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1 Dollar Experimental Substrate
| Issuer | United States Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1935 |
| Type | Pattern or trial banknote |
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| Obverse description | The central intaglio vignette presents the portrait of George Washington after the Gilbert Stuart likeness, set within a guilloche-bordered oval medallion. To the left, the Treasurer's signature and the numeral 1 are printed in letterpress, while the Secretary of the Treasury's signature and a blue Treasury Seal appear at right. Blue serial numbers in letterpress occupy the upper left and lower right corners. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in green intaglio, the reverse carries both sides of the Great Seal of the United States in circular vignettes: at left, the reverse of the Seal with an unfinished pyramid surmounted by the All-Seeing Eye within a triangle, inscribed ANNUIT COEPTIS above and NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM below; at right, the obverse of the Seal with the heraldic eagle bearing a shield, olive branch, and bundle of arrows. The large bold legend ONE dominates the central panel, flanked by ornate scrollwork and numeral 1 counters at each corner. |
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| Comments |
In the mid-1930s, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing ran a quiet but systematic program testing alternative paper substrates for Federal Reserve and Silver Certificate production. The 1935 experimental notes — catalogued under Friedberg US#1610 — were never intended for circulation. They were produced to evaluate durability, printability, and ink adhesion across different fiber compositions at a moment when the Treasury was reconsidering its long-standing contract arrangements for currency paper.
Survivors exist in very small numbers, almost entirely from institutional sources. The substrate variations between individual examples are sometimes subtle enough to require technical analysis to distinguish.