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1914, $20 Federal Reserve Note FR975a PMG ChUNC63

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / Paper Money - United States Start Price:120.00 USD Estimated At:240.00 - 300.00 USD
1914, $20 Federal Reserve Note FR975a PMG ChUNC63
Inexpensive large size $20 federal reserve note. The Federal Reserve banking system was instituted in 1913 under the administration of Thomas Woodrow Wilson. Also instituted in 1913 was the federal income tax and direct-elections of senators, three major advances on the road to centralization of power in Washington, D.C.

In 1914, when this note was issued, Henry Ford had just increased his daily pay scale for factory hands from $2.43 to $5 per day, meaning that one of these large $20 bills would be worth four days' labor at this high-paying industrialist's factory. Today, $20 in paper money won't buy quite as much, thanks to the machinations of the Federal Reserve banking system over the last 91 years.<p><i>The Endangered Species Collection</i>