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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Numbers, post: 1271880, member: 11668&quot;]Close.&nbsp; But the &quot;patent green&quot; ink wasn&#039;t used on the backs of the notes; it was used on the faces, as an underprint to the black-ink design.&nbsp; See <a href="http://www.donckelly.com/lg_type/f61cvf.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.donckelly.com/lg_type/f61cvf.html" rel="nofollow">this 1862 $5</a> for an illustration (and notice the patent date, also printed in green, at the bottom below the large &quot;5&quot;).&nbsp; The idea was that (a) black-and-white cameras couldn&#039;t make a decent photographic counterfeit of a two-color note, and (b) the special green ink couldn&#039;t be bleached off of the note without taking the black ink off too.</p><p><br /></p><p>Unfortunately the patent green ink had a tendency to bleed through the paper at times.&nbsp; That&#039;s why the backs of the notes were printed in green, in order to hide this bleed-through a bit.&nbsp; (But the backs just used ordinary green ink, not the more expensive patent green.)</p><p><br /></p><p>The use of green backs became a tradition, even after the patent green ink passed out of use.&nbsp; But there&#039;ve been exceptions, especially in the early days: the 1863 and 1875 National Currency had two-color backs (green and black, or occasionally brown and black); the 1878 and 1880 Silver Certificates had very dark black-brown backs; many 1882 Nationals had brown backs with green overprints; most large-size gold certificates had yellow-to-orange backs; and some of the Fractional Currency issues had a variety of back colors, even including purple in one case!&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie6" alt=":cool:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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