Gold certificate (United States)
Gold certificates were issued by the United States Treasury as a form of representative money from 1865 to 1933.
To promote the flow of gold into the Treasury and maintain the credit of the government, the notes could not be used to pay customs duties or interest on the federal debt.
Gold certificates, representing coins held physically in the Treasury, were instead provided for those purposes.
The notes, as legal tender for most purposes, were the dominant paper currency until 1879 but were accepted at a discount in comparison to the gold certificates.
The first gold certificates had no series date; they were hand-dated and payable either to the bearer or to the order of a named payee.
Most were destroyed, with the exception of a number of 1900 $10,000 bills that were in a box in a post office near the U.S. Treasury in Washington, D.C.
By order of the Secretary of the Treasury dated December 28, 1933, private possession of gold certificates was declared illegal.
[4] These notes were never intended for circulation in the general economy and there are no known instances of any such certificates ever being released outside government channels, other than as specimens such as one recently graded by PMG.
[5] Reflecting the purpose for which these certificates were issued, the redemption statement on their face was changed to read as follows: "This certifies that there is on deposit in the Treasury of the United States of America XXXXX Dollars in Gold payable to bearer on demand as authorized by law."
[7] The electronic book entry system also allows for the various regional Federal Reserve Banks to exchange certificate balances among themselves.
[8] However, the Treasury authorized a small amount of them to be retained at certain Federal Reserve Banks (where they had been used) for educational and historical purposes, such as being placed on public display.
In addition, a $100,000 Series of 1934 gold certificate is part of the numismatic collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
