The history of the US dollar predates the United States itself. It goes back to the Revolutionary War when all thirteen colonies issued a single currency to fund the war against Britain. The current dollar was first issued during the Civil War. Several other currencies were introduced before, during, and after the war, and some even coexisted alongside the current dollar.

Interestingly, the present-day US currency has some bills that are rarely seen or even heard of. Ever heard of the $100,000 bill? Maybe not. Well! Here are ten old-timey bills and currencies of the US. Mind you, some are still legal tender even though they are out of print.

10Silver Certificates

Silver certificates were issued in the US between 1878 and 1964. They were used like regular money and were originally redeemable for their face value in silver coins. However, between June 1967 and June 1968, they could be exchanged for silver bullion and thereafter, regular bank notes. They remain legal tender and can still be traded for current bank bills. In fact, silver certificates closely resemble bank notes, except that their fine print reads “one dollar in silver payable to the bearer on demand.”

Interestingly and unknown to many, two versions of the $1 silver certificate issued in 1886 and 1891 are the first American paper money to ever feature the portrait of a woman. The woman was Martha Washington, the wife of George Washington and the first, first lady of the United States. Martha Washington silver certificates are valued among collectors. An 1891 version in perfect condition sells for about $1,500.^[1]

9Continental Currency

The Continental Currency was issued on June 22, 1775, at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, when the thirteen colonies that would later form the United States agreed they needed a unified currency to prosecute the war against Britain. The money was called “Continental” because it was issued by the Continental Congress, which was the highest governing body during the war. It consisted of delegates from all thirteen colonies.

The currency was backed by nothing other than the promise that it would be repaid from the funds generated from future taxes. The public had no trust in the money, and it led to inflation so bad that even George Washington complained about one wagonload of Continental Currency not buying one wagonload of supplies. Britain worsened the effect of the inflation by releasing counterfeit notes into the US.

The value of the Continental Currency varied from colony to colony. People even coined the idiom “not worth a Continental” to describe the worthlessness of an object. The money became so unstable that it crashed in May 1781.^[2] The failure of the currency put the newly formed United States in heavy debt at the end of the war. It was even one of the reasons why the US abandoned the idea of a confederation for a stronger central government. The US itself avoided issuing paper money until the Civil War.

8$100,000

In 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered all US citizens to surrender all gold coins, gold bullion, and gold certificates in their possession. This was at the height of the Great Depression when people hoarded their gold and refused to accept paper money. In fact, paper money became so worthless that barter (the exchange of goods for other goods or services) became the preferred medium of exchange.

With most citizens separated from their gold, they were forced to spend the paper money. The federal government itself printed more money including a new $100,000 bill that featured the portrait of Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States.

There was a catch though. The bill was not legal tender since it was not intended for general use. It was specially made for branches of the Federal Reserve to use in high-value transactions. It remains the highest single bill denomination ever printed in the US.^[3]

7Demand Notes

The US federal government issued its first paper money when the US Civil War broke out in 1861. Before then, the federal government used gold and silver in its transactions while more than 8,000 banks independently issued and controlled all the paper money in circulation. The war seriously depleted the US treasury and caused widespread inflation. In response, Salmon P. Chase, the Secretary of Treasury, suggested that the government introduced a single paper money to replace all the paper monies issued by the banks.

This led to the introduction of Demand Notes, which are the first true paper money issued by the United States government. The Continental Currency mentioned above does not qualify as the first paper money because it was released before the formation of the United States. The government issued $10 million worth of Demand Notes, which was redeemable for gold or silver. However, it never caught on since people hoarded their gold and silver coins.

In 1862, the US Congress passed a law ordering the production of a new currency that was not redeemable for gold or silver. This led to the creation of the US dollars used to date. Demand Notes were taken out of circulation as this new paper money was introduced. At first, the paper money suffered from constant inflation and deflation as its value rose and fell depending on the victories and losses of the Union.^[4]

6Fractional Currency

As we already mentioned, Americans hoarded valuable coins during the US Civil War. To address this, the Treasury issued fractional currency notes in denominations of between one and fifty cents. Most Americans hated the fractional money, which they called “shinplasters” because of the extra thin paper used in its production. The paper was compared to the thin paper doctors used to make plaster casts.

In 1865, the Treasury announced plans to issue more fractional currency. However, Congress ordered that the three-cent fractional currency, which was originally a silver coin and was valued because of its use in making change and paying for postage (which cost exactly three cents) should not be made with shinplaster but with a mixture of nickel and copper.

The three-cent nickel was proposed by Congressman John Kasson, who was famous for previously disapproving the use of nickel in coins. Kasson did hate the idea of using nickels in coins, but he hated the shinplasters more, so he approved the nickel coin as the lesser of two evils.

The three-cent nickel, the three-cent silver, and the three-cent fractional currency remained in circulation until the silver was phased out in 1873. The three-cent fractional currency followed when all fractional currencies were discontinued in February 1876. The three-cent nickel itself was discontinued in 1889 when postage was reduced to two cents. All three-cent nickels were melted and remolded into five cent nickels.^[5]

5$1000

The 1,000 dollar bill is one of the rarest legal tenders in the US. It has been out of print since 1946 but is still acceptable by banks in exchange for $1,000 equivalent in credit. Banks are expected to remit all $1,000 bills deposited at their branches to the Federal Reserve, which ensures they do not go back into circulation. However, people with $1,000 notes prefer hoarding them since their rarity has made them worthier than their face value.

The US federal government printed its first $1,000 bill during the US Civil War even though the thirteen colonies that formed the United States had issued a $1,000 bill as part of the so-called Continental Currency. The Union used the money to purchase items like ammunition, which it needed to use to fight the war.

After the war, the $1,000 note and other similarly high valued bills were relegated for use in large-scale transactions like interbank transfers and property deals. It was last printed in 1946 but remained in circulation until 1969 when President Richard Nixon ordered the Federal Reserve to recall all high valued bills over fears that they would be used for money laundering. Besides this, the $1,000 bill was expensive to print since only a few were produced at a time.^[6]

4$10,000

The $10,000 bill is the highest legal tender ever printed in the US. Unlike the $100,000 note, it was intended for everyday use, and like the $1,000 bill, it remains a legal tender even though they were both taken out of circulation in 1969. The $10,000 note features the portrait of Salmon P. Chase, who served as President Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of Treasury. Chase also served as a senator and governor of Ohio and Chief Justice of the United States.

However, it was his role as Secretary of Treasury that earned him a place on the $10,000 bill. As we mentioned earlier, it was he who proposed the creation of a single, federally controlled paper money. The $10,000 bill was used for large transactions like settling interbank transfers and was not commonly used in public. Estimates point that there are less than 350 in circulation today. They are a huge collector’s item, and a crisp bill could fetch up to $140,000. A rough one could fetch $30,000.^[7]

3Double Eagle

The Double Eagle was a $20 gold coin issued between 1907 and 1932. It was taken out of circulation in 1933 when President Franklin Roosevelt banned American citizens from owning gold. 445,300 gold coins postdated 1933 had been minted by the time President Roosevelt issued the Executive Order and were never released. They were melted down and converted into bullion in 1937.

However, some of the 1933 gold coins escaped being melted. No one knows how the coins were smuggled out of the US Mint, but it is speculated that a cashier called George McCann switched about twenty 1933 Double Eagles for earlier versions. That way, no one would notice the difference in weight.

A jeweler called Israel Swift is known to have been in possession of nineteen of these coins, and he sold nine to private collectors. One was sold to King Farouk of Egypt. The coin reappeared when King Farouk was deposed in 1952 but disappeared again when whoever was in its possession realized that the Secret Service was still trying to recover it. The Secret Service only got hold of it forty years later when it launched a sting operation against Stephen Fenton, a British coin dealer who was in its possession.

The coin was stored in the treasury vault of the World Trade Center while Fenton and the US Mint engaged in a lengthy legal battle, which ended with Fenton and the US Mint agreeing to sell the coin and splitting the proceeds. The coin was then moved from the World Trade Center to Fort Knox two months before the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The coin sold for a record $7,590,000, which includes a 15 percent buyer fee and an additional $20 for its face value. Joan Langbord, one of Swift’s heirs uncovered ten more coins in September 2004. She sent them to the US Mint for authentication, but the Secret Service immediately seized them.^[8]

2Treasury Notes

Also called Coin Notes, Treasury Notes are series of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, and $1,000 bills issued in the United States between 1890 and 1891. They were issued after the passage of the Legal Tender Act of July 14, 1890, which permitted the Secretary of Treasury to print the notes as payment for the silver bullion purchased by the Treasury.

Treasury Notes could be redeemed for gold or silver coins, depending on the preference set by the Secretary of Treasury. A 500 dollar bill was also planned but was never issued. Only sample copies were printed.

The bills issued in 1890 and 1891 look similar but there are a few ways to tell them apart. One difference is the type and size of seal used. Another is the design of their reverse sides. 1890 bills have a rich dark green reverse while 1891 bills have a plain green and white reverse. Both versions are collector’s items although the 1890 edition is rarer and more expensive.^[9]

11974 Aluminum Cent

Copper got so costly in 1973 that the US Mint started looking into an alternative metal to use for its coins. After an extensive test, it settled for aluminum. In 1974, the US Mint transported uncut aluminum alloys from its Philadelphia mint to its Denver mint, where it was cut to shape and returned to Philadelphia for stamping.

The Denver mint was not supposed to stamp any coin but an assistant superintendent went on to make the only 1974 aluminum cent created at the Denver mint. It is a one cent denomination and was marked “D” to show that it was made in Denver.

In 1974, the Philadelphia mint stamped about 1.5 million aluminum coins and shared some samples among members of the Congress. However, Congress refused to authorize the aluminum coins for several reasons including the fact that a representative of the vending industry claimed that aluminum coins would not work with their machines.

The US Mint melted the aluminum coins, but at least fifteen remain unaccounted for to date. These unaccounted coins are part of those held by Congressmen who did not return their sample coins. As for the illegally made “D” coin, Harry Edmond Lawrence, the son of the assistant superintendent, returned it to the US Mint after the death of his father.^[10]

Ah, good ol’ money. It’ll always be there, right? So long as we have enough of it, we can purchase goods, services, security…well, you get the idea.

Unfortunately, too many governments treat money like coffee—assuming they can always just make more. As we’ll see, this process of chasing increasingly bad money with even worse money can eventually lead to no money at all.

Here are ten times legal tender became legally dead

10 The Roman Denarius

An act of patriotic defiance during Rome’s battle against Hannibal in the Second Punic War, the denarius was introduced in the late third century BC. The coin consisted of almost pure silver and weighed 4.2 grams.

Its heyday came in the century following Rome’s mid-second century BC conquest of Macedonia, whose rich silver deposits allowed the money supply to increase tenfold. The denarius became so universal that, by the middle of the first century BC, the inscription “Roma” was removed for lack of necessity. Roman minters produced millions of denarii each year, which flowed freely—not only within the Empire but anywhere Romans traded.

Unlike later currencies, the denarius wasn’t BACKED by precious metals; it WAS one. Each denarius had a certain amount of silver, meaning citizens could see and feel its inherent worth.

However, as expenses grew—especially military costs—successive Roman leaders incrementally decreased the denarius’s silver content. As Rome’s reach waned in the third century AD, swaths of territory were lost along with their tax revenues. Holding outposts became more manpower-heavy while the coffers got lighter. As the denarius’s silver content dipped to just 5%, citizens began hoarding older coins for their higher silver content—a sign that trust in the currency was eroding.

Eventually, the Roman government lost faith in its own currency, insisting that taxes be paid either in gold or in kind. Citizens began unloading denarii in droves, driving up prices and hastening the currency’s demise.^[1]

9 The Chilean Escudo

The escudo was a short-lived currency sandwiched between two different pesos. It was introduced in 1960, partially to make up for the country’s lagging currency credibility. At its inception, one escudo equaled 1,000 pesos.

Things were going well enough until socialism came to town. After failing on three previous attempts, avowed Marxist Salvador Allende was elected Chile’s president in 1970. The Socialist Party leader quickly went about nationalizing industries and dramatically increasing social spending to redistribute wealth to the poor.

At first, the expansive monetary policy Allende adopted produced reasonable economic growth, but as is typically the case, it also fueled inflation. Rising prices were exacerbated by widespread labor strikes, which caused severe production drops and falling exports. In addition, price-fixing policies incorporated to combat inflation led to a sharp uptick in black market trading, dramatically reducing tax revenues.

Inflation reached 600% in late 1972 and, a year later, doubled again to 1200%. Unable to meet its financial obligations, Chile defaulted on debts owed to other countries and international banks. The Allende government was overthrown, and he committed suicide—the ol’ South American shuffle.

The escudo ended where it began: In 1985, it was replaced by the New Peso at a rate of—you guessed it—1,000 to 1. In short order, Chile became a democratic, economically liberal nation whose turnaround was so stark economist Milton Friedman dubbed it the Miracle of Chile.^[2]

8 The Peruvian Inti

The same year Chile birthed the New Peso and began emerging from economic oblivion, its neighbor to the north was financially cratering and debuting an even shorter-lived currency.

Once an inviting target for foreign investment, in the 1980s, Peru launched a program of increased public spending…without a plan for dealing with the resulting debt (United States, we’re looking at you). Counterintuitively, it was Peru’s societal and economic liberalization that sunk both its finances and two consecutive currencies, including the Inti’s scant six-year cameo.

The background: In 1980, Peru boasted its first democratically elected government in 12 years. The administration of President Fernando Belaúnde substantially liberalized the nation’s trade policies. While policies that lift restrictions on the flow of goods and services usually sharpen competition and encourage innovation, they can also spook foreign investors who value stability over a shifting landscape.

Investment dried up, and as inflation soared, Peru’s currency—the sol—was rebranded as the inti at an exchange rate of 1,000 to 1. But for Peru, it was different currency, same problems. By late 1990, inflation had reached 400% per month, and a 10,000,000 inti banknote was created to meet hyperinflated prices.

It didn’t work. Pardon my Spanish pun, but the sun rose again: In 1991, the inti was replaced by the nuevo sol, at a conversion rate of a staggering one million to one.^[3]

7 The U.S. Greenback

Wars cost money. So as the Civil War ramped up, the U.S. government issued a special emergency currency. Called greenbacks for a signature green print still familiar in modern American bills, the notes deviated from traditional currency insomuch as they were not backed by previous metal reserves.

The greenback has roots in the Panic of 1857, America’s first nationwide financial crisis. The fallout caused the administration of President James Buchanan to incur substantial debt. When the Southern states seceded four years later, the loss of federal tax revenue exacerbated the problem.

Initially, greenbacks called Demand Notes were backed by gold. However, as the war dragged on and expenses mounted, the U.S. issued $450 million in unbacked U.S. Bank Notes. The fiscal flood led to the currency’s steady decline against gold.

Greenbacks were a blessing and a curse: While they funded 15% of the war’s costs, their questionable value increased the cost of everyday goods. As a result, inflation was 14% in 1862 and 25% in 1863 and 1864. Still, the greenback rebounded after the war.

Ironically, the greenback’s eventual discontinuation is tied to its founding principle: Money needn’t be backed by precious metals. The last remnants of America’s gold standard were dismantled in the early 1970s because the economy was deemed strong enough to abandon it. Federal Reserve notes became the uniform standard, and a half-century later, America is a slightly unmanageable $30 TRILLION in debt—about $90,000 per citizen. Gold stocks, here I come.^[4]

6 The Confederate Dollar

The greenback’s Civil War counterpoint was the greyback, the nickname for the Confederate States of America’s dollar. The nation’s first and only president, Jefferson Davis, graced the $50 note. Vice president Alexander Stephens appeared on the $20, while rebel firebrand John C. Calhoun adorned the $100 alongside a depiction of black slaves. How chivalrous.

Like the greenback, the Confederate dollar was speculative, albeit with longer odds. A Confederate note merely represented a promise to pay the bearer after the war…should the South win independence. The result was a volatile currency that rose and fell along with the day’s news. For example, when word spread of the South’s defeat at Gettysburg in July 1863, the greyback dropped 20%, prompting the government to urge businesses to sell goods at lower prices to compensate for the depreciation.

In October 1863, Confederate Senator Louis Wigfall of Texas complained that a soldier’s monthly pay of $11 was, by that time, worth the same as one Confederate dollar at the war’s inception. Eventually, even that diminished purchasing power was extinguished, as many merchants stopped accepting the Confederate dollar at all, foreseeing the fledgling nation’s defeat.

As the Confederacy’s hopes dwindled further, its currency spiraled accordingly. By the end of 1864, the Confederate dollar’s worth had decreased so markedly that a turkey sold for $155, while a ham went for $300. In mid-1865, when Richmond fell and Lee surrendered, the currency lost all value.^[5]

5 Ex-Soviet Siblings: The Belarusian Ruble & Yugoslavian Dinar

Neither Belarus nor Yugoslavia handled the fall of the Soviet Union particularly well. Both Mother Russia orphans had their share of separation anxiety turned financial panic.

In Belarus, the government went from authoritarian to…well, authoritarian. In fact, its first president is its current president. Elected in 1994, Alexander Lukashenko is currently Europe’s longest-serving “president,” which in Eastern Europe increasingly means “dictator.” In the decade following independence from the USSR, Lukashenko oversaw a killer combination of feverish currency printing, price controls, and productivity stifling industry nationalization.

The Belarusian Ruble soon added three zeros to all bills—an accounting trick against runaway inflation. It recently hit an all-time low against the U.S. dollar, owed in part to its growing diplomatic isolation.

Meanwhile, from 1992 to 1995, the countries comprising the Social Federalist Republic of Yugoslavia ruined, introduced, and re-ruined various iterations of the fractured territory’s dinar. At the height of its hyperinflation, the rate of price increases was more than 100% PER DAY, and in just two years jumped by more than a QUADRILLION percent—that’s a 1 with 15 zeros after it.

Eventually each fledgling nation went its own fiscal way. For example, Serbia introduced its own dinar in 1997, while Montenegro used the German Deutsche Mark starting in 1995 before switching to the Euro in 2002.^[6]

4 The Weimar Papiermark

It’s one thing for a breakaway republic like the Confederacy to bet the house on a war’s outcome. It’s quite another for an established nation to do so.

To finance World War I, Germany abandoned its gold standard and funded the protracted conflict by borrowing. After a four-year stalemate that left millions dead while accomplishing very little, the Weimar Republic amassed a war debt in the hundreds of billions. Its infrastructure and economy were decimated…AND it owed reparations to similarly ravaged nations, especially France, to the tune of 132 billion marks—about U.S. $269 billion in today’s money.

The reparations’ terms were crushing. Germany’s first installment of 50 billion marks came due in mid-1921, but there was a catch: the money had to be backed by hard assets and could therefore not be paid in the rapidly depreciating mark. The haste to purchase foreign currency only worsened the mark’s devaluation.

The following year, Germany’s cost of living increased 17-fold in six months. Then, caught in a deadly cycle of printing increasingly worthless money to buy foreign assets to fund its war debt, Germany defaulted on a payment and promptly had its chief manufacturing region, the Ruhr Valley, occupied by France and Belgium.

All this is a great way to spark a populist uprising and another World War, which it eventually did. As for Germany’s WWI debt, that was eventually settled…after NINETY-TWO YEARS. The final payment of 70 million euros was made in 2010.^[7]

3 Dogecoin

OK, Dogecoin isn’t totally dead. But it’s on life support, and the vet is in the other room with a forever needle.

In 2013, the cryptocurrency Dogecoin was launched without much fanfare; in fact, it was among the first such cyber-currencies introduced largely in jest. Gracing the coin’s hypothetical face is Doge, a Shiba Inu dog whose cute, quizzical expression had become a popular Internet meme.

Dogecoin’s website had a tongue-in-cheek desire to “take over the world.” Soon, the joke was taken seriously, with folks saying “Oh, hi Doggy” faster than Tommy Wiseau. Dogecoin raised $8 in just two weeks and, by May 2021, had an impressive market capital of $85 billion. Two months later, it topped a collection of Memes That Changed History on a cankerous little site called Listorati.

Unfortunately, Dogecoin’s investors aren’t laughing so hard anymore. In late June 2021, Forbes highlighted a number of cryptocurrencies experiencing market freefall in an article creatively titled “Downward Facing Dogecoin.” About that time, the bottom began falling out of several other Bitcoin competitors.

In early January 2022, Dogecoin dropped to 8 cents, with investment experts warning it might completely collapse. Sometimes when a currency is launched as a joke, the punchline ends up landing on investors.^[8]

2 OneCoin

Another famously failed cryptocurrency collapsed…because it never existed.

In 2014, self-proclaimed “CryptoQueen” Ruja Ignatova launched OneCoin. Touting the new cryptocurrency as a “Bitcoin Killer,” she grabbed publicity and lured investors by hosting glamorous events around the world, including one in London’s Wembley Arena.

Ignatova claimed some 120 billion OneCoins were available through the always-suspect process of crypto mining. From there, they could be used like any other online currency through a dedicated OneCoin e-wallet.

Key to OneCoin’s initial fundraising was the sale of educational materials, including courses on cryptocurrencies, trading, and investing. The courses were part of a multi-level marketing effort—legalese for “pyramid scheme”—where buyers were offered rewards for bringing in more participants. Those who purchased these “course packages” were to receive tokens used to mine OneCoins.

OneCoin’s currency exchange engine was called xcoinx. However, only members who purchased more than the “beginner packaging” could access it. Soon, selling limits were placed on accounts based on the level of education package purchased. Finally, national governments began noticing the waving red flags; in 2016, both Norway and Hungary dubbed OneCoin a scam.

By the time OneCoin was shut down in 2017, millions of investors had been defrauded in what amounted to a $4 billion Ponzi scheme. As for Ignatova, she’s become a cyber Carmen Sandiego of sorts. On the lam since 2017, she’s never been apprehended despite being internationally wanted.^[9]

1 The Zimbabwe Dollar

This list’s award for most inflated currency goes to…Zimbabwe.

Left destitute by ceaseless racial conflict and an economically clueless government, Zimbabwe began overworking the currency printing presses in the 1990s. The banknote bonanza continued into the early 2000s, and in 2006, the East Africa nation made international headlines by reaching a foreboding milestone: its inflation rate had reached 1,000%.

Unfortunately, that was just the beginning. In a practice that’s been repeatedly attempted (and has repeatedly failed) throughout history, Zimbabwe issued ever-larger bills to compensate for skyrocketing prices. In mid-2008, the first notes with a value greater than one billion Zimbabwe dollars made their debut. Just a few months later, the inflation rate was approaching—and this is an actual number—500 QUINTILLION PERCENT. To understand the enormity of that figure, here’s what it looks like: 500,000,000,000,000,000,000.

Soon, the country passed a law removing ten zeros from all notes and prices. Crisis abated?

Not at all. The next year, Zimbabwe stopped printing its currency and temporarily allowed foreign currencies in their place. It switched completely to the U.S. dollar briefly in the mid-2010s before, in 2019, introducing a new iteration of the Zimbabwean dollar. How’s that going, you ask? In July 2020, inflation was approaching 750%, and this past October, the country’s most prominent business group warned of the Zimbabwe dollar’s possible collapse.^[10]