Gold Certificates

The gold certificate was used from 1882 to 1933 in the United States as a form of paper currency. Each certificate gave its holder title to its corresponding amount of gold coin. All gold certificates prior to 1928 were Large Size notes. more...

Two Small Size series were issued, the first in 1928. The 1928 issue was the last one legal for general circulation. A second Small Size series was issued in 1934, including the $100,000 denomination featuring Woodrow Wilson's portrait. However, by then the public had been banned from possessing either gold or gold certificates, and the 1934 certificates were intended only for transactions among the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Banks. This fact was reflected by the wording of the redeemability clause, to which the phrase "as authorized by law" was appended. In addition, the phrase "in gold coin" was changed to "in gold", to emphasize that the authorized person redeeming the certificate would not be receiving its face value in pre-1933 gold coins, but rather merely bullion at whatever price was then in effect.

Michael Hillegas, the first Treasurer of the United States appeared on the 1907-1922 certificate.

A gold certificate is a banknote that is redeemable in gold. The United States issued them from 1865 to 1934, in denominations from $10 to $100,000.

The early history of United States gold certificates is somewhat hazy. They were authorized under the Act of March 3rd, 1863, but unlike the United States Notes also authorized, they apparently were not printed until 1865. They did not have a series date, and were hand-dated upon issue. "Issue" meant that the government took in the equivalent value in gold, and the first several series of Gold Certificates promised to pay the amount only to the depositor, who was explicitly identified on the certificate itself. The first issue featured a vignette of an eagle uniformly across all denominations. Several later issues (series 1870, 1871, and 1875) featured various portraits of historical figures. The reverse sides were either blank or featured abstract designs. The only exception was the $20 of 1865, which had a picture of a $20 gold coin.

Read more at Wikipedia.org