The United States $100 Bill is the largest denomination of U.S. money currently being printed. The famous U.S. inventor, diplomat, and U.S. statesman, Benjamin Franklin is on the face of the bill with Independence Hall on the reverse. About 7% of all bills made in this time are $100 bills and according to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the life span of a circulating $100 bill is 60 months.

The Bald Eagle was featured on front of the first Large-sized $100 United States Note released in 1862; this bill had two reverse design variations. The $100 United States Note was redesigned in 1869 with Abraham Lincoln on the front and in 1875 the back was redesigned again; it was then redesigned again in 1914 having Benjamin Franklin on the obverse and symbolic designs on the back representing work, abundance, America, peace, and business. In 1863, the first $100 Gold Certificate was released containing a bald eagle and big green 100 on the front with an orange reverse side. In 1870, the bill was redesigned to be one-sided and had Thomas Hart Benton’s portrait on it; it kept Benton’s picture on it when the bill was changed in 1882. James Monroe was shown on the first $100 Silver Certificate released in 1878. In 1891, the $100 Silver Certificate was redesigned and the black reverse was changed to green. The $100 bill was issued as Federal Reserve Note for the first time in the year 1914. The face contained a picture of Benjamin Franklin and the back had symbolic designs showing labor, abundance, America, peace, and trade.

In 1929, all United States bills were switched to the current size. All $100 bills had Franklin on the front and on the back, it had Independence Hall. On the $100 Federal Reserve Note, the seal and serial numbers were green and on the $100 Gold Certificate, the seal and serial numbers were a golden color. In 1966, for the first and only time, the $100 bill was released as a Small-sized United States Note. Starting in the 1990s, the $100 bill started getting changes made to prevent counterfeiting. These included a watermark, a plastic security thread, microscopic printing, and a Federal Reserve Seal replacing the Federal Reserve Bank Seal.

The United States $50 Bill is currently the second largest denomination of United States Paper Currency. The eighteenth president of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant is shown on the front of the bill and the U.S. Capitol is pictured on the back of it. All $50 bills printed today are Federal Reserve Notes. About 5% of all U.S. paper currency printed today are $50 bills, and According to Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the life span of a $50 bill being circulated is 55 months before it has gotten too worn out and is replaced.

The first $50 bill was placed into circulation in 1862 and it was a large-sized bill. In 1869, a new $50 United States Note featuring Henry Clay and a mythical figure grasping a laurel branch on the face. This was replaced in 1874 with another $50 United States Note with Benjamin Franklin and Lady Liberty on the front of it. In 1878, Edward Everett starred on obverse of the first $50 Silver Certificate while the reverse of the bill was in black ink. This bill was revised and redesigned in both 1880 and 1891. Containing a portrait of American democratic politician, Silas Wright, on the face and a Bald Eagle sitting on top of an American flag, the first $50 Gold Certificate was released in 1882. This bill was revised in 1913 when Ulysses S. Grant’ s picture appeared on the front. In 1914, the first $50 Federal Reserve Note featured Ulysses S. Grant on the front and a mythical design of Panama between an armored warship and a merchant on the back.

The design of the $50 Federal Reserve Note contained a portrait of Ulysses S. Grant on the obverse and a picture of the U.S. Capitol on the reverse, when all U.S. money was switched to its smaller, current size. The $50 Federal Reserve Note had a green seal and serial numbers, while the $50 Gold Certificate had a golden-color seal and serial numbers. As the years went by, the lay out of the $50 bill changed slightly but it kept the same basic design. In 1991, new security features such as microprinting and a plastic security strip were added. Then in later years, more security features such as a watermark and glow-in-the-dark security thread included.

The United States $20 Bill is currently one of the largest denominations of U.S. Paper Money. It is also the most common of all high denomination notes used by Americans everyday.This is because ATMs primarily dispense it and it is also mostly used for withdrawals and check cashing. The seventh President of United States, Andrew Jackson, is featured on the obverse side of the bill, while on the reverse side of the bill shows a picture of the White House. Because Andrew Jackson is on the $20 bill, it is often referred to as a “Jackson”. About 22% of all U.S. paper money currently printed are $20 bills and according to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing the life span of a $20 bill in circulation is 25 months before is replaced from being too worn out.

In 1861, the $20 bill was released as a Large-Sized Demand Note; on the obverse was Lady Liberty with a sword and shield, and the reverse printed in green ink, is a general design, nothing special. In 1862, a very similar $20 United States Note was released with a different reverse design. The first $20 Gold Certificate was released in 1863 and had a picture of an eagle on the front and an orange back with a $20 gold coin; the $20 Gold Certificate was redesigned in 1882 with a picture of James Garfield on the obverse and the reverse was orange with an eagle on it. The $20 United States Note was redesigned in 1869; it had Andrew Jackson and the Roman goddess of victory, Victoria, holding a sword and shield, on the front of it and it had a green back design. Stephen Decatur was featured on front of the first $20 Silver Certificate, which had a black back design; the $20 Silver Certificate was released in 1886 with Daniel Manning on the front. Again, in 1905, the Gold Certificate was redesigned with George Washington on the front with an orange reverse side. The first $20 Federal Reserve Note started being issued in 1914; had both twenty-second and twenty-fourth U.S. President, Grover Cleveland, on the obverse and a steamship and steam locomotive on the reverse.

In 1928, the $20 Federal Reserve Note was changed to its smaller, current size. It was redeemable in both gold and silver. Andrew Jackson was on the front and the White House was on the back. During World War II, the$20 Federal Reserve Note was designed special to circulate on the Hawaiian Islands in case an enemy seized it, then it could claimed as worthless. The $20 Federal Reserve Note had HAWAII printed on the front and back of it and it had brown serial numbers. Over the years, the $20 bill was edited in small ways, with an updated White House picture and new treasury seal, but overall it kept the same design. Starting in the 1990’s new security features were added, like microprinting, a watermark, and color-shifting ink, to prevent counterfeiting.

The United States $5 bill is relatively small denomination of U.S. currency. The obverse of the bill currently shows a portrait of the sixteenth President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln and the back of the bill has the Lincoln Memorial on it. The life span of a $5 bill in circulation is 16 months according to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. $5 bills currently make up about 9% of all the paper currency printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

The first $5 bill was released in 1861 as a Large-Size Demand Note. It had a small portrait of Alexander Hamilton and rhetorical statue representing freedom on the obverse. In 1862, the $5 bill was revised on the reverse side and it was released as an United States Note. The first $5 Silver Certificate was released in 1886 with Ulysses S. Grant on the front of it and five Morgan Silver Dollars on the back. Later, in 1896, the “Educational Series” Silver Certificate was issued. In 1914, the first $5 Federal Reserve Notes were issued. These showed a portrait of Abraham Lincoln on the obverse and vignettes of Columbus sighting land and the Pilgrim’s landing on the reverse. In 1923, the $5 Silver Certificate was changed, making the words The United States of America circular around Lincoln’s picture. This bill was nicknamed a “porthole” silver certificate because of it.’

All U.S. notes became small-sized notes in 1929 under the Series of 1928. The $5 bill was released as a United States note with a red seal and serial numbers and as a Federal Reserve Note with green serial numbers and a green seal. These had Lincoln on the front and the Lincoln Memorial on the back. In 1934, the first $5 Silver Certificates were released and they had a blue seal, blue serial numbers, and blue 5 on the front. Special currency was issued for World War II so that if the enemy got a hold of the money, it could be declared as worthless. One variation of these bills had Hawaii Printed on the front and the back of the bill and the seal and serial numbers went from green to brown in color. Another variation of $5 silver certificate had a yellow seal instead of a blue seal and were for U.S. troops in North Africa. In 1967, the $5 United States Notes stopped being produced.

The $5 bill was recently redesigned and started being issued on March 13, 2008 with more and better security features to avoid counterfeiting. This includes watermarks, security thread, microprinting, Federal Reserve indicators, and a shift of the serial number placement. New design features included bigger portraits and historical pictures and The Great Seal of the United States, an eagle and a shield, is printed on the background of the bill’s obverse in purple.

The United States $2 Bill is one of the smallest denominations of U.S. Paper Money. The obverse has the oldest design of any current U.S. currency and was adopted in 1929. This is a picture of the third U.S. President, Thomas Jefferson. On the reverse of the bill, the second oldest design adopted in 1976, is the painting, The Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull.

The first year that the United States $2 Bill was printed was 1862 as a Large Size Legal Tender Note. It originally had a portrait of Alexander Hamilton and then was later redesigned in 1869 with Thomas Jefferson’s picture. In 1886, the $2 Silver Certificate was issued and it had a portrait of U.S. Civil War General Winfred Scott Hancock. Over the years, the $2 Silver Certificate was redesigned and issued out. One of the most famous was the “Educational Series” Silver Certificate in 1896.

In 1929, all U.S. currency was changed to its smaller, current size and the $2 bill was kept as United States Note also known as a Legal Tender Note. The obverse had Thomas Jefferson on it and on the reverse was his home, the Monticello. On this note, the seal and serial number were both red. The $2 bills were officially discontinued in August 1966 after being changed in 1953 and 1963.

The $2 bill was redesigned and reissued as a Federal Reserve Note for the United States’ Bicentennial in 1976 ($2.00 = 200 cents). This is the same design that the current $2 bills have today.

Today, $2 bills are rarely found in circulation but are considered collectible. Collectible $2 bills include large size notes, red seal small-sized $2 Federal Reserve Notes , $2 Federal Reserve notes not put into circulation, and notes in Series 1976 $2 bills with canceled stamps.

The U.S. $1 bill is the most common amount of United States money. It became a Federal Reserve Note in 1963. The design of the bill is the second oldest of U.S. currency currently being printed, coming short only to the United States $2 bill. The front of the bill has a painting by Gilbert Stuart of George Washington, the first U.S. president, and the reverse has a picture of the Great Seal of the United States. About 45% of all U.S. money made today are $1 bills and according to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the life span of a $1 bill in circulation is 21 months before it is too worn out and is replaced.

There have been two sizes of U.S. $1 bills: the large size notes and the current small size notes. The first $1 bill was issued in 1862 as a Legal Tender Note. From that time on, the $1 bill had variety of designs including the popular silver certificate, which was first issued in 1886 with Martha Washington, the first woman on U.S. currency on the front of it. The small size notes were first introduced in 1929 and it was issued as a silver certificate under the Series of 1928. Around World War II, in 1942, special issues of one-dollar bills were started. These included special $1 Silver Certificates for Hawaii in case of Japanese invasion which had Hawaii printed vertically on the left and right side with a brown seal and serial number. Another special $1 Silver Certificate for the payment of Allied troops in North Africa about to start an assault in Europe, which had a yellow seal. These two special Silver Certificates could be claimed as worthless enemy troops got a hold of them. One-dollar Federal Reserve Notes started being printed in 1963, therefore ending the production of the Silver Certificate.