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The Global Insight

When was the last time US money was redesigned?

Author

James Williams

Updated on April 08, 2026

The new design was applied to the $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100 notes. Circulation of the new series began during the fall of 2003, with the introduction of the redesigned $20 note. It continued with the $50 note in 2004, the $10 note in 2006, the $5 note in 2008, and the $100 note in 2013.

What US coins are no longer in circulation?

Although dollar coins have not been struck for circulation since 2011, the American Innovation dollar is considered a circulation coin by the US Mint.

When did US paper money change size?

In May 1927, Treasury Secretary Andrew W. Mellon approved the designs and recommendations of yet another committee studying the change in size. The new size would be 6.14 by 2.61 inches.

Why is US money green?

The federal government began issuing paper currency during the American Civil War. As photographic technology of the day could not reproduce color, it was decided the back of the bills would be printed in a color other than black. Because the color green was seen as a symbol of stability, it was selected.

What’s the only denomination that was never minted in the US?

110¢
1/10¢ The Coinage Act of 1792 established “milles or thousandths” as units of account, but the United States Mint never struck a 110¢ denomination.

Why is US money not as colorful as foreign currency?

The new bills circulated by the U.S. government starting in the 1860s came to be known as greenbacks because their back sides were printed in green ink. This ink was an anti-counterfeiting measure used to prevent photographic knockoffs, since the cameras of the time could only take pictures in black and white.

When did they change the reverse of the one dollar coin?

The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 required that the cent’s reverse be redesigned in 2009. This resulted in the mintage of four different coins showing scenes from Abraham Lincoln’s life in honor of the bicentennial of his birth.

When did they stop making the penny in the US?

In 2001 and 2006, for example, United States Representative Jim Kolbe (R) of Arizona introduced bills which would have stopped production of pennies (in 2001, the Legal Tender Modernization Act, and in 2006, the Currency Overhaul for an Industrious Nation [COIN] Act).

When did the US dollar stop using silver certificates?

Repealing the Silver Purchase Act of 1934, which allowed the US government to augment its monetary base by buying silver, Congress rendered $1 silver certificates obsolete in 1963. The certificates were replaced with $1 Federal Reserve notes, the paper currency Americans use to this day. The design of the $1 bill hasn’t changed much since.

Which is the longest circulating coin in the United States?

There are more one-cent coins produced than any other denomination, which makes the Lincoln cent a familiar item. In its lifespan, this coin has weathered both world wars, one of which temporarily changed its composition as part of the war effort. The obverse design is the longest produced for any circulating American coin.