Brief History of the US $5,000 and $10,000 bills
The $5,000 and $10,000 bills are among the rarest US Currency you can legally own. There are 246 $5,000 and $256 $10,000 bills known according to the Jhon E Cash census. Many of these notes resides in institutional or advanced private collections. You won’t find these six figure types of high dollar notes at your local coin show. They mostly trade at auction houses like Heritage or Stack’s and Bowers and a handful of specialist dealers. Stay away from those advertised on EBay.
Both denominations were printed for the 1928 and 1934 series in 1945 and discontinued along with the $500 and $1,000 bills on July 14th, 1969, when then President Richard Nixon signed into law to discontinue to issue them to the federal banks. They remail legal tender at face value-which means you can cash them in at your local bank.
$5,000 Bill
James Madison --the fourth president of the United States and principal author of the United States Constitution. Madison’s portrait appears on both the 1928 and 1934 series of Federal Reserve Notes, which are the only $5,000 bills to survive in meaningful numbers.
A 1918 large size $5,000 Federal Reserve note also exist, but these are extraordinarily rare with fewer than a handful known. They almost never appear at auction. For practical purposes the 1928 and 1934 series is the market for small size.
$10,000 Bill
Salmon P. Chase—Lincoln’s Secretary of the Treasure from 1861 to 1864. Chase established the national banking system, introduced the greenback, oversaw the first issuance of federal paper money currency and placed the motto “In God we Trust” on US coins. Lincoln later appointed him Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Chase also appears on the first $1 bill in 1862, before George Washington. The J.P. Morgan Chase bank is named after him.
How many $5,000 bills exist?
According to the Jhon E Cash Census report, 242 1928 and 1934 series $5,000 have survived from a combined print run of 69,724, a mere .05% survival rate. That’s incredible!
1928 Series
Exactly 36 1928 series $5,000 are known from 7 of the issuing districts, three districts did not issue any at all. Philadelphia, St Louis and Minneapolis did not issue 1928 $5,000 bills. New York issued notes, but none are known to exist.
1928 series $5,000 bills carry a premium over the 1934 series, because fewer were printed and issued and because the 1928 series carried the “Gold Clause”, which stated that they were redeemable in gold. The 1928 series are highly desirable by collectors.
1934 Series
The 1934 series printed all twelve Federal Reserve districts except Minneapolis. There 206 1934 $5,000 bills known and most survived in higher grades, unlike their big brother the $10,000 bills. These notes were mainly used for bank to bank transfers, although the public could own them as well up until 1969.
WERE any $5,000 and $10,000 Star Notes printed?
There were NO Star Notes issued for any series of 1928 and 1934 $5,000 or $10,000 bills. Simply put, not many total notes were printed or issued to have to replace them.
Gold Certificates
A 1928 $5,000 bill exist. The serial number one example is in the Smithsonian. No others have ever surfaced publicly.
How many $10,000 bills exist?
According to the Jhon Cash census, there are a total of 256 $10,000 bills that have survived a printing of 61,048. The 1928 series have 36 survivors out of 16,848 printed and the 1934 series has 252 survivors out of a printing of 44,200.
1928 Series
Only 13 1928 series are $10,000 bills are known, with two in museums, leaving a mere 11 for collectors. One 1928 series recently sold for over $780,000 at a Heritage Auction. Only The Philadelphia district had none printed. Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis and Dallas had notes printed but none have been known to survived.
1934 Series
Printed for every district except Philadelphia and Minneapolis, known to exist from all other districts except Cleveland and San Francisco. Most of the1934 series notes come from the New York district with 112 known of which 100 are from the ” Binion Hoard”.
Binion Hoard
In 1964, casino owner Benny Binion mounted 100 1934 series New York $10,000 bills onto an Inverted Horseshoe which sat at the entrance of Binion’s Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from 1964 until they were sold off in 1999. The inverted Horseshoe was Las Vegas largest attraction with 3 million visitors annually. Benny Binion was NOT the one who came up with the idea of the inverted Horseshoe, but his business partner Joe E Brown. I will discuss this later in my new book.
When the Binion Family split in the 1990’s, the collection was sold off by Becky Binion, his daughter, to pay off the casino’s debt to a coin dealer at an undisclosed price. Those 100 notes were roughly 60% of all known 1934 $10,000 bills.
The Binion Notes are identifiable by their serial numbers. All Binion notes are from the New York District and are all four digits serial numbers starting with serial number B00002021A and end with serial number B00003740A. Most collectors love the Binion notes because of the pedigreed history behind them, or they may have had their photo taken with them while in Las Vegas.
In my new book soon to be released I will have a whole chapter dedicated exclusively to Benny Binion and how he had an impact on gaming in Las Vegas.
On July 14th, 1969, President Nixon signed a law ordering the Treasury Department to stop issuing the $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills to Federal Banks. Up until then you could have purchased any of them for face value. Now the highest denomination issued by banks is the $100 bill.
Notable Auction Results:
$5,000 bill
A 1928 $5,000 bill from the Richmond district was sold for $780,000 in September of 2024 by Heritage. It was in a PMG-65EPQ holder. This set a record for the highest price ever recorded for a small size Federal Reserve Note.
$10,000 bill
A 1934 $10,000 from the Boston District was sold in September of 2023 by Heritage for $480,000 and was in a PMG-64EPQ holder. It was tied for the highest graded PMG note at the time.
$10,000 bill
A 1928 $10,000 Federal Reserve Note from the Richmond district sold for $384,000 in a PMG-53 Holder. The sale was at a Heritage auction in September of 2024.
$10,000 bill
A 1934 $10,000 bill from the Chicago District was sold for $335,000 in a private treaty by Jhon E Cash in March of 2025 in a PCGS-64PPQ holder.
$100,000 Bills
The $100,000 bill featuring Woodrow Wilson is the highest denomination ever produced by the US Government and were designed for bank to bank transfers. They were never released to the public and therefore are illegal to own.
The Bureau of Engraving and printing produced 42,000 $100,000 bills between December 1934 and January 1935, exclusively for gold value transfers between Federal Reserve Banks. They were never released to the public. Most were destroyed. The survivors remain government property with a handful on display at the Smithsonian, the BEP in Washington and the Federal Reserve Banks in Richmond and San Francisco.
Who is on the face of our high denomination bills?
| $500 bill | William McKinley |
| $1,000 bill | Grover Cleveland |
| $5,000 bill | James Madison |
| $10,000 bill | Salmon Portland Chase |
| $100,000 bill | Woodrow Wilson |
Buyer Beware:
As you search for the $5,000 or $10,000 bill there are several avenues to acquire one. Either through private treaties from a trusted currency dealer such as Jhon E Cash Rare Currency or through major auction houses such as Heritage or Stacks and Bowers.
You may hear auction house say that there are so many known according to the PMG or PCGS reports, or in some cases they will mention the Track and Price reports. This is very misleading information. The data they tell you may be true to an extent like PMG has graded this many when in fact there are twice as many known. Also remember that many of the $5,000 and $10,000 have been graded by both PMG and PCGS, so their numbers may be adding the note in their numbers twice. However, the data they provide you with is limited to PMG, PCGS or Track and Price databases. The problem with their databases is it does not really tell you how many are really known, only how many they have graded, which in some cases is half of what is known. Do not rely on this data if you want to know how many exist, not how many a grading company has graded.
The data between PMG and PCGS is inconclusive as many notes are graded by both grading companies so their numbers may be off for total known. Some auction houses may say there are 10 known of a certain $5,000 or $10,000 in the PMG report, which is true, but there may be 21 Known. This applies to the $5,000 and $10,000 notes only.
So, stay informed and check the Jhon E Cash Census for actual data of how many are really known. You may also reach me at 214-769-9936.
I will be printing the Jhon E Cash census on this website so you will be more informed when you do decide to buy one.
