20 Dollars Federal Reserve Note, Large TWENTY, Branch ID in Letters

The 1928 series marked the United States' shift to the smaller "small-size" format, replacing the larger currency that had been standard since the Civil War. This transition was driven by cost savings and the mechanical demands of new high-speed counting equipment — not, as is sometimes assumed, by any change in monetary policy.

Pick 422B carries the "B" suffix indicating issuance through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The large "TWENTY" overprint on the reverse was a deliberate anti-counterfeiting measure introduced with this series, making denomination recognition faster for both tellers and the public. It was dropped from later small-size issues after the Treasury concluded it added little practical security value.