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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Numbers, post: 1102971, member: 11668&quot;]Here&#039;s the text of the 1969 press release, as reprinted in the O&#039;Donnell book....</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: blue">TREASURY DEPARTMENT</span></p><p><span style="color: blue">WASHINGTON, D.C.</span></p><p><span style="color: blue">July 14, 1969</span></p><p><span style="color: blue">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: blue">(THIS IS A SIMULTANEOUS RELEASE BY TREASURY AND FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM)</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: blue">LARGE DENOMINATIONS OF CURRENCY TO BE DISCONTINUED</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: blue">The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve System announced today that the issuance of currency in denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 will be discontinued immediately. Use of these large denominations has declined sharply over the last two decades and the need for them appears insufficient to warrant the added cost of production and custody of new supplies.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: blue">The large denomination notes were first authorized primarily for interbank transactions by an amendment to the Federal Reserve Act in 1918. With demand for them shrinking, printings of new notes of these denominations were discontinued in 1946, and the supply that was on hand at that time has now diminished to the point where continued issuance of such notes would require additional printings. Surveys have indicated that transactions for which the large denomination notes have been used could be met by other means, such as checks or $100 notes.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: blue">Under the decision announced today all existing supplies of large denomination bills at the Federal Reserve Banks will be turned over to the Treasury for destruction as will circulating notes that find their way back to the Federal Reserve Banks in the normal course of business.</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: blue">The Federal Reserve will continue to issue notes in denominations of $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. Currency comprises only about 25 percent of the nation&#039;s money supply, the vast bulk of which is made up of demand deposits (checking accounts).</span></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>O&#039;Donnell also gives this data on the number of high-denomination notes outstanding:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span style="color: blue">12/31/1945:</span></p><p><span style="color: blue">$500: 903,404</span></p><p><span style="color: blue">$1000: 797,852</span></p><p><span style="color: blue">$5000: 1,405</span></p><p><span style="color: blue">$10000: 2,327</span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: blue">12/31/1968:</span></p><p><span style="color: blue">$500: 488,295</span></p><p><span style="color: blue">$1000: 291,894</span></p><p><span style="color: blue">$5000: 634</span></p><p><span style="color: blue">$10000: 383 (and 100 of those were at Binion&#039;s Horseshoe!)</span></p><p><br /></p><p>So the use of these notes fell by more than half in those twenty years, and fell by larger percentages for the higher denominations.&nbsp; In 1945, some $10,000 notes were apparently still being used as reserves--that would explain why there were more $10,000&#039;s outstanding than $5000&#039;s.&nbsp; But by 1968, the $10,000 was the least common denomination, suggesting that nearly nobody was still using these notes to store a large amount of cash in a small space.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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