The History
The United States Ten-Dollar bill.
The first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, is currently featured on the obverse of the bill.
While the U.S. Treasury is featured on the reverse.
Hamilton is one of two non-presidents featured on currently issued U.S. bills.
The other is Benjamin Franklin, on the $100 bill.
In addition to this, Hamilton is the only person featured on U.S. currency that was not born in the continental United States He was from the West Indies.
All $10 bills issued today are Federal Reserve Notes.
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing says the average life of a $10 bill in circulation is 18 months before it is replaced due to wear. This bill is over 60 years old and looks as if it may have been in circulation for a very short time.
The source of the face on the $10 bill is John Trumbull’s 1805 portrait of Hamilton that belongs to the portrait collection of New York City Hall. The $10 bill is the only U.S. paper currency in circulation in which the portrait faces to the left.
The other is the $100,000 bill which featured a portrait of Woodrow Wilson facing to the left.
- 1934: The $10 Silver Certificate was redesigned with a blue numeral 10 on the left side of the obverse and the treasury seal printed over the gray word TEN on the right. Phrasing on the certificate was changed to reflect the Silver Purchase Act of 1934.
- 1934: The redeemable in gold clause was removed from Federal Reserve Notes due to the U.S. withdrawing from the gold standard