Gold certificate (United States)
Gold certificates were issued by the United States Treasury as a form of representative money from 1865 to 1933. While the United States observed a gold standard, the certificates offered a more convenient way to pay in gold than the use of coins. General public ownership of gold certificates was outlawed in 1933 and since then they have been available only to the Federal Reserve Banks, with book-entry certificates replacing the paper form.
A Series 1934 $10,000 gold certificate depicting Salmon P. Chase, Smithsonian Institution
The $100,000 bill, a gold certificate from Series 1934, is the largest denomination banknote ever produced in the United States; it was printed to facilitate transactions between Federal Reserve Banks, and was never issued for usage by the public.
Image: US $100 GC 1863 FR 1166c
Image: US $500 GC 1863 Fr 1166d (PROOF)
A Federal Reserve Bank is a regional bank of the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States. There are twelve in total, one for each of the twelve Federal Reserve Districts that were created by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. The banks are jointly responsible for implementing the monetary policy set forth by the Federal Open Market Committee, and are divided as follows:
The twelve Reserve Bank buildings in 1936
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York holds special status in the system.
