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5 Dollars Large-Size Federal Reserve Note
| Issuer | Federal Reserve Bank of the United States |
|---|---|
| Year | 1914 |
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| Printer | Bureau of Engraving and Printing |
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| Obverse description | An intaglio portrait of Abraham Lincoln is centered within an oval vignette. Blue serial numbers appear at the upper right and lower left, with the issuing Federal Reserve district seal and Treasury seal printed in contrasting ink. The face bears the full panel of authorizing inscriptions referencing the Federal Reserve Act of December 23, 1913. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse carries two large allegorical vignettes in intaglio: on the left, a group of figures gazing toward a standing central figure in a classical scene, and on the right, a vignette representing Christopher Columbus's discovery of the New World. Ornate guilloche borders and denomination text frame both panels. |
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| Comments |
The Federal Reserve Act of December 1913 created twelve regional banks and mandated a new class of currency to replace the National Bank Notes that had dominated American commerce since the Civil War. These 1914 issues were among the first notes to carry the new Federal Reserve seal, initially printed with a red seal before Congress authorized the blue-seal series later that year. Three Treasury Secretaries — McAdoo, Glass, and Houston — cycle through the signature combinations, which is why collectors encounter so many district and signature permutations: thirty-six in total across twelve banks.
Carter Glass, whose name appears on the middle signature pairing, was the primary congressional architect of the Federal Reserve Act itself — an unusual circumstance in which a legislator responsible for creating the system later signed its currency as Treasury Secretary.