Catalog
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| Issuer | Federal Reserve Bank of the United States |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in black intaglio on a green-tinted underprint, with a central vignette of John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States, set within an oval frame flanked by ornate guilloche scrollwork. The denomination 500 appears in large numerals at upper left and right corners, with the district designation and alphanumeric serial number in blue ink. Two facsimile signatures of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Register of the Treasury appear below the portrait, with WASHINGTON, D.C. and SERIES OF 1918 inscribed to the right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | FEDERAL RESERVE NOTE THIS NOTE IS RECEIVABLE BY ALL NATIONAL AND MEMBER BANKS AND FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS AND FOR ALL TAXES, CUSTOMS AND OTHER PUBLIC DUES. IT IS REDEEMABLE IN GOLD ON DEMAND AT THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OR IN GOLD OR LAWFUL MONEY AT ANY FEDERAL RESERVE BANK. |
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| Comments |
The 1918 $500 Federal Reserve Note belongs to the large-size series authorized under the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and printed while the United States was still financing its involvement in the First World War. Notes of this denomination circulated almost exclusively between banks and large commercial institutions — a private individual handling one in daily commerce would have been extraordinary. The series was discontinued after the Treasury's 1928 shift to small-size currency, and unredeemed examples were systematically pulled from Federal Reserve vaults through the 1960s and 70s.
High-denomination Federal Reserve Notes of this vintage were never officially demonetized, remaining technically legal tender, but the Federal Reserve and Treasury have long declined to reissue them when returned.