The $100 bill is a Federal Reserve Note valued at 10,000 cents (equivalent to 2,000 nickels, 1,000 dimes, 400 quarters, 100 $1 bills, 20 $5 bills, ten $10 bills, five $20 bills, or two $50 bills). It has always been a Federal Reserve Note since 1935, with the exception of a brief run of United States Notes in 1968 and 1971.
On the front is Benjamin Franklin, and on the back is the United States Independence Hall.
Series 1981 (1982-1985)
In 1981, more than 300 million Series 1977 $100 bills have been in circulation. The last ones were production in 1982, when they were replaced by their Series 1981 counterparts, which were produced for two years starting in June 1982. Production of these bills continued in 1983 and ended in October 1984, like the $50 bill.
Series 1981A (1984-1987)
Like the $50 bill, Series 1981A $100 bills were produced for only one year, from October 1984 to October 1985, although circulation didn't begin until January 1985. 176 million were made, and the last ones were released in June 1987.
Since the lifespan for a $100 bill is always longer than smaller denominations, Series 1981A bills lasted in frequent circulation through 1992, when prevalence dropped to less than 1%.
Series 1985 (1985-1991)
Production of Series 1985 $100 bills began after James A. Baker III became Secretary of the Treasury. Circulation began in February 1986, and production remained current in 1987 and 1988.
A total of 598,400,000 Series 1985 $100 bills were released to circulation, 3,328,000 of them as Star Notes, all still intact as of January 1, 1991.
Series 1988 (1989-1991)
Like the $50 bill, the $100 bill got a Series 1988 in September or October 1989, and production continued in 1990 and through January 1991.
Until 1994, all 608,000,000 Series 1988 $100 bills remained in circulation.
Series 1990 (1991-1995)
In 1991, microscopic printing was added around Franklin's portrait on all newer $100 bills, before they began circulation as Series 1990. The last Series 1990 bills were printed in October 1994.
Until at least September 1995, all 1,680,000,000 Series 1990 $100 bills remained in circulation.
Series 1993 (1994-1996)
Back of the $100 bill from before 1996
The Series 1993 $100 bills were produced for only one year, from 1994 to 1995. This run of $100 bills was short-lived as Series 1985 and 1988 bills, having only 723,200,000 produced.
All Series 1993 $100 bills still existed in circulation at least until February 1998.
Series 1996 (1996-2002)
The $100 bill was redesigned in October 1995 as Series 1996, with the first bills entering circulation on March 25, 1996. Three years later, by 1999, at least 99% of all $100 bills in circulation were Series 1996, and production ended in July of that year.
Production went on hiatus through October 2000, resulting in these bills remaining the current ones up to date until then.
Series 1999 (2001-2003)
Series 1999 $100 bills were produced beginning in October 2000, and released into circulation in early 2001, starting with the first 201.6 million. Another 310.4 million followed in 2002, for a total of 512 million. The last ones were released in April 2003.
While these bills were super rare to find, they remained in frequent circulation through 2010.
Series 2001 (2002-2004)
The run of Series 2001 $100 bills lasted longer than the Series 1999 bills, with over 1.15 billion bills produced in 2002 and 2003. Circulation began in June 2002, and the last bills were released in July 2004.
Series 2003 (2004-2006)
A year after John W. Snow succeeded O'Neill in February 2003, the Series 2003 $100 bills began production, and circulation began in May 2004. Just more than 1 billion were made.
Production ended in June 2005, and the last bills were released in April 2006.
Series 2003A (2005-2008)
Anna Escobedo Cabral succeeded Marin as Treasurer of the United States in 2005. Her signature appeared on new Series 2003A $100 bills, which began circulation in the fall of 2005. More than 1.5 billion were made.
Production ended in February 2007, and the last bills were released in January 2008.
Series 2006 (2007-2010)
After Henry Paulson replaced Snow in July 2006, his signature appeared on new Series 2006 $100 bills, which entered circulation in mid-2007. Over 4 billion were produced, making these bills the first long-running series since the 1996 bills. The last ones were released in August 2010.
Series 2006A (2011-2013)
The $100 bill went it was first unveiled.
The current design of the $100 bill was unveiled on April 21, 2010. Its proposed release date to circulation was February 10, 2011, but on October 1, 2010, the new design was announced to be delayed to a later date because the BEP identified a problem with sporadic creasing of the paper during printing of the Series 2009 notes, resulting in the Federal Reserve not having sufficient inventories to begin distributing the new $100 notes as planned. Eight of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks in the United States of America have stopped producing these bills altogether before the delay was announced. At that time, exactly 1.2 billion of them have already been printed.
This also caused the old 1996 design to continue as Series 2006A, in which the first bills were released on the same date of the Series 2009 bills' proposed release date. Production began after most of the Series 2009 bills were finished. These bills were produced through May 2013, for a total of over 3.5 billion, or about 39% of all $100 bills. The last ones were released in September 2013.
Series 2009A (2013-present)
Althrough Jack Lew replaced Timothy Geithner in 2013, Geithner's signature still appeared on the new Series 2009A $100 bills, when they entered circulation on October 8, 2013.
A short run of Series 2013 bills occurred for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from November 2014 to March 2015, before reverting back to Series 2009A, which continued through April 2017, when more Series 2013 bills were produced.
Series 2009 (2016-2017; originally 2011-2012)
The first Series 2009 bills were released nationwide in April 2016, despite being produced from 2010 to 2011, and therefore would have been released from February 2011 through September 2012.
Series 2013 (2017-present)
While the Series 2013 bills were not expected to be released to frequent circulation until early 2018 (after all of the Series 2009A and 2009 bills have been released first), it was reported that the first few were indeed already in circulation starting in September 2017.
Amounts in circulation
| As of this date | Volume amount |
|---|---|
| January 1, 1991 | 1.4 billion |
| January 1, 1992 | 1.6 billion |
| January 1, 1993 | 1.8 billion |
| January 1, 1994 | 2 billion |
| January 1, 1995 | 2.3 billion |
| January 1, 1996 | 2.4 billion |
| January 1, 1997 | 2.6 billion |
| January 1, 1998 | 2.9 billion |
| January 1, 1999 | 3.2 billion |
| January 1, 2000 | 3.9 billion |
| January 1, 2001 | 3.8 billion |
| January 1, 2002 | 4.2 billion |
| January 1, 2003 | 4.6 billion |
| January 1, 2004 | 4.9 billion |
| January 1, 2005 | 5.2 billion |
| January 1, 2006 | 5.4 billion |
| January 1, 2007 | 5.6 billion |
| January 1, 2008 | 5.7 billion |
| January 1, 2009 | 6.3 billion |
| January 1, 2010 | 6.6 billion |
| January 1, 2011 | 7 billion |
| January 1, 2012 | 7.8 billion |
| January 1, 2013 | 8.6 billion |
| January 1, 2014 | 9.2 billion |
| January 1, 2015 | 10.1 billion |
| January 1, 2016 | 10.8 billion |
| January 1, 2017 | 11.5 billion |