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5 Dollars United States Note - 'Woodchopper note'
| Issuer | United States Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1907 |
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| Currency | Dollar (1785-date) |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette portrays a pioneer woodchopper at work alongside his dog, wife, and child, rendered in fine intaglio engraving within an ornate frame. A portrait of Andrew Jackson occupies the left panel, set within a circular guilloche surround. The note is printed in black with red serial numbers and a red Treasury seal to the right of center. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in green, centered on a large, elaborate lathe-work guilloche medallion of concentric geometric rosettes that dominates the note. The inscription 'UNITED STATES OF AMERICA' arches across the upper and lower portions in bold serif lettering, flanked by ornamental corner devices bearing the numeral '5' and the words 'FIVE DOLLARS' in vertical script. The legal tender and counterfeiting warning text is set in decorative italic script to the right of the central medallion, with the imprint 'BUREAU OF ENGRAVING & PRINTING WASHINGTON D.C.' running along the upper and lower borders. |
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| Comments |
By 1907, United States Notes were an anachronism — Civil War-era debt instruments still technically in circulation because the Legal Tender Acts had never been fully unwound. This particular $5 note belongs to the 1901 series, a design that remained in production for years past its nominal date. The "Woodchopper" nickname, applied by collectors, derives from the central vignette, but the note's real curiosity is institutional: it was issued not by a bank but directly by the Treasury, carrying the signatures of the Register and the Treasurer rather than any Federal Reserve or National Bank officer.
The 1907 series date reflects a change in Treasury signatories, not a new printing contract.