The ten-thousand-dollar bill represented the highest denomination of American currency that ordinary citizens could legally hold and use.

The face printed on the modern-era version did not belong to a president. Salmon P. Chase appeared on the bill in recognition of his role managing the Union’s finances during the Civil War.

The denomination goes back further than most people realize. The first ten-thousand-dollar bills were issued in 1878, placing their origin in the Reconstruction period that followed the Civil War.

Those early versions were physically much larger than anything in circulation today. The oversized format earned them the informal nickname “horse blankets” among collectors.

The ten-thousand-dollar bill did not shrink to its modern dimensions until the sweeping currency redesign of 1928.

Despite the staggering face value, the bill was almost never seen by everyday Americans. Its primary function was to settle large transactions between financial institutions rather than pass through ordinary hands.

The formal removal from circulation came in 1969, when the Treasury directed that all denominations above one hundred dollars be pulled from use.

Banks receiving a ten-thousand-dollar bill were required to forward it to the government for destruction rather than put it back into circulation, which goes a long way toward explaining why so few survive today.

Despite being discontinued more than half a century ago, any genuine ten-thousand-dollar bill encountered today would still qualify as legal tender.

In practice, surviving examples carry a value far exceeding their face amount. Collectors treat them as significant historical artifacts, and the market reflects that.

The most pristine examples have brought close to half a million dollars at auction.

The reverse of the 1918 Federal Reserve Note carried an image titled “The Embarkation of the Pilgrims,” depicting early settlers preparing to board ships.

Later printings from 1928 and 1934 moved away from that imagery entirely, replacing it with a straightforward design featuring ornamental borders and large numerals displaying the denomination.