Discontinued Dollar Bills | Smartest Year Ever (Feb 26, 2025)
About this episode
Ever had a $2 bill and felt like you were holding a piece of forbidden currency? Or heard rumors about $500 or even $10,000 bills? Believe it or not, the U.S. once had a whole lineup of banknotes that are now either extinct or barely hanging on.
Gordy breaks down:💵 The $2 Bill – Discontinued, revived, and still secretly printed today.💰 The $500, $1,000, $5,000 & $10,000 Bills – From crime lords to banking giants, these bills once ruled high-stakes transactions.🏦 The $100,000 Bill – The largest U.S. banknote ever, but if you weren’t a Federal Reserve, tough luck.
And a bonus: Salmon P. Chase, the man on the $10,000 bill, absolutely hated his own fishy name.
So there you have it—money so big it was too powerful to survive. If you find one in your couch cushions, call a museum... or me.
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U.S. Treasury Department. (2022). History of U.S. Currency: The Two-Dollar Bill and Large Denominations.
Friedberg, A. (2017). Paper Money of the United States. Whitman Publishing.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing. (2021). Discontinued U.S. Banknotes: The High Denomination Notes.
Sources:
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