The largest denomination bills printed by the US
The largest denomination bank note, ever printed by the United States was the $100,000 bill in 1934.
They are also bills of $500, $1000, $5000 and $10,000. They used in the past. and they are very unusual. They were last printed by the end of the year 1945 and they were completely withdrawn by the Federal Reserve on July 1969.
Their main purpose was for inter-bank and Federal Reserve usage and it was not intended for general public use. When the electronic money system was introduced these large bills were obsolete.
They were gold certificates, as it was stated on the paper money "Ten Thousand Dollars in gold coin payable to the bearer on demand" this was before 1933, when gold was compulsorily confiscated by the government (United States Executive Order 6102, April 5 1933) in the 1934 series the test on the bank notes was changed to
"One hundred thousand dollars in gold payable to the bearer on demand as authorized by law".
$10,000 bill of 1928.
$10,000 bill of 1934
It is also worth pointing out that these bills do not have printed "Federal Reserve Note", as today bills.
However in this 1928-1934 $10,000 bill, is a Federal Reserve note and is not a gold certificate, and the following texts are printed on it: "Will pay to the bearer on demand ten thousand dollars", and "redeemable in gold on demand at the United States Treasury, or in gold or lawful money at any Federal Reserve Bank".
$10,000 bill (Federal Reserve Note) of 1928.
Now days these bills are collectors items and they are very rare, some of them a few pieces are known.
According to Wikipedia: there exists 336 bills of 10,000USD, 342 of 5,000USD and 165,372 pieces of 1,000USD.
Checking on Ebay, you can see that 1934 $10,000 bill (PMG EF 40) was sold by 119,000USD ( on April 14, 2017).
The $10,000 bill shows the portrait of Salomon P. Chase, he was the 25th Secretary of the Treasury (under Lincoln's presidency), he stablished the national banking system. The Chase Manhattan Bank, the successor of Chase National Bank, is named in his honor.
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Sources and images:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_denominations_of_United_States_currency
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmon_P._Chase
http://mentalfloss.com/article/23692/100000-bill-story-behind-large-denomination-currency
Informative piece, I wonder if these notes were still around and in use by the general public, what effect these notes would have had on inflation
The printing of high denomination notes is not a cause of inflation it is more the consequences. The main cause of inflation is the creation of base money, MB as it is called by the economist.
Thanks for commenting.
I always thought the main cause of inflation was the interest rate being paid for the note itself. The interest never exist and cannot ever exist under the current system.
Interesting question? They would not devalue any more than the lower denomination. However they might not be honored as the Federal Reserve is a criminal organization. lol
"this was before 1933, when gold was compulsorily confiscated by the government (United States Executive Order 6102, April 5 1933)" Along with this Executive order was the need for congress to make it possible for people to pay their bill. Thus the Trading With The Enemy ACT. If you don't know about it you should check it out, but have a legal dictionary as it is not written in english though a lot of people miss this. One has to look up all of the terms, because the legal definition is not the same as the english. lol