20 Dollars Federal Reserve Note, small portrait

The "small portrait" designation reflects the 1928 redesign that shrank U.S. currency from the large-format "horse blanket" notes to the dimensions used ever since — a Treasury Department cost-cutting measure that reduced paper consumption by roughly 30%. The change was not universally welcomed; older Americans accustomed to the larger notes for decades found the new size disorienting enough that counterfeiting concerns briefly spiked, with the public less certain what "real" money should look like.

The series spans a politically turbulent window: issued through the Depression, the 1933 banking holiday, and Roosevelt's Executive Order 6102 restricting gold redemption. Notes from the 1928B and 1928C dates are considerably scarcer than 1928A owing to lower print runs during the worst contraction years.