Denominations
What denominations of currency are in circulation today? Will any new denominations be produced?
What was the highest denomination of United States currency ever produced?
What denominations of currency notes is Treasury Department no longer printing?
Did the Treasury Department ever produce $1 million currency note? I have one I want to know about.
Why did the Treasury Department remove the $2 bill from circulation?
 The present denominations of our currency in production are $1, $2, 5$, $10, $20, $50 and $100. The purpose of the United States currency system is to serve the needs of the public and these denominations meet that goal. Neither the Department of the Treasury nor the Federal Reserve System has any plans to change the denominations in use today.
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The largest denomination of currency ever printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) was the $100,000 Series 1934 featuring the portrait of President Wilson. 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 notes were used only for official
transactions between Federal Reserve Banks and were not circulated among the general public.
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On July
14, 1969, David M. Kennedy, the 60th Secretary
of the Treasury, and officials at the
Federal Reserve Board announced that they
would immediately stop distributing currency
in denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000 and
$10,000. Production of these denominations
stopped during World War II. Their main
purpose was for bank transfer payments. With
the arrival of more secure transfer
technologies, however, they were no longer
needed for that purpose. While these notes
are legal tender and may still be found in
circulation today, the Federal Reserve Banks
remove them from circulation and destroy them
as they are received.
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We receive many inquiries asking if the Treasury Department ever produced a $1 million currency note. People have sent in copies of these notes. We have found that they are nonnegotiable platinum certificates known as a "One Million Dollar Special Issue." These notes were from a special limited copyrighted art series originally sold by a Canadian firm for $1.00 each as a collectible item. They are not official United States currency notes manufactured by our Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). As such, they are not redeemable by the Department of the Treasury.
You may be interested to know that the BEP learned of these certificates in the spring of 1982. All related correspondence was forwarded to the United States Secret Service to decide if there were any violations of Federal currency laws. The Secret Service subsequently advised, however, that these certificates did not violate any United States law.
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The $2 bill has not been removed from circulation and is still a circulating denomination of United States paper currency. The Federal Reserve System does not, however, request the printing of that denomination as often as the others. The Series 2003 $2 bill was the last printed and bears the names of former Secretary of the Treasury John W. Snow and Treasurer Rosario Marin. As of April 30, 2007 there were $1,549,052,714 worth of $2 bills in circulation worldwide.
The key for successfully circulating the $2 bill is for retailers to use them just like any other denomination in their daily operations. In addition, most commercial banks will readily supply their retail customers with these bills if their customers request them in sufficient volume to justify stocking them in their vaults. However, neither the Department of the Treasury nor the Federal Reserve System can force the distribution or use of any denomination of currency on banks, businesses or individuals.
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Last Updated:
November 28, 2007
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