(United States) | |
---|---|
Value | $10 |
Width | 156 mm |
Height | 66.3 mm |
Weight | Approx. 1 g |
Security features | Security thread, EURion constellation, Watermark, Color shifting ink, Microprinting |
Paper type | Cotton-linen |
Years of printing | 1861–present |
Obverse | |
Design | Alexander Hamilton |
Design date | 2006 |
Reverse | |
Design | U.S. Treasury |
Design date | 2006 |
The United States ten-dollar bill ($10) is a denomination of U.S. currency. The obverse of the bill features the portrait of Alexander Hamilton, who served as the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. The reverse features the U.S. Treasury Building. All $10 bills issued today are Federal Reserve Notes.
As of December 2013, the average life of a $10 bill is 4.5 years, or about 54 months, before it is replaced due to wear. Ten-dollar bills are delivered by Federal Reserve Banks in yellow straps.
The source of the portrait on the $10 bill is John Trumbull’s 1805 painting of Hamilton that belongs to the portrait collection of New York City Hall. The $10 bill is unique in that it is the only denomination in circulation in which the portrait faces to the left. It also features one of two non-presidents on currently issued U.S. bills, the other being Benjamin Franklin on the $100 bill. Hamilton is one of only four people featured on U.S. paper currency (1861 to the present) who were not born in the continental United States or British America; he was from the West Indies. The others were Albert Gallatin, Switzerland ($500 1862/63 Legal Tender); George Meade, Spain ($1,000 1890/91 Treasury Note); and Robert Morris, England ($1,000 1862/63 Legal Tender; $10 1878/80 Silver Certificate).
In 2015, the Treasury Secretary announced that the obverse portrait of Hamilton would be replaced by the portrait of an as yet undecided woman, starting in 2020. However, due to the surging popularity of Hamilton, a hit Broadway musical based on Hamilton's life, in 2016 this decision was reversed and Hamilton will remain on the $10 bill, and instead a woman will appear on the $20 bill.