United States One Hundred-dollar Bill - Small Size Note History

Small Size Note History

(6.14 × 2.61 in ≅ 157 × 66 mm)

• 1929: Under the Series of 1928, all U.S. currency was changed to its current size and began to carry a standardized design. All variations of the $100 bill would carry the same portrait of Benjamin Franklin, same border design on the obverse, and the same reverse with a vignette of Independence Hall. The $100 bill was issued as a Federal Reserve Note with a green seal and serial numbers and as a Gold Certificate with a golden seal and serial numbers.

• 1933: As an emergency response to the Great Depression, additional money was pumped into the American economy through Federal Reserve Bank Notes issued under Series of 1929. This was the only small-sized $100 bill that had a slightly different border design on the obverse. The serial numbers and seal on it were brown.
• 1934: The redeemable in gold clause was removed from Federal Reserve Notes due to the U.S. withdrawing from the gold standard.
• 1934: Special $100 Gold Certificates were issued for non-public, Federal Reserve bank-to-bank transactions. These notes featured a reverse printed in orange instead of green like all other small-sized notes. The wording on the obverse was also changed to .
• 1950: Many minor aspects on the obverse of the $100 Federal Reserve Note were changed. Most noticeably, the treasury seal, gray numeral 100, and the Federal Reserve Seal were made smaller; also, the Federal Reserve Seal had spikes added around it.
• 1963: Because dollar bills were no longer redeemable in silver, beginning with Series 1963A, was removed from the obverse of the $100 Federal Reserve Note and the obligation was shortened to its current wording, . Also, was added to the reverse.

• 1966: The first and only small-sized $100 United States Note was issued with a red seal and serial numbers. It was the first of all United States currency to use the new U.S. treasury seal with wording in English instead of Latin. Like the Series 1963 $2 and $5 United States Notes, it lacked on the obverse and featured the motto on the reverse. The $100 United States Note was issued due to legislation that specified a certain dollar amount of United States Notes that were to remain in circulation. Because the $2 and $5 United States Notes were soon to be discontinued, the dollar amount of United States Notes would drop, thus warranting the issuing of this note.
• 1991: The first new-age anti-counterfeiting measures were introduced under Series 1990 with microscopic printing around Franklin's portrait and a metallic security strip on the left side of the bill.

• March 25, 1996: The first major design change since 1929 took place with the adoption of a contemporary style layout. The main intent of the new design was to deter counterfeiting. New security features included a watermark of Franklin to the right side of the bill, optically variable ink (OVI) that changed from green to black when viewed at different angles, a higher quality and enlarged portrait of Franklin, and hard-to-reproduce fine line printing around Franklin's portrait and Independence Hall. Older security features such as interwoven red and blue silk fibers, microprinting, and a plastic security thread (which now glows red under a black light) were kept. The individual Federal Reserve Bank Seal was changed to a unified Federal Reserve Seal along with an additional prefix letter being added to the serial number.
• The newest $100 bill was announced on April 21, 2010, and was to enter circulation in early 2011. In addition to design changes introduced in 1995, the obverse features the brown quill that was used to sign the Declaration of Independence; faint phrases from the Declaration of Independence; a bell in the inkwell that appears and disappears depending on the angle at which the bill is viewed; teal background color; a borderless portrait of Benjamin Franklin; a blue "3D security ribbon" (real name "Motion") on which images of Liberty Bells shift into numerical designations of "100" as the note is tilted; and to the left of Franklin, small yellow 100s whose zeros form the EURion constellation. The reverse features small yellow EURion 100s and has the fine lines removed from around the vignette of Independence Hall. These notes will be issued as Series 2009 with Rios-Geithner signatures. Many of these changes are intended not only to thwart counterfeiting but to also make it easier to quickly check authenticity and help vision impaired people. Problems in the printing process have led to a delay in the release of the new bills. No new release date has yet been given for the circulation of the new $100 bills.
• 2011: To replace the colorized $100 bills until the problem of creasing is solved, the old $100 bill with 1996 design turns back into production, called Series 2006A and retaining Cabral-Paulson signatures of previous Series 2006.