According to US Department of Treasury, The Portraits on US Currency Notes are selected by the Secretary of the Treasury with the advice of Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) officials. The law prohibits portraits of living persons from appearing on Government Securities. Therefore, the portraits on US currency notes are of deceased persons whose places in history the American people know well.
The July 11, 1862 Act of Congress provided:
"That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and is hereby authorized, in case he shall think it expedient to procure said notes, or any part thereof, to be engraved, printed, and executed, in such form as he shall prescribe, at the Treasury Department in Washington, and under his direction; and he is hereby empowered to purchase and provide all machinery and materials, and to employ such persons and appoint such officers as may be necessary for this purpose."
The basic face and back designs of all denominations of US paper currency in circulation today were selected in 1929 when the size of the notes was reduced, although they were modified to improve security against counterfeiting starting in 1996. A committee appointed to study such matters made those choices. The only exception is the reverse design of the one-dollar bill. Unfortunately, however, they are no records at US Department of Treasury that suggest why certain Presidents and statesmen were chosen for specific denominations.
According to U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing in 1929, a special committee was appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury to study this aspect of the design. It was determined that portraits of Presidents of the United States have a more permanent familiarity in the minds of the public than any others. This decision was somewhat altered by the Secretary of the Treasury to include Alexander Hamilton, who was the first Secretary of the Treasury; Salmon P. Chase, who was Secretary of the Treasury during the Civil War and is credited with promoting our National Banking System; and Benjamin Franklin, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. All three of these statesmen were well known to the American public.
Who is featured in the portraits on U.S. paper currency:
$1 Dollar Bill Portrait - George Washington (1732-1799).
George Washington was the first President of the United States, the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
-Member of the First and Second Continental Congresses (1774-1775)-Commander-in-Chief of the American Revolutionary Army (1775-1783)
-President of the Constitutional Convention (1787)
-First President of the United States (1789-1797)
$2 Dollars Bill Portrait - Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826).
Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father, the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the third President of the United States. He was a spokesman for democracy and the rights of man with worldwide influence.
-Member of the Second Continental Congress (1775-1776)-Author/Signer of the Declaration of Independence (1776)
-First Secretary of State (1790-1793)
-Third President of the United States (1801-1809)
$5 Dollars Bill Portrait - Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865).
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War--its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional and political crisis. In so doing he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the national government and modernized the economy.
-16th President of the United States (1861–1865)
$10 Dollars Bill Portrait - Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804)
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father of the United States, chief of staff to General Washington, one of the most influential interpreters and promoters of the Constitution, the founder of the nation's financial system, and the founder of the first American political party.
-Served in the American Revolutionary Army (1775-1781)-Member of the Constitutional Convention (1787)
-Signer of the U.S. Constitution (1787)
-First Secretary of the Treasury (1789-1795)
$20 Dollars Bill Portrait - Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States. He was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814), and the British at the Battle of New Orleans (1815). A polarizing figure who dominated the Second Party System in the 1820s and 1830s.
-Military Governor of Florida (March 1821–December 1821)-7th President of the United States (1829–1837)
$50 Dollars Bill Portrait - Ulysses Grant (1822-1885)
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th president of the United States following his success as military commander in the American Civil War. Under Grant, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military; the war, and secession, ended with the surrender of Robert E. Lee's army at Appomattox Court House.
-Commanding General of the United States Army (1864–1869)-18th president of the United States (1869–1877)
$100 Dollars Bill Portrait - Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and in many ways was "the First American". A world famous polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.
-Served in the Second Continental Congress (1775-1776)-Member of the Constitutional Convention (1787)
-Negotiated peace treaty with Great Britain (1781-1783)
-Signer of the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution (1776/1787)
$500 Dollars Bill Portrait - William McKinley (1843-1901)
William McKinley was the 25th President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1897, until his assassination in September 1901, six months into his second term. McKinley led the nation to victory in the Spanish–American War, raised protective tariffs to promote American industry, and maintained the nation on the gold standard in a rejection of inflationary proposals.
-Governor of Ohio (1892–1896)-25th President of the United States (1897-1901)
The $500 Dollars Bill was released as a small-size Federal Reserve Note (sometimes nicknamed "watermelon notes" due to the design on the reverse) in 1918 and 1934, and a small-size Gold Certificate in 1928.
$1000 Dollars Bill Portrait - Grover Cleveland (1837-1908)
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States; as such, he is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885–1889 and 1893–1897) and to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents. He was the winner of the popular vote for president three times—in 1884, 1888, and 1892—and was the only Democrat elected to the presidency in the era of Republican political domination dating from 1861 to 1913.
-Governor of New York (1883–1885)-22nd President of the United States (1885–1889)
-24th President of the United States (1893–1897)
The $1000 Dollars Bill was printed as a small-size Federal Reserve Note in 1918, 1934 and 1934A, and a small-size Gold Certificate in 1928 and 1934. As of May 30, 2009, 165,372 $1,000 bills were known to exist.
$5000 Dollars Bill Portrait - James Madison (1751-1836)
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman, political theorist and the fourth President of the United States. He is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for being instrumental in the drafting of the United States Constitution and as the key champion and author of the United States Bill of Rights.
-5th United States Secretary of State (1801–1809)-fourth President of the United States (1809–1817)
There is a large-sized $5,000 Federal Reserve Note on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. The $5,000 bill was printed as a gold certificate in 1928, and a federal reserve note in 1928, 1934, and 1934A. As of May 30, 2009, 342 $5,000 bills were known to exist.
$10000 Dollars Bill Portrait - Salmon Chase (1808-1873)
Salmon Portland Chase was an American politician and jurist who served as U.S. Senator from Ohio and the 23rd Governor of Ohio; as U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Abraham Lincoln; and as the sixth Chief Justice of the United States.
-Governor of Ohio (1856–1860)-United States Secretary of the Treasury (1861–1864)
-sixth Chief Justice of the United States (1864–1873)
$10000 Dollars Bill is the largest denomination of U.S. currency ever in public circulation, and was issued until 1946. As of May 30, 2009, only 336 $10,000 bills were known to have survived. Currently, there are no known 1928 $10,000 Gold Certificates in existence except the unique specimen in the Smithsonian Institution. Photographic records show that at least three 1934 $10,000 Gold Certificates are still in existence.
$100000 Dollars Bill Portrait - Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, in office from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913. With the Republican Party split in 1912, he led his Democratic Party to control both the White House and Congress for the first time in nearly two decades.
-Governor of New Jersey (1911–1913)-28th President of the United States (1913-1921)
These notes were printed from December 18, 1934, through January 9, 1935, and were issued by the Treasurer of the United States to Federal Reserve Banks only against an equal amount of gold bullion held by the Treasury Department. The $100,000 note never appeared in general circulation, and was only used in transactions between Federal Reserve Banks.
The Federal Reserve announced the removal of large denominations of United States currency from circulation on July 14, 1969. The one-hundred-dollar bill was the largest denomination left in circulation. As of May 30, 2009, only 336 $10,000 bills were known to exist; 342 remaining $5,000 bills; and 165,372 remaining $1,000 bills. Due to their rarity, collectors will pay considerably more than the face value of the bills to acquire them.
The United States has never issued a million dollars banknote. However, Federal Reserve has declared 1 million novelties and fantasy banknotes legal to print or own and does not consider them as counterfeit because no genuine million dollar bill exists or ever has existed.
Source: US Department of Treasury, U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Wikipedia.
