10 Dollars Federal Reserve Note, small portrait

The "small portrait" designation distinguishes this series from the large-format notes retired in 1928, when the U.S. standardized its currency dimensions to reduce printing costs — a change that met genuine public resistance from Americans who had carried the oversized notes for decades. The Federal Reserve Note designation itself was still competing with Federal Reserve Bank Notes and Gold Certificates in active circulation simultaneously, creating a layered currency system that confused even bank tellers.

Series 1928 through 1934 encompasses meaningful policy shifts: the 1933 notes dropped the "Redeemable in Gold" obligation clause following Roosevelt's suspension of the gold standard, making earlier and later printings legally distinct instruments despite appearing nearly identical.