In 1934, the United States issued the highest denomination currency note in its history: the $100,000 Gold Certificate. The bill featured a portrait of Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States, who served from 1913 to 1921.
These notes were never circulated among the public. They were printed exclusively for transactions between Federal Reserve Banks during a period when large sums needed to be transferred quickly and efficiently. The $100,000 bills were part of the Series 1934 Gold Certificates and were used strictly for official accounting purposes within the Federal Reserve system.
At the time, the United States was still operating under the gold standard framework, and Gold Certificates represented a claim on gold held by the U.S. Treasury. However, following President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s gold reforms in 1933–1934, private ownership of gold certificates was restricted, further limiting their circulation.
Today, surviving examples of the $100,000 bill are held by government institutions such as the Smithsonian’s National Numismatic Collection. It remains the largest denomination ever issued by the United States and was never legal for private citizens to own or use in everyday transactions.