WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.960 Imagine for a second that you're cleaning out 00:00:03.960 --> 00:00:06.639 an old dusty attic, like in a house that's been 00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:08.699 in your family for generations. Oh, right, with 00:00:08.699 --> 00:00:11.240 the boxes and the cobwebs. Exactly. You're moving 00:00:11.240 --> 00:00:13.960 all these heavy boxes, and you pop open the false 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:17.320 bottom of this old wooden trunk. And tucked inside, 00:00:17.420 --> 00:00:19.739 like perfectly preserved, is a single piece of 00:00:19.739 --> 00:00:22.879 paper. Hey, color me intrigued. It's official 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:25.960 United States currency, but printed right across 00:00:25.960 --> 00:00:29.859 the front in bold, undeniable ink. is the number 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:33.579 10 ,000. Wow. That is, I mean, that's quite a 00:00:33.579 --> 00:00:36.100 find. Right. Now usually, when you or I talk 00:00:36.100 --> 00:00:38.960 about finding money like, say, a $20 bill in 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:42.299 an old winter coat, the next logical step is 00:00:42.299 --> 00:00:44.219 incredibly simple. Yeah, you take it to the bank, 00:00:44.299 --> 00:00:46.460 you head it to the teller, and your account balance 00:00:46.460 --> 00:00:49.219 goes up. Exactly. Which is the entire point of 00:00:49.219 --> 00:00:51.179 currency, really. It's, you know, functional. 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:53.859 It's an instrument meant to be seamlessly spent 00:00:53.859 --> 00:00:56.500 or saved or deposited without a second thought. 00:00:56.700 --> 00:00:59.039 But if you were to actually walk into a modern 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:02.479 commercial bank today, wait in line, and deposit 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:05.680 this specific $10 ,000 bill, it would be the 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:07.900 single worst financial decision you could possibly 00:01:07.900 --> 00:01:10.650 make. Oh, absolutely. I mean, no question. You 00:01:10.650 --> 00:01:12.569 would literally be throwing away an absolute 00:01:12.569 --> 00:01:15.569 fortune by redeeming it for exactly what the 00:01:15.569 --> 00:01:18.010 government says it's worth. It completely shatters 00:01:18.010 --> 00:01:20.390 our everyday understanding of what money actually 00:01:20.390 --> 00:01:23.290 is, you know, and how value is assigned. Yeah. 00:01:23.390 --> 00:01:25.930 Because standing at that teller window, you are 00:01:25.930 --> 00:01:28.530 holding something that is simultaneously legal 00:01:28.530 --> 00:01:32.359 functioning. tender and a priceless irreplaceable 00:01:32.359 --> 00:01:35.439 museum piece of precisely and that bizarre tension 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:38.659 right there is exactly why We are here today. 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:41.519 Welcome to the deep dive glad to be here We know 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:44.219 you're curious you want to learn and you love 00:01:44.219 --> 00:01:46.379 discovering the hidden mechanics behind everyday 00:01:46.379 --> 00:01:50.599 things but You don't want to drown in a sea of 00:01:50.599 --> 00:01:52.680 endless overwhelming information. No one wants 00:01:52.680 --> 00:01:55.730 that Right. So we've taken a single endlessly 00:01:55.730 --> 00:01:58.790 fascinating topic, a single Wikipedia article 00:01:58.790 --> 00:02:00.909 detailing the complete history of the United 00:02:00.909 --> 00:02:04.049 States $10 ,000 bill, and we're going to extract 00:02:04.049 --> 00:02:07.269 the absolute best insights for you. It really 00:02:07.269 --> 00:02:09.210 is a phenomenal subject because it forces us 00:02:09.210 --> 00:02:11.569 to look at the physical architecture of wealth. 00:02:12.210 --> 00:02:15.310 Exactly. Our mission today is to thoroughly explore 00:02:15.310 --> 00:02:18.030 the highest denomination of U .S. currency. ever 00:02:18.030 --> 00:02:20.330 made legally available to the public. It's a 00:02:20.330 --> 00:02:22.789 wild ride, honestly. It really is. We are going 00:02:22.789 --> 00:02:26.250 to track its century long journey from a highly 00:02:26.250 --> 00:02:28.409 specialized, like, behind the scenes banking 00:02:28.409 --> 00:02:31.469 tool, all the way to a million dollar casino 00:02:31.469 --> 00:02:34.050 spectacle in Las Vegas. Which is just such a 00:02:34.050 --> 00:02:36.770 massive pivot. Think about it. Almost no one 00:02:36.770 --> 00:02:39.430 alive today has ever used one of these bills 00:02:39.430 --> 00:02:42.650 to buy groceries, pay rent, or, I don't know, 00:02:42.750 --> 00:02:46.550 buy a car. Yet, legally, They still work. They 00:02:46.550 --> 00:02:49.030 absolutely do. OK, let's unpack this. Where do 00:02:49.030 --> 00:02:51.469 we even begin with a piece of paper that defies 00:02:51.469 --> 00:02:53.969 all the normal rules of economics? Well, we have 00:02:53.969 --> 00:02:55.949 to begin by looking at the physical reality of 00:02:55.949 --> 00:02:58.409 the bill itself, because even its sheer dimensions 00:02:58.409 --> 00:03:00.389 challenge our modern expectations of what money 00:03:00.389 --> 00:03:02.689 is supposed to feel like. How so? So if we look 00:03:02.689 --> 00:03:05.669 at the period between 1878 and 1934, when the 00:03:05.669 --> 00:03:08.469 $10 ,000 bill was in active print, that very 00:03:08.469 --> 00:03:12.310 first iteration, the series 1878 note, was a 00:03:12.310 --> 00:03:15.129 massive, unwieldy piece of paper. Like how massive? 00:03:15.210 --> 00:03:17.949 We are talking about physical dimensions of 7 00:03:17.949 --> 00:03:22.430 .38 inches long by 3 .18 inches wide. It featured 00:03:22.430 --> 00:03:25.530 a portrait of Andrew Jackson and it was categorized 00:03:25.530 --> 00:03:29.210 by the treasury as a quote, large size note. 00:03:29.490 --> 00:03:31.849 Let me just jump in and contextualize those dimensions 00:03:31.849 --> 00:03:35.789 for you because 7 .38 inches by 3 .18 inches 00:03:35.789 --> 00:03:38.509 doesn't sound that crazy until you try to visualize 00:03:38.509 --> 00:03:40.349 actually holding it in your hand. Right. It's 00:03:40.349 --> 00:03:43.419 hard to picture. So if you take a modern Macs 00:03:43.419 --> 00:03:46.960 or pro -size smartphone, the really big heavy 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:48.979 ones that barely fit in the front pocket of your 00:03:48.979 --> 00:03:51.379 jeans. Oh yeah. That is roughly the footprint 00:03:51.379 --> 00:03:53.939 of this piece of money. Imagine trying to fold 00:03:53.939 --> 00:03:55.919 up a heavy smartphone and stuff into a modern 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:58.099 slim leather wallet. It simply wouldn't work. 00:03:58.240 --> 00:03:59.860 I mean it would stick out, it would be incredibly 00:03:59.860 --> 00:04:01.840 awkward to carry, and it certainly wouldn't be 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:04.319 discreet. Right. Which is exactly why its historical 00:04:04.319 --> 00:04:06.500 nickname was the horse blanket. I love that. 00:04:06.500 --> 00:04:09.099 I just love that detail so much. It wasn't a 00:04:09.099 --> 00:04:11.020 sleek financial instrument. It was literally 00:04:11.020 --> 00:04:14.840 this giant unwieldy flap of paper. And that horse 00:04:14.840 --> 00:04:18.160 blanket moniker is so perfectly evocative of 00:04:18.160 --> 00:04:20.920 the era's approach to wealth. Like if a piece 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:22.980 of paper is going to be worth an astronomical 00:04:22.980 --> 00:04:25.720 sum, the physical object itself needs to feel 00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:28.040 substantial. You need some weight to it. Exactly. 00:04:28.180 --> 00:04:30.620 It needs to command respect. But the design of 00:04:30.620 --> 00:04:33.100 these large -sized notes didn't stay static. 00:04:33.339 --> 00:04:35.139 You know, it evolved quite a bit. Oh, really? 00:04:35.259 --> 00:04:38.800 Yeah. By the time the series' 1918 version rolled 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:41.879 out, the artwork had dramatically shifted. The 00:04:41.879 --> 00:04:44.660 obverse side, the front, featured former Treasury 00:04:44.660 --> 00:04:48.500 Secretary Salman P. Chase. OK, standard politician 00:04:48.500 --> 00:04:51.199 stuff. Right. But the reverse side is what is 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:54.220 really visually striking and frankly a bit puzzling. 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:57.699 It featured a sprawling, highly detailed engraving 00:04:57.699 --> 00:05:00.459 called the Embarkation of the Pilgrims. Wait, 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:04.000 like the actual pilgrim? Yeah. Showing 17th century 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:07.100 early settlers boarding wooden ships right alongside 00:05:07.100 --> 00:05:10.290 the massive number 10 ,000. Which is just a wild, 00:05:10.329 --> 00:05:12.350 almost comical, juxtaposition when you really 00:05:12.350 --> 00:05:14.790 think about it. Honey. Well, you have this massive, 00:05:15.069 --> 00:05:18.170 unprecedented sum of modern, industrial -era 00:05:18.170 --> 00:05:20.870 wealth, represented by a picture of people fleeing 00:05:20.870 --> 00:05:23.129 across the ocean on a wooden boat with barely 00:05:23.129 --> 00:05:25.310 the clothes on their backs. That is a really 00:05:25.310 --> 00:05:28.370 great point. It is pretty ironic. But they didn't 00:05:28.370 --> 00:05:30.509 stay that massive size forever, right? Yeah. 00:05:30.759 --> 00:05:32.779 I imagine the government eventually realized 00:05:32.779 --> 00:05:35.199 that forcing bank couriers to carry around paper 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:38.000 the size of a dinner napkin wasn't exactly the 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:41.060 pinnacle of efficiency. No, it wasn't. And beginning 00:05:41.060 --> 00:05:44.079 with the 1928 series, the Treasury decided it 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:46.620 was time to standardize and modernize the entire 00:05:46.620 --> 00:05:49.339 currency system. Makes sense. The $10 ,000 bill, 00:05:49.379 --> 00:05:51.540 along with everything else, was reduced to the 00:05:51.540 --> 00:05:54.860 small size variety, shrinking down to 6 .14 inches 00:05:54.860 --> 00:05:58.000 by 2 .61 inches. So roughly the standard size 00:05:58.000 --> 00:05:59.920 of the ones fives and twenties you and I carry 00:05:59.920 --> 00:06:02.790 around. today precisely. And along with that 00:06:02.790 --> 00:06:04.790 physical shrinkage, the artwork on the reverse 00:06:04.790 --> 00:06:07.629 side was significantly pared down. The intricate 00:06:07.629 --> 00:06:10.389 engraving of the pilgrims was gone. RIP to the 00:06:10.389 --> 00:06:14.050 pilgrims. Indeed. The completely redesigned, 00:06:14.189 --> 00:06:18.250 much simpler reverse of the 1928 and 1934 series 00:06:18.250 --> 00:06:21.389 just featured a decorative border and a very 00:06:21.389 --> 00:06:23.470 blunt, straightforward text. What did it say? 00:06:23.670 --> 00:06:26.230 Just, the United States of America, $10 ,000 00:06:26.230 --> 00:06:29.009 and the number 10 ,000. It became much more utilitarian. 00:06:29.329 --> 00:06:31.439 Okay, so the physical f— footprint of the bill 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:34.379 shrinks down to something manageable. But its 00:06:34.379 --> 00:06:37.240 purchasing power, especially back in the 1920s 00:06:37.240 --> 00:06:40.639 and 30s, remained absolutely astronomical. Oh, 00:06:40.899 --> 00:06:43.139 unquestionably. Which logically leads us to a 00:06:43.139 --> 00:06:46.500 pretty glaring question. Who on earth was actually 00:06:46.500 --> 00:06:48.779 walking around with a $10 ,000 bill in their 00:06:48.779 --> 00:06:50.959 pocket? Wow. Like, what were they using it for? 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:53.139 Were people walking into dealerships and buying 00:06:53.139 --> 00:06:55.899 luxury cars with a single bill? The short answer 00:06:55.899 --> 00:06:57.959 to who was walking around with these is, well, 00:06:58.079 --> 00:07:01.379 nobody. Wait, really? Nobody? Nobody. These bills 00:07:01.379 --> 00:07:04.480 were rarely, if ever, circulated among the general 00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:06.720 public. They simply didn't exist in the consumer 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:09.420 economy. Why make them? Because they were printed 00:07:09.420 --> 00:07:12.480 primarily for one highly specific logistical 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:15.860 reason, to facilitate massive multi -million 00:07:15.860 --> 00:07:18.160 dollar transactions between banks. Wait, I want 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:21.129 to pause here. Yeah. Because today, If a bank 00:07:21.129 --> 00:07:23.629 needs to move money, they just change a spreadsheet. 00:07:23.810 --> 00:07:27.029 Right. They hit a button and a digital wire transfer 00:07:27.029 --> 00:07:30.649 zips across the world in milliseconds. Exactly. 00:07:31.329 --> 00:07:35.149 But before the era of secure, instantaneous digital 00:07:35.149 --> 00:07:38.009 clearinghouses, the banking system relied on 00:07:38.009 --> 00:07:40.550 the physical transfer of value. Oh, wow. Yeah, 00:07:40.550 --> 00:07:43.629 of course. If one bank owed a Federal Reserve 00:07:43.629 --> 00:07:46.410 branch or another major bank a million dollars 00:07:46.410 --> 00:07:49.389 to settle their daily ledgers, they had to physically 00:07:49.389 --> 00:07:52.300 move that wealth across the city or across the 00:07:52.300 --> 00:07:55.279 country. That sounds incredibly stressful. Imagine 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:57.660 the logistical nightmare of moving a million 00:07:57.660 --> 00:08:00.240 dollars in physical gold. You're talking about 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:03.199 literal tons of metal that requires armored horse 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:06.339 -drawn carriages, heavy security, and incredible 00:08:06.339 --> 00:08:08.759 physical labor. And even if it wasn't gold, just 00:08:08.759 --> 00:08:11.399 regular money would be tough. Exactly. Even moving 00:08:11.399 --> 00:08:13.199 a million dollars in standard hundred dollar 00:08:13.199 --> 00:08:16.540 bills was dangerous, conspicuous, and just incredibly 00:08:16.540 --> 00:08:18.720 bulky. Ah, I see. So the ten thousand dollar 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:21.000 note was essentially like a high density zip 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:23.000 file for wealth. Oh, that's a perfect analogy. 00:08:23.319 --> 00:08:25.839 It allowed a courier to compress a massive vault 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:28.779 of gold into a stack of paper less than an inch 00:08:28.779 --> 00:08:31.360 thick that could be locked in a briefcase and 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:33.700 handcuffed to a single person's wrist. That's 00:08:33.700 --> 00:08:35.820 a perfect way to visualize it. It was an immensely 00:08:35.820 --> 00:08:38.500 practical tool for the very specific problem 00:08:38.500 --> 00:08:40.919 of interbank friction. So what does this all 00:08:40.919 --> 00:08:44.059 mean? If these were truly just for banks moving 00:08:44.059 --> 00:08:47.059 money around behind closed doors, why cap it 00:08:47.059 --> 00:08:49.669 at $10 ,000? What do you mean? I mean, if you're 00:08:49.669 --> 00:08:52.830 a major financial institution settling a massive 00:08:52.830 --> 00:08:55.970 daily debt, why not make an even bigger bill 00:08:55.970 --> 00:08:58.549 to make the stack even smaller? Why not a $50 00:08:58.549 --> 00:09:01.549 ,000 bill or a million dollar bill? What's fascinating 00:09:01.549 --> 00:09:04.129 here is the government actually did make a larger 00:09:04.129 --> 00:09:07.850 bill. Wait, they did? They produced a $100 ,000 00:09:07.850 --> 00:09:11.409 bill. $100 ,000 on one piece of paper? Yes. But 00:09:11.409 --> 00:09:15.269 however, there is a very strict legally vital 00:09:15.269 --> 00:09:18.190 distinction between the two. The $10 ,000 bill 00:09:18.190 --> 00:09:20.669 was the highest denomination ever authorized 00:09:20.669 --> 00:09:24.230 for public use, meaning a private citizen could 00:09:24.230 --> 00:09:26.809 technically and legally possess one, even if 00:09:26.809 --> 00:09:28.669 practically none of them ever had the means to 00:09:28.669 --> 00:09:32.519 do so. The $100 ,000 bill, on the other hand, 00:09:32.899 --> 00:09:35.940 was entirely different. How so? It was strictly 00:09:35.940 --> 00:09:38.879 created for interbank transfers within the Federal 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:42.059 Reserve System. It never circulated in public, 00:09:42.539 --> 00:09:44.980 and most importantly, its possession by any private 00:09:44.980 --> 00:09:48.169 holder was explicitly illegal. Hold on, why would 00:09:48.169 --> 00:09:50.309 the government bother making a piece of currency 00:09:50.309 --> 00:09:53.070 just to make it a federal crime for the public 00:09:53.070 --> 00:09:55.470 to hold it? Because of what it represented. If 00:09:55.470 --> 00:09:58.110 I'm like an eccentric billionaire industrialist 00:09:58.110 --> 00:10:00.750 in 1934, why can't I have a hundred thousand 00:10:00.750 --> 00:10:03.279 dollar bill in my safe? Because it wasn't meant 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:05.899 to function as consumer money, it was an internal 00:10:05.899 --> 00:10:08.120 accounting device for the Federal Reserve. Oh, 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:10.440 I get it. Allowing private citizens to hoard 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:13.259 $100 ,000 notes would drastically destabilize 00:10:13.259 --> 00:10:15.779 the money supply and completely undermine the 00:10:15.779 --> 00:10:18.080 government's control over macroeconomics during 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:21.220 a highly volatile time. Big sense. So the $10 00:10:21.220 --> 00:10:24.139 ,000 note remained the absolute unbreachable 00:10:24.139 --> 00:10:26.639 legal ceiling for any general member of the public. 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:29.179 That is wild. You could own the 10 ,000 even 00:10:29.179 --> 00:10:31.320 if you never saw one in your entire life. But 00:10:31.320 --> 00:10:33.320 if you somehow got your hands on the 100 ,000, 00:10:33.539 --> 00:10:36.299 you're looking at federal charges. Exactly. And 00:10:36.299 --> 00:10:39.340 this brings up a massive pivot point in the history 00:10:39.340 --> 00:10:41.940 of this currency. What's that? Because the actual 00:10:41.940 --> 00:10:44.480 underlying mechanics of what this paper represented 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:48.440 completely changed in 1933. Right. Yes. And this 00:10:48.440 --> 00:10:51.360 is where the life cycle of this single denomination 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:54.440 perfectly mirrors the broader economic history 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:56.840 of the United States. You have to understand 00:10:56.840 --> 00:10:59.399 that the $10 ,000 note didn't start out as the 00:10:59.399 --> 00:11:01.419 kind of money we use today. What was it then? 00:11:01.879 --> 00:11:04.080 It was originally issued as a gold certificate. 00:11:04.279 --> 00:11:06.580 Meaning the paper itself wasn't the value. It 00:11:06.580 --> 00:11:09.419 was basically a heavily guarded claim check for 00:11:09.419 --> 00:11:11.860 physical gold sitting in a government vault somewhere. 00:11:12.259 --> 00:11:15.700 Exactly. It represented a literal, tangible asset. 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:18.360 If you had that bill, the government owed you 00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:21.940 $10 ,000 worth of heavy, shiny gold upon demand. 00:11:22.279 --> 00:11:24.840 That's a lot of gold. But during the depths of 00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:27.159 the Great Depression, the government desperately 00:11:27.159 --> 00:11:30.000 needed to stabilize the collapsing economy and 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:33.100 assert total control over the nation's gold supply 00:11:33.100 --> 00:11:36.500 to prevent hoarding. Right. This led to the sweeping 00:11:36.500 --> 00:11:41.100 1933 Executive Order 6102. Right, which fundamentally 00:11:41.100 --> 00:11:44.480 outlawed the private hoarding of gold coin, gold 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:48.059 bullion, and gold certificates. Precisely. This 00:11:48.059 --> 00:11:50.659 order severely limited the ownership of gold 00:11:50.659 --> 00:11:54.100 currency by private citizens. The entire foundation 00:11:54.100 --> 00:11:56.679 of the banking system was deliberately severed 00:11:56.679 --> 00:11:58.980 from the physical metal. Wow. Because you could 00:11:58.980 --> 00:12:01.039 no longer simply walk up to the treasury and 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:04.659 demand $10 ,000 worth of physical gold, the fundamental 00:12:04.659 --> 00:12:07.100 architecture of the bill had to change. So what 00:12:07.100 --> 00:12:09.200 did they do? The old gold certificates were called 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:12.059 in and the note was completely redesigned and 00:12:12.059 --> 00:12:14.440 reissued as a federal reserve note. It went from 00:12:14.440 --> 00:12:17.220 being a receipt for a physical asset to being 00:12:17.220 --> 00:12:20.580 a fiat currency backed entirely by the full faith, 00:12:20.899 --> 00:12:23.340 credit and taxing power of the United States 00:12:23.340 --> 00:12:24.940 government. That's right. The paper essentially 00:12:24.940 --> 00:12:27.620 became the value rather than just representing 00:12:27.620 --> 00:12:32.639 it. Yeah. So for decades after 1933, this massive 00:12:32.639 --> 00:12:35.500 denomination just functioned quietly in the background 00:12:35.500 --> 00:12:38.159 of American finance. Very quietly. It was this 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:40.889 sort of ghost money. moving silently in armored 00:12:40.889 --> 00:12:43.710 cars between Federal Reserve branches, settling 00:12:43.710 --> 00:12:46.110 ledgers, and keeping the whole banking system 00:12:46.110 --> 00:12:48.669 afloat while the rest of us were buying coffee 00:12:48.669 --> 00:12:51.110 with nickels and dimes. And it fulfilled that 00:12:51.110 --> 00:12:54.860 quiet, utilitarian role flawlessly. For a time. 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:58.360 But times change? They do. As the mid -20th century 00:12:58.360 --> 00:13:01.080 approached, the logistics of banking began to 00:13:01.080 --> 00:13:03.840 modernize. As early electronic transfers and 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:06.100 more sophisticated clearinghouses began to take 00:13:06.100 --> 00:13:08.940 shape, the need to physically move millions of 00:13:08.940 --> 00:13:11.399 dollars in paper ghost money became increasingly 00:13:11.399 --> 00:13:13.980 unnecessary. That makes total sense. Furthermore, 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:16.200 having high denomination bills floating around 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:19.080 presents a massive outdated security risk, which 00:13:19.080 --> 00:13:21.850 sets the stage for a sudden permanent purge of 00:13:21.850 --> 00:13:24.570 the currency. The 1969 mass extinction event. 00:13:24.889 --> 00:13:26.850 That's the perfect way to frame it. The timeline 00:13:26.850 --> 00:13:29.169 of its demise is fascinating because it wasn't 00:13:29.169 --> 00:13:31.750 immediate. It wasn't. No, the Bureau of Engraving 00:13:31.750 --> 00:13:34.470 and Printing actually stopped printing new $10 00:13:34.470 --> 00:13:38.679 ,000 bills way back in 1934. Oh, wow. I didn't 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:41.200 realize that. However, because these bills rarely 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:43.720 wore out since they just sat in vaults rather 00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:46.460 than passing through cash registers, the Treasury 00:13:46.460 --> 00:13:48.860 continued to issue the existing stockpiles to 00:13:48.860 --> 00:13:52.000 banks all the way into the late 1960s. That's 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:54.659 incredible. But on a very specific date, July 00:13:54.659 --> 00:13:58.139 14th, 1969, the United States Department of the 00:13:58.139 --> 00:14:00.080 Treasury dropped the hammer. What happened on 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:02.879 July 14th? The Treasury formally announced that 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:05.879 all notes and denominations greater than $100 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:10.659 would be discontinued in Wow. So the 500, the 00:14:10.659 --> 00:14:14.139 1 ,000, the 5 ,000, and our giant 10 ,000 all 00:14:14.139 --> 00:14:16.139 effectively given a permanent death sentence 00:14:16.139 --> 00:14:18.720 on the exact same day. If we connect this to 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:20.919 the bigger picture, the government didn't just 00:14:20.919 --> 00:14:23.320 stop handing them out. They initiated an active 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:25.360 recall. They wanted them back. The directive 00:14:25.360 --> 00:14:28.440 required all banks to take any $10 ,000 bills 00:14:28.440 --> 00:14:30.460 they had sitting in their vaults and ship them 00:14:30.460 --> 00:14:32.360 directly back to the government for immediate 00:14:32.360 --> 00:14:35.629 destruction. That is just... Brutal. This government 00:14:35.629 --> 00:14:38.710 order systematically wiped out an entire class 00:14:38.710 --> 00:14:42.250 of currency. It took a functional, everyday financial 00:14:42.250 --> 00:14:44.590 tool, at least in the high -stakes banking world, 00:14:45.210 --> 00:14:48.450 and turned it into an increasingly rare artifact 00:14:48.450 --> 00:14:50.769 literally overnight. So they just burned them. 00:14:51.049 --> 00:14:53.629 Yep. The incinerators at the Treasury were fed 00:14:53.629 --> 00:14:56.470 millions of dollars in obsolete paper. Which 00:14:56.470 --> 00:14:58.710 brings us directly back to that incredible irony 00:14:58.710 --> 00:15:00.509 we talked about at the very beginning of the 00:15:00.509 --> 00:15:03.529 deep dive. Remind me. Because while these bills 00:15:03.529 --> 00:15:05.830 were officially discontinued and systematically 00:15:05.830 --> 00:15:08.470 hunted down for destruction, they were never 00:15:08.470 --> 00:15:11.450 officially demonetized. They are still legal 00:15:11.450 --> 00:15:14.570 tender. If you somehow have one, it is still 00:15:14.570 --> 00:15:17.830 legally worth exactly $10 ,000. You could walk 00:15:17.830 --> 00:15:20.610 into a local bank branch right now, slide this 00:15:20.610 --> 00:15:22.710 piece of history across the counter, and ask 00:15:22.710 --> 00:15:24.830 the teller to deposit it into your checking account. 00:15:24.929 --> 00:15:27.590 You absolutely could, and the bank would be legally 00:15:27.590 --> 00:15:29.830 obligated to accept it. Yeah, they would credit 00:15:29.830 --> 00:15:33.460 your account $10 ,000. But then, adhering to 00:15:33.460 --> 00:15:37.019 that lingering 1969 mandate, the teller would 00:15:37.019 --> 00:15:39.580 place that historic bill into a secure pouch 00:15:39.580 --> 00:15:41.759 and it would be shipped off to the treasury to 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:43.919 be shredded and permanently destroyed. Which 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:46.519 is why doing that would be a catastrophic financial 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:48.799 mistake. You'd be destroying a fortune just to 00:15:48.799 --> 00:15:50.919 get face value. Oh, without a doubt. Because 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:53.740 a very small, very lucky number of these bills 00:15:53.740 --> 00:15:56.360 managed to escape the treasury's incinerators. 00:15:56.840 --> 00:15:59.059 Some were already in the private hands of wealthy 00:15:59.059 --> 00:16:01.879 individuals. Some were tucked away by eccentric— 00:16:01.389 --> 00:16:04.169 collectors and some were just lost in the massive 00:16:04.169 --> 00:16:06.250 shuffle of time. Yeah, things just slipped through 00:16:06.250 --> 00:16:09.269 the cracks. And because they survived that 1969 00:16:09.269 --> 00:16:12.450 mass extinction, they entered this wild, glamorous 00:16:12.450 --> 00:16:15.470 second act. They transitioned from dusty bank 00:16:15.470 --> 00:16:18.350 ledgers and armored cars to Las Vegas casino 00:16:18.350 --> 00:16:21.080 floors and elite auction houses. And nowhere 00:16:21.080 --> 00:16:24.059 is that spectacular second act more vividly illustrated 00:16:24.059 --> 00:16:26.320 than in the legendary story of Benny Binyan. 00:16:26.659 --> 00:16:29.559 Oh, Benny Binyan? Yeah. Binyan was a highly prominent, 00:16:29.620 --> 00:16:31.860 larger -than -life casino operator in Las Vegas. 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:34.399 He understood the power of spectacle better than 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:37.519 almost anyone. He sure did. And he deeply understood 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:40.220 the psychological grip that massive amounts of 00:16:40.220 --> 00:16:43.100 physical cash had on everyday people. Through 00:16:43.100 --> 00:16:46.200 various channels, he managed to acquire exactly 00:16:46.200 --> 00:16:52.000 100 of these $10 ,000 bills. 100 bills. $10 ,000 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:56.940 each. That is a cool $1 million in cash. Exactly. 00:16:57.539 --> 00:17:00.320 And he didn't hide them in a safe. He arranged 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:03.379 them in a massive, custom -built, heavily secured 00:17:03.379 --> 00:17:06.740 display right on the floor of his casino, Binion's 00:17:06.740 --> 00:17:09.460 gambling hall and hotel. Can you imagine the 00:17:09.460 --> 00:17:11.960 visual impact of that for a tourist in Las Vegas? 00:17:12.180 --> 00:17:14.059 It would have been stunning. It's one thing to 00:17:14.059 --> 00:17:16.200 see a million dollars as a sterile number printed 00:17:16.200 --> 00:17:19.059 on a bank statement or a computer screen. It 00:17:19.059 --> 00:17:21.740 is something entirely different, almost intoxicating 00:17:21.740 --> 00:17:23.799 to see it physically stacked in front of you. 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:26.359 Especially when that stack is made up of impossible 00:17:26.359 --> 00:17:28.640 currency that most people didn't even know existed. 00:17:28.839 --> 00:17:30.839 Exactly. It's brilliant. It turns money into 00:17:30.839 --> 00:17:33.599 an attraction. It was a masterstroke of marketing, 00:17:33.619 --> 00:17:36.400 and it made the display legendary across the 00:17:36.400 --> 00:17:40.160 country. There is even a famous historical photograph 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:43.839 of Benny and Becky Binyon posing proudly with 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:47.319 the $1 million display cementing its place in 00:17:47.319 --> 00:17:49.839 Vegas lore. I've seen that picture. It's so cool. 00:17:50.140 --> 00:17:52.799 But of course, casino displays don't last forever. 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:55.859 Eventually the exhibit was dismantled, but the 00:17:55.859 --> 00:17:58.220 bills weren't just quietly slipped back into 00:17:58.220 --> 00:18:01.390 a vault. What happened to them? The entire collection 00:18:01.390 --> 00:18:04.369 of 100 bills was purchased by a man named Jay 00:18:04.369 --> 00:18:08.329 Perino in 1999 for a total amount under 10 million 00:18:08.329 --> 00:18:11.210 dollars. OK, let's do the math on that. If he 00:18:11.210 --> 00:18:13.910 bought the whole 100 bill hoard for under 10 00:18:13.910 --> 00:18:16.710 million, it means Perino paid less than one hundred 00:18:16.710 --> 00:18:19.029 thousand dollars per bill on average, which was 00:18:19.029 --> 00:18:21.930 a steal on us, which is obviously a massive markup 00:18:21.930 --> 00:18:24.589 from the ten thousand dollar face value. But 00:18:24.589 --> 00:18:26.450 as we'll see in a minute, that was a pretty incredible 00:18:26.450 --> 00:18:28.869 long term investment for sure. But there's a 00:18:28.869 --> 00:18:30.829 detail about this purchase that I absolutely 00:18:30.829 --> 00:18:33.609 love because it speaks so perfectly to the obsessive 00:18:33.609 --> 00:18:36.630 psychology of collectors. Oh, the mapping. Yes. 00:18:37.329 --> 00:18:39.730 Before that famous casino display was taken apart, 00:18:40.130 --> 00:18:42.029 they didn't just scoop the money into a duffel 00:18:42.029 --> 00:18:45.779 bag. The exact position. And the specific serial 00:18:45.779 --> 00:18:48.599 number of every single bill within the display 00:18:48.599 --> 00:18:51.779 was meticulously recorded and cataloged. Yes, 00:18:52.000 --> 00:18:54.180 they mapped the entire hoard. And that wasn't 00:18:54.180 --> 00:18:56.539 just a clerical exercise. It was a brilliant 00:18:56.539 --> 00:18:59.880 value add. By mapping the display, they ensured 00:18:59.880 --> 00:19:02.279 that future buyers weren't just purchasing a 00:19:02.279 --> 00:19:04.579 rare piece of discontinued currency. They were 00:19:04.579 --> 00:19:07.720 buying a verifiable specific coordinate in Las 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:10.349 Vegas history. I see. So you could hold your 00:19:10.349 --> 00:19:12.670 bill in a protective sleeve, point to that famous 00:19:12.670 --> 00:19:15.210 photograph of Benny Binion, and say, my bill 00:19:15.210 --> 00:19:17.650 was in the third row, fifth from the left. Exactly. 00:19:17.849 --> 00:19:20.309 That provenance, that undeniable, verifiable 00:19:20.309 --> 00:19:22.970 connection to a culturally famous display, drove 00:19:22.970 --> 00:19:26.170 the collector value up significantly. Following 00:19:26.170 --> 00:19:28.369 the purchase, individual bills that could be 00:19:28.369 --> 00:19:30.250 traced directly to the Binion collection were 00:19:30.250 --> 00:19:33.029 eventually sold to collectors for up to $188 00:19:33.029 --> 00:19:35.529 ,000 each. Here's where it gets really interesting. 00:19:36.759 --> 00:19:39.339 Because the market for these survivors hasn't 00:19:39.339 --> 00:19:42.059 stopped there. The valuation of these bills has 00:19:42.059 --> 00:19:45.019 just continued to skyrocket as time goes on and 00:19:45.019 --> 00:19:47.240 the bills become more mythic. Oh, the prices 00:19:47.240 --> 00:19:49.660 today are just staggering. If we look right up 00:19:49.660 --> 00:19:51.619 to the present day, there was a staggering sale 00:19:51.619 --> 00:19:55.480 in 2023 at Heritage Auctions down in Texas. A 00:19:55.480 --> 00:19:59.259 1934 $10 ,000 bill went up on the block and it 00:19:59.259 --> 00:20:01.660 sold for nearly half a million dollars. Wow. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:05.779 To be exact. The gavel came down at $480 ,000. 00:20:05.980 --> 00:20:08.599 This raises an important question. Why would 00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:10.880 someone, even an incredibly wealthy collector, 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:14.359 pay nearly 50 times the face value for a single 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:16.839 piece of paper? Fair question. Part of the answer, 00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:20.039 of course, lies in its formal grading. The 2023 00:20:20.039 --> 00:20:23.039 auction involved a PMG -graded bill, meaning 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:25.920 it was authenticated, scrutinized, and mathematically 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:28.099 evaluated by the Paper Money Guarantee Company, 00:20:28.259 --> 00:20:30.339 which is a highly respected third -party grading 00:20:30.339 --> 00:20:33.279 service. But the absolute most crucial word in 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:35.200 that auction description isn't the grade itself, 00:20:35.400 --> 00:20:38.299 it's the word uncirculated. Right. And this loops 00:20:38.299 --> 00:20:39.980 perfectly back to what we were talking about 00:20:39.980 --> 00:20:43.200 earlier. Because these specific bills were designed 00:20:43.200 --> 00:20:45.980 almost entirely to sit in dark bank vaults to 00:20:45.980 --> 00:20:48.559 settle massive debts, they didn't live the life 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:50.640 of normal money. No, they didn't. They didn't 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:52.640 get folded up and shoved into people's pockets. 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:55.039 They didn't get crumpled or run through the wash 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:57.359 or have coffee spilled on them or get passed 00:20:57.359 --> 00:20:59.700 through a thousand different greasy cash registers. 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:03.119 Exactly. Having been largely uncirculated outside 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:05.220 of the highly controlled banking environment, 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:07.670 many of the thousand dollar bills that still 00:21:07.670 --> 00:21:11.490 exist today remain in absolutely pristine condition. 00:21:11.930 --> 00:21:14.950 They really are pristine. They are literal untouched 00:21:14.950 --> 00:21:17.950 time capsules. When a high -end collector pays 00:21:17.950 --> 00:21:19.809 almost half a million dollars for one of these 00:21:19.809 --> 00:21:22.650 they aren't just buying old currency. What are 00:21:22.650 --> 00:21:25.250 they buying? They are purchasing a perfectly 00:21:25.250 --> 00:21:28.569 preserved immaculate piece of the Great Depression 00:21:28.569 --> 00:21:31.910 era. They are buying a flawless surviving artifact 00:21:31.910 --> 00:21:35.390 of the 1969 government purge. They are buying 00:21:35.390 --> 00:21:37.990 a piece of history that somehow beat the odds. 00:21:38.329 --> 00:21:40.869 It really is an unbelievable story of survival 00:21:40.869 --> 00:21:43.029 against the very government that created it. 00:21:43.049 --> 00:21:45.589 It really is. We've taken a deep dive into the 00:21:45.589 --> 00:21:48.170 incredible century -long journey of the US $10 00:21:48.170 --> 00:21:51.150 ,000 bill today. We've traced its roots from 00:21:51.150 --> 00:21:53.529 those giant awkward horse blankets featuring 00:21:53.529 --> 00:21:55.890 Andrew Jackson and the Pilgrims all the way through 00:21:55.890 --> 00:21:59.690 the chaotic desperate days of 1933 when executive 00:21:59.690 --> 00:22:01.950 orders forced it to fundamentally transform from 00:22:01.950 --> 00:22:04.730 a physical gold certificate into a Fiat Federal 00:22:04.730 --> 00:22:06.990 Reserve note. Quite a journey. We watched it 00:22:06.990 --> 00:22:09.569 serve for decades as the invisible heavy lifting 00:22:09.569 --> 00:22:12.500 backbone of American banking. quietly moving 00:22:12.500 --> 00:22:15.660 millions between vaults until a single day in 00:22:15.660 --> 00:22:18.519 1969 when the Treasury decided to aggressively 00:22:18.519 --> 00:22:21.180 hunt it down and destroy it. And almost succeeded. 00:22:21.539 --> 00:22:24.099 And finally, we saw how the very few survivors 00:22:24.099 --> 00:22:26.380 of that mass extinction emerged into the neon 00:22:26.380 --> 00:22:29.319 light of Las Vegas, transforming into half million 00:22:29.319 --> 00:22:32.319 dollar trophies for the world's most elite collectors. 00:22:32.619 --> 00:22:35.420 It represents a profound shift in the very concept 00:22:35.420 --> 00:22:39.019 of utility. A totally utilitarian object, something 00:22:39.019 --> 00:22:41.220 designed with no aesthetic goal other than to 00:22:41.220 --> 00:22:44.099 make bank accounting easier and safer, has been 00:22:44.099 --> 00:22:46.640 elevated to the status of a priceless historical 00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:50.099 artifact. And simply through the passage of time 00:22:50.099 --> 00:22:52.259 and the government's cessation of its production. 00:22:52.700 --> 00:22:54.859 And that transformation leaves us with a final 00:22:54.859 --> 00:22:57.359 thought to mull over. Something for you to explore 00:22:57.359 --> 00:22:59.940 as you go about your day. We've just spent the 00:22:59.940 --> 00:23:02.099 last 20 minutes exploring how this completely 00:23:02.099 --> 00:23:04.539 functional, incredibly boring piece of banking 00:23:04.539 --> 00:23:08.539 paper became a massive treasure simply because 00:23:08.539 --> 00:23:11.170 the government decided to stop making it. Right. 00:23:11.529 --> 00:23:13.910 Today, our society is moving faster than ever 00:23:13.910 --> 00:23:17.210 away from physical cash and toward purely digital 00:23:17.210 --> 00:23:20.230 invisible transactions. We tap our phones, we 00:23:20.230 --> 00:23:22.509 scan our watches, we send money through apps. 00:23:22.650 --> 00:23:25.529 Cash is definitely becoming rarer. So take a 00:23:25.529 --> 00:23:27.769 look at the mundane, everyday items currently 00:23:27.769 --> 00:23:29.950 sitting ignored in your wallet or your purse 00:23:29.950 --> 00:23:32.750 right now. As the physical tools of our financial 00:23:32.750 --> 00:23:35.289 lives are rapidly replaced by algorithms and 00:23:35.289 --> 00:23:38.150 data centers, what ordinary utilitarian object 00:23:38.150 --> 00:23:40.349 are you carrying right now that future generations 00:23:40.349 --> 00:23:43.309 might eventually view as a priceless, perfectly 00:23:43.309 --> 00:23:45.630 preserved relic of a forgotten era? It makes 00:23:45.630 --> 00:23:48.410 you wonder. Because just like that $10 ,000 bill 00:23:48.410 --> 00:23:50.970 hidden away in the attic, sometimes the things 00:23:50.970 --> 00:23:54.049 we think are just a boring way to pay the bills 00:23:54.049 --> 00:23:55.930 turn out to be the real treasure.