreeland Act]] provided for the needed flexibility by the [[National Bank Note]] supply instead. Eventually, the perceived need for an elastic currency was addressed with the [[Federal Reserve Note]]s authorized by the [[Federal Reserve Act|Federal Reserve Act of 1913]], and attempts to alter the circulating quantity of United States Notes ended.

===End of the United States Note===

Soon after [[Executive Order 6102|private ownership of gold was banned]] in 1933 (a ban that would be lifted in 1974), all of the remaining types of circulating currency, [[National Bank Note]]s, [[Silver certificate (United States)|silver certificates]], [[Federal Reserve Note]]s, and United States Notes, were redeemable by individuals only for [[silver]]. Eventually, even silver redemption stopped in June 1968, during a time in which all U.S. currency (both coins and paper currency) was changed to [[fiat money|fiat currency]]. For the general public, there was then little to distinguish United States Notes from Federal Reserve Notes. As a result, the public circulation of United States Notes, in the form of {{US$|long=no|2}} and {{US$|long=no|5}} bills was discontinued in August 1966, and replaced with {{US$|long=no|5}} Federal Reserve Notes and, eventually, {{US$|long=no|2}} Federal Reserve Notes as well. United States Notes became rare in hand-to-hand commerce and also beginning in 1966, the Treasury converted the outstanding balance into new {{US$|long=no|100}} United States Notes, the majority of which sat unissued in bank vaults. Series 1966 and Series 1966A {{US$|long=no|100}} United States Notes were printed from 1966 to 1969, with distribution into public circulation officially ending January 21, 1971.<ref name="USTfaq">[http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/legal-tender.aspx U.S. Treasury – FAQ: Legal Tender Status]</ref>

In September 1994, the Riegle Improvement Act released the Treasury from its long-standing obligation to keep United States Notes in circulation. Just prior to the Riegle act, the Treasury considered releasing its large remaining stockpile of unissued {{US$|long=no|100}} United States Notes into general circulation, but with the recently redesigned series 1996 {{US$|long=no|100}} Federal Reserve Note, it was decided confusion would likely arise with the sudden appearance of two very different {{US$|long=no|100}} notes in circulation.<ref name="Riegle">[https://www.congress.gov/bill/103rd-congress/house-bill/3474/text Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994, see Sec. 602(f)(4)]</ref> The Treasury announced in 1996 that the remaining stock of {{US$|long=no|100}} United States Notes had been destroyed.<ref>Hessler, Gene and Chambliss, Carlson (2006). ''The Comprehensive Catalog of U.S. Paper Money'', 7th edition, Port Clinton, Ohio: BNR Press {{ISBN|0-931960-66-5}}.</ref>

==Comparison to Federal Reserve Notes==
Both United States Notes and [[Federal Reserve Note]]s have been legal tender since the [[Executive Order 6102|gold recall]] of 1933. Both have been used in circulation as money in the same way. However, the issuing authority for them came from different statutes.<ref name="USTfaq" /> United States Notes are, depending on their issue, redeemable directly for precious metal – as after the specie resumption of 1879 which authorized federal officials to do so if requested. The difference between a United States Note and a Federal Reserve Note is that a United States Note represented a "bill of credit"{{clarify|date=May 2020}} and, since it was issued by the government itself and does not involve either lending or borrowing, was inserted by the Treasury directly into circulation free of interest. The twelve Federal Reserve Banks issue them into circulation pursuant to the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. A commercial bank belonging to the Federal Reserve System can obtain Federal Reserve Notes from the Federal Reserve Bank in its district whenever it wishes. It must pay for them in full, dollar for dollar, by drawing down its account with its district Federal Reserve Bank.<ref name="USTfaq" />

==Characteristics==
[[File:United States Note change from large to small size with plate position.svg|thumb|The size of the United States Note changed from large (gray) to small (green) with plate position letters and the slightly smaller modern [[Federal Reserve Note]] (blue) super-imposed on bottom left 1928-size note]]
Like all U.S. currency, United States Notes were produced in a [[large-sized note|large sized]] format until 1929, at which time the notes' sizes were reduced to the small-size format of the present day.{{#tag:ref | Large size notes represent the earlier types or series of U.S. banknotes. Their average dimension is {{val|7.375|x|3.125|ul=inches}} ({{val|187|x|79|ul=mm}}). Small size notes (described as such due to their size relative to the earlier large size notes) are an average {{val|6.125|x|2.625|u=inches}} ({{val|156|x|67|u=mm}}), the size of modern U.S. currency. Each measurement is {{val|p=±|0.08|u=inches}} ({{val|2|u=mm}}) to account for margins and cutting.<ref>Friedberg, p. 7.</ref>| group="nb"}} Per the Treasury Department Appropriation Bill of 1929, notes issued before October 1928 were {{frac|7|7|16}}{{times}}{{frac|3|9|64}} inches and later issues were to be {{frac|6|5|16}}{{times}}{{frac|2|11|16}} inches, which allowed the Treasury Department to produce 12 notes per {{frac|16|1|4}}{{times}}{{frac|13|1|4}} inch sheet of paper that previously would yield 8 notes at the old size.<ref>{{cite book|title=Treasury Department Appropriation Bill, 1929|year=1928|page=105|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|publication-date=1928|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qqQuAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA105}}</ref>

The original large-sized Civil War issues were dated 1862 and 1863, and issued in denominations of {{US$|long=no|1}}, {{US$|long=no|2}}, {{US$|long=no|5}}, {{US$|long=no|10}}, {{US$|long=no|20}}, {{US$|long=no|50}}, {{US$|long=no|100}}, {{US$|long=no|500}} and {{US$|long=no|1000}}.<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.uspapermoney.info/general/chron_l.html| title=Chronology of Large-Size Notes |website=www.uspapermoney.info |access-date=June 6, 2009}}</ref>  The United States Notes were dramatically redesigned for the Series of 1869, the so-called ''Rainbow Notes''.  The notes were again redesigned for the Series of 1874, 1875 and 1878.  The Series of 1878 included, for the first and last time, notes of {{US$|long=no|5000}} and {{US$|long=no|10000}} denominations.  The final across-the-board redesign of the large-sized notes was the Series of 1880. Individual denominations were redesigned in 1901, 1907, 1917 and 1923.

On small-sized United States Notes, the [[Seal of the United States Department of the Treasury|U.S. Treasury Seal]] and the [[serial number]]s are printed in red (contrasting with Federal Reserve Notes, where they appear in green). By the time the treasury adopted the small-size format in 1928, the [[Federal Reserve System]] had existed for fifteen years and there had been a decline in the need for United States Notes; the notes were mainly issued in {{US$|long=no|2}} and {{US$|long=no|5}} denominations in the Series years of 1928, 1953, and 1963. There was a limited issue of {{US$|long=no|1}} notes in the [[Series of 1928 (United States Currency)|Series of 1928]], most of which were released in 1948 in [[Puerto Rico]], and an issue of {{US$|long=no|100}} notes in the Series year of 1966, mainly to satisfy the legacy legal requirement of maintaining the mandated quantity in circulation after the {{US$|long=no|2}} and {{US$|long=no|5}} denominations had been discontinued in August 1966. The [[Bureau of Engraving and Printing]] also printed but did not issue {{US$|long=no|10}} notes in the 1928 Series. An example was displayed at the 1933 Worlds Fair in Chicago.

Section 5119(b)(2) of Title 31, United States Code, was amended by the Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–325) to read as follows: "The Secretary shall not be required to reissue United States currency notes upon redemption." This does not change the legal tender status of United States Notes nor does it require a recall of those notes already in circulation. This provision means that United States Notes are to be canceled and destroyed but not reissued. This will eventually result in a decrease in the amount of these notes outstanding.<ref name=bep-riegle-Act>{{cite web |title=Historical Legislation - Riegle Improvement Act |url=http://www.bep.treas.gov/historicallegislation.html |publisher=[[Bureau of Engraving and Printing]], U.S. Department of the Treasury |website=www.bep.treas.gov |access-date=February 9, 2015 |archive-date=February 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209084130/http://www.bep.treas.gov/historicallegislation.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Large-size United States Notes (1862–1923)===
{| class="wikitable sortable" 
|+ Complete type set of United States Notes (aka Legal Tender)  
|-
! scope="col" style="width:35px;"| Value
! scope="col" style="width:45px;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:45px; "| Fr. #<ref>Friedberg numbering system, http://www.panix.com/~clay/currency/catalog-numbers.html</ref>
! scope="col" style="width:225px;" class="unsortable"| Image
! scope="col" style="width:200px;"| Portrait{{#tag:ref |Names in parentheses are either the engravers or artists responsible for the concept and/or initial design.| group="nb"}}
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000001</span>$1
|1862–63
|Fr.16c
|[[File:US-$1-LT-1862-Fr-16c.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Chase</span>[[Salmon P. Chase]]<br/>(Joseph P. Ourdan)<ref>Hessler, 2004, p. 24.</ref>
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000001</span>$1
|1869
|Fr.18
|[[File:US-$1-LT-1869-Fr-18.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Washington</span>[[George Washington]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000001</span>$1
|1878
|Fr.27
|[[File:US-$1-LT-1878-Fr-27.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Washington</span>[[George Washington]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000001</span>$1
|1880
|Fr.29
|[[File:US-$1-LT-1880-Fr-29.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Washington</span>[[George Washington]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000001</span>$1
|1923
|Fr.40
|[[File:US-$1-LT-1923-Fr-40.jpg 2.webp|thumb|1923 $1 United States Note (Fr. 40).]]
|<span style="display:none">Washington</span>[[George Washington]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000002</span>$2
|1862–63
|Fr.41
|[[File:US-$2-LT-1862-Fr-41.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Hamilton</span>[[Alexander Hamilton]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000002</span>$2
|1869
|Fr.42
|[[File:US-$2-LT-1869-Fr-42.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Jefferson</span>[[Thomas Jefferson]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000002</span>$2
|1874
|Fr.43
|[[File:US-$2-LT-1874-Fr-43.png|thumb|1874 $2 United States Note (Fr. 43).]]
|<span style="display:none">Jefferson</span>[[Thomas Jefferson]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000002</span>$2
|1875
|Fr.47
|[[File:US-$2-LT-1875-Fr-47.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Jefferson</span>[[Thomas Jefferson]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000002</span>$2
|1880
|Fr.52
|[[File:US-$2-LT-1880-Fr-52.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Jefferson</span>[[Thomas Jefferson]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000002</span>$2
|1917
|Fr.60
|[[File:US-$2-LT-1917-Fr-60.jpg 2.png|thumb|1917 $2 United States Note (Fr. 60).]]
|<span style="display:none">Jefferson</span>[[Thomas Jefferson]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000005</span>$5
|1862–63
|Fr.61a
|[[File:US-$5-LT-1862-Fr-61a.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Hamilton</span>[[Statue of Freedom|Freedom]]<br/>(Owen G. Hanks, eng; [[Thomas Crawford (sculptor)|Thomas Crawford]], art)<ref>Hessler, 2004, p. 20.</ref><br/>[[Alexander Hamilton]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000005</span>$5
|1869
|Fr.64
|[[File:US-$5-LT-1869-Fr.64.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Jackson</span>[[Andrew Jackson]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000005</span>$5
|1875
|Fr.68
|[[File:US-$5-LT-1875-Fr-68.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Jackson</span>[[Andrew Jackson]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000005</span>$5
|1880
|Fr.72
|[[File:US-$5-LT-1880-Fr-72.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Jackson</span>[[Andrew Jackson]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000010</span>$10
|1862–63
|Fr.95b
|[[File:US-$10-LT-1863-Fr-95b.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Lincoln</span>[[Abraham Lincoln]]<br/>(Frederick Girsch);<ref>Hessler, 2004, p. 22.</ref><br/>Eagle; Art
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000010</span>$10
|1869
|Fr.96
|[[File:US-$10-LT-1869-Fr-96.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Webster</span>[[Daniel Webster]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000010</span>$10
|1875
|Fr.98
|[[File:US-$10-LT-1875-Fr-98.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Webster</span>[[Daniel Webster]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000010</span>$10
|1880
|Fr.102
|[[File:US-$10-LT-1880-Fr-102.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Webster</span>[[Daniel Webster]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000010</span>$10
|1901
|Fr.114
|[[File:US-$10-LT-1901-Fr.114.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Lewis</span>[[Meriwether Lewis|Lewis]] & [[William Clark (explorer)|Clark]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000010</span>$10
|1923
|Fr.123
|[[File:US-$10-LT-1923-Fr-123.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Jackson</span>[[Andrew Jackson]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000020</span>$20
|1862–63
|Fr.126b
|[[File:US-$20-LT-1863-Fr-126b.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Liberty</span>Liberty
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000020</span>$20
|1869
|Fr.127
|[[File:US-$20-LT-1869-Fr-127.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Hamilton</span>[[Alexander Hamilton]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000020</span>$20
|1875
|Fr.128
|[[File:US-$20-LT-1875-Fr-128.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Hamilton</span>[[Alexander Hamilton]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000020</span>$20
|1880
|Fr.145
|[[File:US-$20-LT-1880-Fr-145.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Hamilton</span>[[Alexander Hamilton]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000050</span>$50
|1862–63
|Fr.148a
|[[File:US-$50-LT-1862-Fr-148a.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Hamilton</span>[[Alexander Hamilton]]<br/>(Joseph P. Ourdan)<ref>Hessler, 2004, p. 27.</ref>
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000050</span>$50
|1869
|Fr.151
|[[File:US-$50-LT-1869-Fr-151.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Clay</span>[[Henry Clay]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000050</span>$50
|1874
|Fr.152
|[[File:US-$50-LT-1874-Fr-152.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Franklin</span>[[Benjamin Franklin]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000050</span>$50
|1880
|Fr.164
|[[File:US-$50-LT-1880-Fr.164.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Franklin</span>[[Benjamin Franklin]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000100</span>$100
|1862–63
|Fr.167
|[[File:US-$100-LT-1863-Fr-167.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Spread Eagle</span>Vignette spread eagle<br/>(Joseph P. Ourdan)<ref>Hessler, 2004, p. 28.</ref>
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000100</span>$100
|1869
|Fr.168
|[[File:US-$100-LT-1869-Fr-168.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Lincoln</span>[[Abraham Lincoln]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000100</span>$100
|1878
|Fr.171
|[[File:US-$100-LT-1878-Fr-171.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Lincoln</span>[[Abraham Lincoln]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000100</span>$100
|1880
|Fr.181
|[[File:US-$100-LT-1880-Fr-181.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Lincoln</span>[[Abraham Lincoln]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000500</span>$500
|1862–63
|Fr.183c
|[[File:US-$500-LT-1863-Fr-183c.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Gallatin</span>[[Albert Gallatin]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000500</span>$500
|1869
|Fr.184
|[[File:US-$500-LT-1869-Fr-184.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Adams</span>[[John Quincy Adams]]<br/>(Charles Burt)<ref>Hessler, 2004, p. 36.</ref>
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000500</span>$500
|1875
|Fr.185b
|[[File:US-$500-LT-1875-Fr-185b.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Mansfield</span>[[Joseph K. Mansfield]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">000500</span>$500
|1880
|Fr.185l
|[[File:US-$500-LT-1880-Fr-185l.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Mansfield</span>[[Joseph K. Mansfield]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">001000</span>$1,000
|1862–63
|Fr.186e
|[[File:US-$1000-LT-1863-Fr-186e.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Morris</span>[[Robert Morris (financier)|Robert Morris]]<br/>(Charles Schlecht)
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">001000</span>$1,000
|1869
|Fr.186f
|
|<span style="display:none">Clinton</span>[[DeWitt Clinton]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">001000</span>$1,000
|1878
|Fr.187a
|[[File:US-$1000-LT-1878-Fr-187a.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Clinton</span>[[DeWitt Clinton]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">001000</span>$1,000
|1880
|Fr.187k
|[[File:US-$1000-LT-1880-Fr-187k.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Clinton</span>[[DeWitt Clinton]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">005000</span>$5,000
|1878
|Fr.188
|[[File:US-$5000-LT-1878-Fr.188-PROOF.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Madison</span>[[James Madison]]
|-

! scope="row"|<span style="display:none">010000</span>$10,000
|1878
|Fr.189
|[[File:US-$10000-LT-1878-Fr.189-PROOF.jpg|225px]]
|<span style="display:none">Jackson</span>[[Andrew Jackson]]
|}

===Series 1928 United States Notes===
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%"
!colspan="12"| United States Notes – First small-size issue, Series 1928 (Smithsonian Institution)
|-
!colspan="1"| Image !!rowspan="2"| Value !!rowspan="2"| Dimensions !!rowspan="2"| Main Color !!colspan="2"|
|-
! Obverse/Reverse !! Obverse !! Reverse 
|-
|align="center"| [[File:US-$1-LT-1928-Fr.1500.jpg|150px]]
| [[United States one-dollar bill|$1]] United States Note
| {{val|6.140|×|2.610|u=in}} ({{val|155.956|×|66.294|u=mm}})
| Green; Black
| [[George Washington]]
| Stylized "One Dollar"
|-
|align="center"| [[File:US-$2-LT-1928-Fr.1501.jpg|150px]]
| [[United States two-dollar bill|$2]] United States Note
| {{val|6.140|×|2.610|u=in}} ({{val|155.956|×|66.294|u=mm}})
| Green; Black
| [[Thomas Jefferson]]
| [[Monticello]]
|-
|align="center"| [[File:US-$5-LT-1928-Fr.1525.jpg|150px]]
| [[United States five-dollar bill|$5]] United States Note
|  {{val|6.140|×|2.610|u=in}} ({{val|155.956|×|66.294|u=mm}})
| Green; Black
| [[Abraham Lincoln]]
| [[Lincoln Memorial]]
|}

===Series 1953 United States Notes===
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%"
!colspan="12"| United States Notes – Small-size issue, Series 1953 
|-
!colspan="1"| Image !!rowspan="2"| Value !!rowspan="2"| Dimensions !!rowspan="2"| Main Color !!colspan="2"|
|-
! Obverse/Reverse !! Obverse !! Reverse 
|-
|align="center"| [[File:Series 1953 US two-dollar bill obverse.jpg|150px]]
| [[United States two-dollar bill|$2]] United States Note
| {{val|6.140|×|2.610|u=in}} ({{val|155.956|×|66.294|u=mm}})
| Green; Black
| [[Thomas Jefferson]]
| [[Monticello]]
|-
|align="center"| 
| [[United States five-dollar bill|$5]] United States Note
|  {{val|6.140|×|2.610|u=in}} ({{val|155.956|×|66.294|u=mm}})
| Green; Black
| [[Abraham Lincoln]]
| [[Lincoln Memorial]]
|}

===Series 1963 United States Notes===
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%"
!colspan="12"| United States Notes – Small-size issue, Series 1963 
|-
!colspan="1"| Image !!rowspan="2"| Value !!rowspan="2"| Dimensions !!rowspan="2"| Main Color !!colspan="2"|
|-
! Obverse/Reverse !! Obverse !! Reverse 
|-
|align="center"| 
| [[United States two-dollar bill|$2]] United States Note
| {{val|6.140|×|2.610|u=in}} ({{val|155.956|×|66.294|u=mm}})
| Green; Black
| [[Thomas Jefferson]]
| [[Monticello]]
|-
|align="center"| [[File:US $5 1963 USN.jpg|frameless|156x156px]]
| [[United States five-dollar bill|$5]] United States Note
|  {{val|6.140|×|2.610|u=in}} ({{val|155.956|×|66.294|u=mm}})
| Green; Black
| [[Abraham Lincoln]]
| [[Lincoln Memorial]]
|}

===Series 1966 United States Notes===
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%"
!colspan="12"| United States Notes – Small-size issue, Series 1966 
|-
!colspan="1"| Image !!rowspan="2"| Value !!rowspan="2"| Dimensions !!rowspan="2"| Main Color !!colspan="2"|
|-
! Obverse/Reverse !! Obverse !! Reverse 
|-
|align="center"| [[File:US_%24100_United_States_Note_1966.jpg|150px]]
| [[United States one hundred-dollar bill|$100]] United States Note
| {{val|6.140|×|2.610|u=in}} ({{val|155.956|×|66.294|u=mm}})
| Green; Black
| [[Benjamin Franklin]]
| [[Independence Hall]]
|}

==Public debt of the United States==
{{As of|December 2012}}, the U.S. Treasury calculates that {{US$|long=no|239}} million in United States Notes are in circulation and, in accordance with [[United States debt ceiling|debt ceiling legislation]], excludes this amount from the [[United States public debt|statutory debt limit]] of the United States.  The {{US$|long=no|239}} million excludes {{US$|long=no|25}} million in United States Notes issued prior to July 1, 1929, determined pursuant to Act of June 30, 1961, 31 U.S.C. 5119, to have been destroyed or irretrievably lost.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2012/opdm122012.pdf | date=December 31, 2012 | access-date=January 8, 2013 | title=Monthly Statement of the Public Debt of the United States | publisher=United States Treasury Department | archive-date=March 10, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310212214/http://treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/mspd/2012/opdm122012.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Politics and controversy==
The United States Notes were introduced as [[fiat money]] rather than the precious metal medium of exchange that the United States had traditionally used.  Their introduction was thus contentious.

The [[United States Congress]] had enacted the ''Legal Tender Acts'' during the [[American Civil War]] when southern Democrats were [[United States House of Representatives elections, 1860|absent]] from the Congress, and thus their [[Jacksonian democracy|Jacksonian]] [[Hard money (policy)|hard money]] views were underrepresented.  After the war, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] ruled on the ''[[Legal Tender Cases]]'' to determine the constitutionality of the use of greenbacks.  The 1870 case ''[[Hepburn v. Griswold]]'' found unconstitutional the use of greenbacks when applied to debts established prior to the First ''Legal Tender Act'' as the five [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] on the Court, [[Samuel Nelson|Nelson]], [[Robert Cooper Grier|Grier]], [[Nathan Clifford|Clifford]], [[Stephen Johnson Field|Field]], and [[Salmon P. Chase|Chase]], ruled against the Civil War legislation in a 5–3 decision.  Secretary Chase had become [[Chief Justice of the United States]] and a Democrat, and spearheaded the decision invalidating his own actions during the war.  However, Grier retired from the Court, and [[Ulysses S. Grant|President Grant]] appointed two new [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]], [[William Strong (Pennsylvania judge)|Strong]] and [[Joseph P. Bradley|Bradley]], who joined the three sitting Republicans, [[Noah Haynes Swayne|Swayne]], [[Samuel Freeman Miller|Miller]], and [[David Davis (Supreme Court justice)|Davis]], to reverse Hepburn, 5–4, in the 1871 cases ''[[Knox v. Lee]]'' and ''[[Parker v. Davis]]''.  In 1884, the Court, controlled 8–1 by Republicans, granted the federal government very broad power to issue Legal Tender paper through the case ''[[Juilliard v. Greenman]]'', with only the lone remaining Democrat, Field, dissenting.<ref name="Timberlake" />

The states in the far west stayed loyal to the Union, but also had hard money sympathies.  During the specie suspension from 1862 to 1878, western states used the gold dollar as a unit of account whenever possible and accepted greenbacks at a discount wherever they could.<ref name="Greenbacks"/>  The preferred forms of paper money were [[gold certificate (United States)|gold certificate]]s and [[National Gold Bank Note]]s, the latter having been created specifically to address the desire for hard money in [[California]].

During the 1870s and 1880s, the [[Greenback Party]] existed for the primary purpose of advocating an increased circulation of United States Notes as a way of creating inflation according to the [[quantity theory of money]]. However, as the 1870s unfolded, the market price of silver decreased with respect to gold, and inflationists found a new cause in the [[Free Silver movement]]. Opposition to the resumption of specie convertibility of the Greenbacks during 1879 was accordingly muted.

==See also==
{{Portal|Money|Numismatics|United States}}
*[[History of central banking in the United States]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|group="nb"}}
{{reflist|group=note}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==

*{{cite book |last1=Friedberg |first1=Arthur L. |last2=Friedberg |first2=Ira S. |year=2013 |title= Paper Money of the United States: A Complete Illustrated Guide With Valuations |publisher= Coin & Currency Institute |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=eMFWoWl2UYkC |edition=20th|isbn=978-0-87184-520-7}}
*{{cite book |last1=Hessler |first1=Gene |year=1993 |title=The Engraver's Line – An Encyclopedia of Paper Money & Postage Stamp Art |publisher= BNR Press |isbn=0-931960-36-3}}
*{{cite book |last1=Hessler |first1=Gene|year=2004 |title=U.S. Essay, Proof and Specimen Notes |publisher= BNR Press |edition=2|isbn=0-931960-62-2}}

==Further reading==
* Wesley Clair Mitchell, [https://archive.org/details/ahistorygreenba00mitcgoog ''A History of the Greenbacks: With Special Reference to the Economic Consequences of Their Issue, 1862–65.''] Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1903.
* [[Irwin Unger]], ''[[The Greenback Era: A Social and Political History of American Finance, 1865–1879]].'' (1965)
* Henry George, [http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/george-henry_on-greenbacks-silver-and-free-banking-1889.html "On Greenbacks, Free Silver, and Free Banking,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719013909/http://www.cooperativeindividualism.org/george-henry_on-greenbacks-silver-and-free-banking-1889.html |date=July 19, 2011 }} ''The Standard'', December 14, 1889.

==External links==
*[http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/legal-tender.aspx U.S. Treasury Dept. information about United States Notes]

{{Obsolete United States currency and coinage}}
{{Money and central banking within the contemporary United States (pre–1913)}}

[[Category:Freiwirtschaft]]
[[Category:Monetary reform]]
[[Category:Banknotes of the United States]]
[[Category:1862 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:1971 disestablishments in the United States]]