The United States one-hundred-dollar bill (US$100) is a denomination of United States currency. The first United States Note with this value was issued in 1862 and the Federal Reserve Note version was first produced in 1914. Inventor and U.S. Founding Father Benjamin Franklin has been featured on the obverse of the bill since 1914, which now also contains stylized images of the Declaration of Independence, a quill pen, the Syng inkwell, and the Liberty Bell. The reverse depicts Independence Hall in Philadelphia, which it has featured since 1928. The US$100 bill is the largest denomination that has been printed and circulated since July 13, 1969, when the larger denominations of US$500, US$1000, US$5000, and US$10000 were retired. the average life of a US$100 bill in circulation is 22.9 years before it is replaced due to wear. The bills are also commonly referred to as "Bens", "Benjamins", or "Franklins", in reference to the use of Benjamin Franklin's portrait by the French painter Joseph Duplessis on the denomination, as "C-Notes" or "Century Notes", based on the Roman numeral for 100, or as "blue faces", based on the blue tint of Franklin's face in the current design. The bill is one of two denominations printed today that does not feature a president of the United States, the other being the $10 bill, featuring Alexander Hamilton. The Series 2009 US$100 bill redesign was unveiled on April 21, 2010, and was issued to the public on October 8, 2013. The new bill costs 12.6 cents to produce and has a blue ribbon woven into the center of the currency with "100" and Liberty Bells, alternating, that appear when the bill is tilted. As of June 30, 2012, the US$100 bill comprised 77% of all US currency in circulation. Federal Reserve data from 2017 showed that the number of US$100 bills exceeded the number of US$1 bills. However, a 2018 research paper by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago estimated that 80 percent of US$100 bills were in other countries. Possible reasons included $100 bills being used as a reserve currency against economic instability that affected other currencies, and use of the bills for criminal activities.

History

Large size notes

(approximately 7.4218 × 3.125 in ≈ 189 × 79 mm)

Small size notes

(6.14 × 2.61 in ≅ 156 × 66 mm)

Series dates

Small size

Withdrawal of large denomination bills ($500 and up)

On July 14, 1969, the Federal Reserve announced that the large denominations of United States currency would be withdrawn from circulation; banks were instructed to return any notes received or deposited larger than $100 to the United States Treasury. While the larger denominations remained legal tender, with their removal, the $100 note was the largest denomination remaining in circulation. All the Federal Reserve Notes produced from Series 1928 up to before Series 1969 (i.e. 1928, 1928A, 1934, 1934A, 1934B, 1934C, 1934D, 1950, 1950A, 1950B, 1950C, 1950D, 1950E, 1963, 1966, 1966A) of the US$100 denomination added up to US$23.1708 billion. Since some banknotes had been destroyed, and the population was 200 million at the time, there was less than one US$100 banknote per capita circulating. As of June 30, 1969, the U.S. coins and banknotes in circulation of all denominations were worth US$50.936 billion of which US$4.929 billion was circulating overseas. The currency and coin circulating within the United States was US$230 per capita. Since 1969, the demand for U.S. currency has greatly increased. The total amount of circulating currency and coin passed one trillion dollars in March 2011. Despite the degradation in the value of the U.S. US$100 banknote (which was worth about $ in 1969), and despite competition from some more valuable foreign notes (most notably, the 500 euro banknote), there are no current plans to re-issue banknotes above US$100. Today's widespread use of electronic means to conduct high-value transactions has made large-scale physical cash transactions for legitimate business unnecessary from the government's point of view. Quoting T. Allison, Assistant to the Board of the Federal Reserve System in his October 8, 1998, testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Committee on Banking and Financial Services: "There are public policies against reissuing the US$500 note, mainly because many of those efficiency gains, such as lower shipment and storage costs, would accrue not only to legitimate users of bank notes but also to money launderers, tax evaders and a variety of other lawbreakers who use currency in their criminal activity. While it is not at all clear that the volume of illegal drugs sold or the amount of tax evasion would necessarily increase just as a consequence of the availability of a larger dollar denomination bill, it no doubt is the case that if wrongdoers were provided with an easier mechanism to launder their funds and hide their profits, enforcement authorities could have a harder time detecting certain illicit transactions occurring in cash."