Currency > U.S Small (1928-2018)

At the end of the 1920’s, the Treasury Department was purchasing tons of high-grade, specially prepared paper required to print currency.  It was soon realized that millions of dollars could be saved if the notes were reduced in size.  At the same time, it was decided to make currency designs more uniform with a particular portrait reserved for each denomination.  On July 10, 1929, the first of the current, reduced-size notes (made 17% smaller) were placed in circulation.  The timing inadvertently signified a new era in United States money.  When the change was made there were no less than six types of United States paper currency: Federal Reserve Bank Notes, National Bank Notes, Gold Certificates, Silver Certificates, United States Notes, & Federal Reserve Notes.  But only three months later, the stock market crash ushered in the era of the Great Depression during which three of those types of currency would disappear leaving only: Silver Certificates, United States Notes, & Federal Reserve Notes.  Thirty years later, two of the remaining types of currency would also disappear, leaving only one today: Federal Reserve Notes.  It’s interesting that the very large denomination Federal Reserve Notes of $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 were discontinued in the 1940’s.  Today, the largest denomination note produced by the Federal Reserve is $100.

Item: 1928 $10 Gold Certificate (F-2400)
Estimated Number Known: 6000 to 8000+
Links to Full Size Images: Obverse / Reverse

1928 $10 Gold Certificate dated 1928

Noteworthy:

  1. 1928 gold certificates were made with paper that had a slight golden hue.
  2. 1928 was the first and only year of small sized $10 Gold Certificates.
  3. Ten Dollars is the smallest denomination Gold Certificate.
  4. Gold Certificates were recalled by the U.S. Government in 1933 and burned.
  5. It’s amazing that as late as 1932, you could take your $10 Gold Certificate to the bank and walk out with a $10 Gold Coin.

Item: 1928 $20 Gold Certificate (F-2402)
Estimated Number Known: 6000 to 8000+
Links to Full Size Images: Obverse / Reverse

1928 $20 Gold Certificate dated 1928

Noteworthy:

  1. 1928 gold certificates were made with paper that had a slight golden hue.
  2. 1928 was the first and only year of small sized $20 Gold Certificates.
  3. Gold Certificates were recalled by the U.S. Government in 1933 and burned.
  4. Twenty Dolar Gold Certificates were backed by a vast store of $20 Saint-Gaudens “Double Eagle” Gold Coins.

Item: 1957 $1 Silver Certificate (F-1619)
Estimated Number Known: Hundreds of Thousands
Links to Full Size Images: Obverse / Reverse

1957 $1 Silver Certificate dated 1957

Noteworthy:

  1. 1957 was the last year Silver Certificates were issued in the U.S.
  2. Small-sized Silver Certificates are common in all grades.
  3. 90% Silver Dimes, Quarters, and Half Dollars, minted through 1964, were used as backing for Silver Certificates.