Who is on the $100 bill?
The $100 note features a portrait of Benjamin Franklin on the front of the note and a vignette of Independence Hall on the back of the note.
Meet Benjamin Franklin
The face on your $100 bill is none other than Benjamin Franklin, a Founding Father of the United States. Celebrated for his contributions to science, politics, and philosophy, Franklin's legacy continues to be revered centuries later.
Benjamin Franklin is on the $100 bill because of the impact he made on America and his work as one of the Founding Fathers. Although he was never president, Benjamin Franklin played a very important role in building our nation.
All these bills except one featured presidents: William McKinley on the $500, Grover Cleveland on the $1,000, and James Madison on the $5,000. Salmon Chase, a nonpresident, was featured on the $10,000 bill; he was secretary of the Treasury under President Lincoln and chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Who's on a 2 dollar bill? The front of the $2 bill features a portrait of Thomas Jefferson, a founding father and the third U.S. President. The iconic painting "The Signing of the Declaration of Independence" by John Trumbull graces the back.
Andrew Jackson has appeared on the $20 bill since the series of 1928. The placement of Jackson on the $20 bill is considered ironic; as president, he vehemently opposed both the National Bank and use of paper money.
The face on the $50 bill is none other than Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States.
Who: The country's first Treasury Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, is only one of two non-Presidents to be featured on American paper currency (our main man, Ben Franklin, is on the $100). Hamilton has graced the $10 bill since 1929, and his likeness is based on a portrait John Trumbull painted in 1805.
The original $1,000 bill featured Alexander Hamilton on the front. When someone presumably realized that it might be confusing to have the same former Secretary of the Treasury on multiple denominations, Hamilton's portrait was replaced with that of a president—the 22nd and 24th, Grover Cleveland.
1890 $100 'Watermelon' Treasury Note
The government holds eight in secure locations and many others have not been on public display for many years, making those in collectors' hands among the rarest and most valuable currency notes in existence.
Who is on the $5 bill?
Portrait and Vignette
The $5 note features a portrait of President Abraham Lincoln on the front of the note. The vignette on the back of the note changed in 1929 to feature the Lincoln Memorial.
The obverse of the bill features the portrait of Alexander Hamilton, who served as the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, two renditions of the torch of the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World), and the words "We the People" from the original engrossed preamble of the United States Constitution.
The $1 note features a portrait of George Washington on the front of the note and an image of the Great Seal of the United States on the back of the note.
If your $2 bill dates back to 1886 and has a red seal with a silver certificate, you're in luck. That bill is worth $4,500. A number of other iterations of the $2 bills with a red seal can also fetch well over a $1,000. Bills with brown seals are also very valuable.
While the note is less common, $2 bills are still being printed (108.3 million entered circulation in 2022) and count as legal tender. You can even pick them up at a bank, though it'll likely only feature the design that took to the presses in 1976.
“A serial number '1' for a 1976 $2 bill would be worth $20,000 or more. But [for] a majority of those people holding 1976 $2 bills, they are only worth face value. There are very few that actually exceed face value.” Other high-value serial numbers include what collectors call “solid” or “ladders.”
The United States no longer issues bills in larger denominations, such as $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 bills. But they are still legal tender and may still be in circulation.
The $50 note features a portrait of President Grant on the front of the note and a vignette of the United States Capitol on the back of the note.
The $20 note features a portrait of President Jackson on the front of the note and a vignette of the White House on the back of the note.
Hold the note to light to see an embedded thread running vertically to the right of the portrait. The thread is imprinted with the text USA TEN and a small flag in an alternating pattern and is visible from both sides of the note. The thread glows orange when illuminated by ultraviolet light.
Why is Abraham Lincoln on the $5 bill?
Answer and Explanation: Abraham is on the $5 bill, as well as on the penny, due to his achievements as a leader during the US Civil War.
The $100,000 bill is the highest denomination ever issued by the U.S. Federal Government. Printed in 1934, it was not intended for general use, but instead was used as an accounting device between branches of the Federal Reserve. It is illegal for a private individual to own this banknote.
Why Is a $10 Bill Called a Sawbuck? A sawbuck or sawhorse resembles "X," which is also the Roman numeral for "10." The first $10 bills issued by the U.S. government in the 1860s prominently featured the Roman numeral 10; the huge Xs looked like sawbucks' side. So "sawbuck" became a way to refer to a 10-dollar bill.
Unless it has a unique feature, like a low serial number or misprint, a newer $2 bill likely isn't worth much more than $2, even if it's uncirculated.
How do I obtain 500 dollar bills? They stopped printing them in 1945, and they were removed from circulation on July 14, 1969, almost 50 years ago. You cannot get them from your bank anymore, but try a reputable coin dealer in your area.
