$10 note, 1922

The note

The Series 1922 $10 (Pick 274(1), Friedberg 1173; Numista N#239482) is a large-size Gold Certificate: the last of that denomination before the 1929 reduction. The black face with a gold seal and gold serials centers the portrait of Michael Hillegas, first Treasurer of the United States, lettered MICHAEL HILLEGAS and FIRST TREASURER OF THE U.S. The upper arc certifies the deposit: THIS CERTIFIES THAT THERE HAVE BEEN DEPOSITED IN THE TREASURY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Under the blackletter title United States, SERIES OF 1922 is printed on both sides of the portrait. At left a gold X carries the legal-tender clause and cites the acts of 14 March 1900, as amended, and of 24 December 1919. The scalloped Treasury seal, in gold, sits at right, over WASHINGTON, D.C. The signatures are Harley V. Speelman’s (Register of the Treasury) and Frank White’s (Treasurer of the United States). Gold serials K53955033 repeat at lower left and upper right. Position letter E sits at left; E 200 is printed at lower right. The lower tablet promises TEN DOLLARS IN GOLD COIN, PAYABLE TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND. The orange-gold back carries GOLD CERTIFICATE, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, and TEN DOLLARS, with a heraldic eagle at the center of a sunburst and large 10s in the corners. That back is why collectors speak of goldbacks. Collectors call these large-format notes horse blankets, the size in use before the 1929 reduction. This collection piece, circulated and unslabbed, is shown on both faces. It is not a red-seal United States Note, and it is not the small-size Gold Certificate of 1928.

The gold $10

Gold Certificates represented gold held by the Treasury. The BEP dates the first of them to 1865. The public lost the right to redeem them in 1933, when the United States left the gold standard. Series 1928 was the last small-size type in general circulation. The Series 1934 $100,000 certificate moved only between Federal Reserve Banks.

The 1922 $10 continues the Hillegas face and the heraldic-eagle back of the 1907 $10 Gold Certificate. USPaperMoney.Info calls 1907 the previous issue and Series 1928 the next $10 of this class, already small-size. Bank Note Museum splits Pick 274 into 274(1), large serials, and 274(2), small serials. This piece is the large-serial note, Fr. 1173. Stars of the series sit in a separate D block, not in K. The printed year is the series. Speelman was Register of the Treasury from 1922 to 1927 and White was Treasurer from 1921 to 1928, so the pairing matches the series year. Numista gives the design as 189 × 79 mm. That measurement belongs to the type, not to this piece. No Fr. 1173 printage is invented.

Scarcity and printage

Speelman–White with large serial numbers is Fr. 1173 (P#274(1)). USPaperMoney.Info places serial K53955033 in the regular range K1–K60604000. Counter 53955033 is an ordinary serial. Stars of the series are not in the K block. The small-serial variety is P#274(2); Friedberg numbers it Fr. 1173a, which this piece is not. The back photograph does not show a readable back-plate number, so the piece is recorded as Fr. 1173 and this record does not identify it as a mule. No census and no market premium are invented.

Population

A PMG or PCGS census for serial K53955033 has not been independently verified. The note is shown unslabbed, with no certificate number. The PCGS population table for type Fr. 1173 is not republished here.