There's been a lot of debate recently about the value of U.S. currency, with the GOP now including an exploratory gold standard committee in its platform.
But it's only the latest such argument in a debate that's rated almost since the nation was first settled.
The San Francisco Federal Reserve and Doug Mudd, the curator of The American Numismatic Association's Money Museum, have helped guide us through the history of the $20 bill, from the colonial era to the present.
We were able to find $20 notes from every era of the country's banking history, from the colonial era to the present Federal Reserve system. We also included Confederate bills and notes issued by obscure local banks. We discuss what prompted the new bill to be issued — and whose portrait is on the cover.
Delaware Colonial Currency, 1746
(Notre Dame)Colonies (and subsequently states) issued their own currency until the First National Bank of the U.S. was established in 1791. Twenty shillings were worth one pound.
Source: San Francisco Federal Reserve
