United States Ten-dollar Bill - Small Size Note History

Small Size Note History

(6.14 × 2.61 in ≅ 156 × 66 mm)

• 1929: Under the Series of 1928, all U.S. currency was changed to its current size. All variations of the $10 bill would carry the same portrait of Alexander Hamilton, same border design on the obverse, and the same reverse with a vignette of the U.S. Treasury building. The $10 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. The car parked outside of the Treasury Department building is a 1926 Hupmobile. The tiny building to the right rear of the treasury building is the American Security and Trust Company Building, which for some years advertised itself as "right on the money".
• 1933: As an emergency response to the Great Depression, additional money was pumped into the American economy through Federal Reserve Bank Notes. This was the only small-sized $10 bill that had a different border design on the obverse. The serial numbers and seal on it were brown.

• 1933: The first small sized $10 Silver Certificates were issued with a blue seal and serial numbers. The obverse had a similar design style to the 1928 $1 Silver Certificates; however, phrasing on the $10 bill was different from the $1 bill. This issue, with the series date of 1933, was not widely released into general circulation. Surviving examples of these notes usually sell for $10,000 to $30,000 in the numismatic community depending on the condition of the paper.

• 1934: The $10 Silver Certificate was redesigned with a blue numeral 10 on the left side of the obverse and the treasury seal printed over the gray word on the right. Phrasing on the certificate was changed to reflect the Silver Purchase Act of 1934.

• 1934: The redeemable in gold clause was removed from Federal Reserve Notes due to the U.S. withdrawing from the gold standard.
• 1942: Special World War II currency was issued. was overprinted on the front and back of the $10 Federal Reserve Note, and the seal and serial numbers were changed to brown. This was done so that the currency could be declared worthless in case of Japanese invasion. A $10 Silver Certificate was printed with a yellow instead of blue treasury seal; these notes were given to U.S. troops in North Africa. These notes, too, could be declared worthless if seized by the enemy.
• 1950: Many minor aspects on the obverse of the $10 Federal Reserve Note were changed. Most noticeably, the treasury seal, gray word, and the Federal Reserve Seal were made smaller, the words were added between them and the serial number; also, the Federal Reserve seal had spikes added around it.
• 1953: The $10 silver certificate had several design changes analogous to the 1950 Federal Reserve Note design changes; also, the blue numeral 10 on the left side of the bill was changed to gray.
• 1963: was removed from the obverse and was added to the reverse of the $10 Federal Reserve Notes. Also, the obligation was shortened to its current wording, .
• 1969: The $10 bill began using the new treasury seal with wording in English that simply says, "The Department of the Treasury," instead of Latin "THESAUR. AMER. SEPTENT. SIGIL.," "Seal of the Treasury of North America."
• 1990: The first modern anti-counterfeiting measures were introduced with microscopic printing around Hamilton's portrait and a plastic security strip on the left side of the bill.
• May 24, 2000: To combat evolving counterfeiting, a new $10 bill was issued under series 1999 whose design was similar in style to the $100, $50, $20, and $5 bills that had all undergone previous design changes. The major changes were a revised portrait of Hamilton and a revised vignette of the U.S. Treasury building. The plastic security strip reads "USA TEN" and now glows orange under a black light.
• The newest $10 bill entered circulation on March 2, 2006. In addition to design changes introduced in 2000, the obverse features red background images of the Statue of Liberty's torch, the phrase from the United States Constitution, a smaller metallic representation of the Statue of Liberty's torch, orange and yellow background color, a borderless portrait of Hamilton, and to the left of Hamilton small yellow 10s whose zeros form the EURion constellation. The reverse features small yellow EURion 10s and have the fine lines removed from around the vignette of the United States Treasury building. These notes were issued in series 2004A with Cabral-Snow signatures.