The Many Paper Faces of Abraham Lincoln

One of the most recognizable men in American history, Abraham Lincoln has, since the early 1860s, been a consistent subject on various state-chartered and Federal banknotes. The earliest depiction of Lincoln on paper money was in the early 1860s on the $10 Demand Notes produced by the American Banknote Company. These featured a portrait engraved by Charles Burt adapted from a photograph taken by Springfield-based C.S. German shortly before Lincoln was officially inaugurated President in February 1861. That depiction of Lincoln would be used by various non-Federal institutions as well; it lingered on both the $10 Legal Tender Note and $20 Interest Bearing Notes (Compound Interest Treasury Notes included) through the late 1860s when the Series of 1869 $10 was introduced featuring a portrait of Daniel Webster.

Lincoln was relegated to the $100 and this note used a new portrait. It was adapted from an 1864 photograph taken by Anthony Berger who worked for Mathew Brady’s studio during the 1860s and is responsible for some of the most iconic photographs of Lincoln taken during his presidential tenure. A slightly different portrait took root on the Fourth Issue 50 Cent Fractional notes first issued in 1869, which had a left-facing portrait that was engraved by Charles Burt and was supposedly adapted from the work of Anthony Berger (per Bowers). In the years and decades that followed, Lincoln’s portrait was found on various types and denominations. In 1870, it was added to the $500 Gold Certificates issued under the Series of 1870 and continued on the type and denomination with the Series of 1875. Later designs issued under the Series of 1882 and Series of 1922 showed a forward-facing view of the Lincoln, like that on modern $5 Federal Reserve Notes. That portrait was dropped in favor of William McKinley in the late 1920s following the introduction of small size Gold Certificates issued under the Series of 1928.

In the late 1890s a smaller version of the Berger portrait was introduced on the redesigned $1 Silver Certificate issued under the Series of 1899, alongside a portrait of Ulysses S. Grant below the vignette known as The Eagle of the Capitol. It was discarded once the Series of 1923 was introduced in that year amidst a glut of period redesigns. Come 1914, the Berger portrait was reused for the new $5 Federal Reserve Notes (after the $100 Legal Tender Notes had been discontinued during the early 1900s) and would be used until the Series of 1996 entered circulation. The Series of 1996 favored a different perspective involving a closeup of Lincoln similar to that used on the $500 Gold Certificates starting with the Series of 1882. It remains the Lincoln portrait used for $5 Federal Reserve Notes to this day in 2026.