A country’s coins and currencies honors its heroes, its past, and tells its ‘story’. Let’s take a brief look and the $20 dollar bill.
President Grover Cleveland (22nd and 24th) was on the large size $20 bill from 1914 until 1928 and an automobile with a steamship adorned the reverse.
In 1928, the Federal Reserve switched to a smaller sized note. Our 7th President Andrew Jackson replaced Cleveland. On the reverse side, the image of The White House appears, replacing the automobile and steamship. Pictured below are three $20 notes. The first one is a series 1934. The second is series 1990. And the third note is series 2009.
The white house has changed over the years. The first note shows the White House before President Truman’s renovations and we can see the Truman balcony, located between the 1st and 2nd floors on the second note. On the third bill, the image of the White House changed from the view of the south portico, to the north. We also see the addition of new anti-counterfeiting features. The features include microprinting, color shifting ink, and a watermark to name a few. In 1963, ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ was added above the White House.
Turning our attention to the front of the bill again, take note of the differences appearing here as well. The top note states “THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE, AND IS REDEEMABLE IN LAWFUL MONEY AT THE UNITED STATES TREASURY, OR AT ANY FEDERAL RESERVE BANK.” This was because the United States left the gold standard , and currency could no longer be redeemed for gold. ‘Lawful money’ meant silver.
Microprinting can be found on bills beginning with the 1990 series. Pictured below, micrprinting around the portrait of Jackson.
Below, micrprinting is seen just under the vertical ‘bars’.
