The First Five Dollar Bill

The five dollar bills were the most popular denomination to issue. Many $5 notes from the first charter period say Series of 1875 on them. However, other earlier and later issues can also have a date between 1862 and 1883. The design of such notes is rather plain. There is not a lot of white space and these five dollar bills tend to look old and worn before their time. These issues are quite old now and not many new examples are being found.

• Symbol of Freedom
  

A new American symbol of freedom 
has been added to the background 
of the redesigned $5 bill—The Great 
Seal of the United States, featuring 
an eagle and shield, is printed in 
purple to the right of the portrait of 
President Lincoln. An arc of purple 
stars surrounds the portrait and The 
Great Seal. The symbols of freedom 
differ for each denomination.

• Federal Reserve Indicators
  

A universal seal to the left of the 
portrait represents the entire Federal 
Reserve System. A letter and number 
beneath the left serial number identifies 
the issuing Federal Reserve Bank.

• Portrait and Vignette
  

The oval borders around President 
Lincoln’s portrait on the front, and the 
Lincoln Memorial vignette on the back 
have been removed. The portrait has 
been moved up and the shoulders 
have been extended into the border. 
Engraving details have been added to 
the vignette, framing the Lincoln 
Memorial against a sky full of clouds. 

• Low-Vision Feature
  

The large, easy-to-read number “5” 
in the lower right corner on the back 
of the bill, which helps those with 
visual impairments to distinguish the 
denomination, has been enlarged in 
the new $5 bill design, and is printed 
in high-contrast purple ink.

• Microprinting
  

Because they are so small, microprinted 
words are hard to replicate. The 
redesigned $5 bill features microprinting 
on the front of the bill in three areas: 
the words “FIVE DOLLARS” can be found 
repeated inside the left and right borders
of the bill; the words “E PLURIBUS 
UNUM” appear at the top of the shield 
within the Great Seal; and the word “USA”
is repeated in between the columns of 
the shield. On the back of the bill the 
words “USA FIVE” appear along one edge
of the large purple “5” low-vision feature.

• Paper
  

Currency paper is one-fourth linen and 
three-fourths cotton, and contains red 
and blue fibers. 

• Color
  

The most noticeable difference in the 
newly designed bill is the addition of 
light purple in the center of the bill, 
which blends into gray near the edges. 
Small yellow “05”s are printed to the 
left of the portrait on the front of the 
bill and to the right of the Lincoln 
Memorial vignette on the back. 

• Serial Numbers
  

The unique combination of eleven 
numbers and letters appears twice on 
the front of the bill. On the new $5 bill, 
the left serial number has shifted 
slightly to the right, compared with 
previous designs.