To the left of Wilson's portrait is the seal of the United States Treasury - consisting of an image of a shield with a balance, chevron with thirteen stars, and a key in the center of a circle with the text 'THE DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY' around the circumference above and the date '1789' near the edge below. A portrait of Woodrow Wilson (1858–1924), who served as the 28th President of the United States from 1913 to 1921, is featured in the center, with a curved ribbon bearing the name 'WILSON' directly below the likeness. Many of the elements on the obverse of the note are printed in black ink, although some objects are orange to yellow in color. It is horizontally-oriented, having a larger width than height. The paper on which the note was printed is light in color and is composed of a blend of about 75 percent cotton and 25 percent linen. A handful of real examples, including an uncut sheet of twelve specimen notes, are currently on display at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Smithsonian Institution, and Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Forgeries are relatively common, and have sometimes been known to come with fake certificates of authenticity. All of the surviving notes have been accounted for, and are currently in the hands of the United States Government thus, private ownership of a legitimate example is illegal.

Since that date, many of the 42,000 examples printed were destroyed by the government, and as a result, only a few specimens are known to exist today. Initially intended to facilitate larger money transfers between banks, use of the 100,000 dollar bill eventually ended in the 1960s, partially due to the advent of wire transfers. As the note was only intended for transactions between Federal Reserve Banks, no examples were ever put into circulation for the general public.

It was printed from Decemto January 9, 1935, and was issued by the Treasurer of the United States to Federal Reserve Banks only against an equal amount of gold bullion held by the Department of the Treasury. The note was used as a form of gold certificate. The note technically still holds the status of legal tender, but has not seen circulation since the 1960s. With a face value of 100,000 dollars, it is the highest-denominated piece of paper money ever produced by the United States. It was never publicly circulated and was only used for transactions between Federal Reserve Banks. The 100,000 dollar bill is a banknote of the United States that was printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing from 1934 to 1935. Serial number, paper composition, signatures

1977 20 dollar bill serial number