This Stunning 1918 $500 Bill Could Sell for $175,000
Most Americans never handled a $500 bill. Even fewer ever saw one fresh from the Treasury.
Now, one of the finest surviving examples of America’s first high-denomination Federal Reserve Notes has returned to auction. Stack’s Bowers Galleries estimates the 1918 $500 Federal Reserve Note from San Francisco at $125,000 to $175,000.
PMG graded the note Choice Uncirculated 64. Moreover, Stack’s Bowers describes it as the sole finest example from the San Francisco Federal Reserve District in the current PMG Population Report.
The note previously sold for $150,000 in the Stack’s Bowers November 2023 auction. Therefore, its latest appearance gives advanced collectors another rare chance to pursue an elite large-size currency rarity.
A $500 Bill Built for America’s Financial System
The Series of 1918 marked a major expansion of the Federal Reserve Note system.
Earlier large-size Federal Reserve Notes carried denominations from $5 through $100. However, the Series of 1918 introduced $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 notes. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produced these large denominations to support major financial transactions and transfers between banks.
In practical terms, a $500 note represented serious money. Banks, financial institutions, wealthy businesses, and high-stakes cash operations had far more use for it than ordinary consumers.
Stack’s Bowers also connects the denomination with the private gaming rooms of Prohibition-era Atlantic City. That colorful association fits the popular image of high-denomination currency. Still, banks and commercial institutions drove the primary demand for notes of this size.
The government eventually moved away from large-format currency. In 1929, it reduced Federal Reserve Notes from 7.375 by 3.125 inches to the modern 6.14-by-2.61-inch format.
As a result, this 1918 $500 note delivers an imposing presence that modern currency cannot match.
John Marshall Commands the Face
Chief Justice John Marshall dominates the face of the note.
Marshall served as chief justice from 1801 until his death in 1835. His long tenure helped establish the Supreme Court as an equal branch of the federal government.
The engraved portrait sits at the center of the design. Large rectangular “500” counters anchor all four corners. Meanwhile, elaborate cartouches identify the piece as a “Federal Reserve Note” and state its denomination in full.
The engraved signatures of Treasurer of the United States John Burke and Treasury Secretary Carter Glass appear beside Marshall. The Smithsonian confirms both Marshall’s portrait and the De Soto scene on the reverse as the defining images of the Series of 1918 $500 design.
Four “12-L” district indicators identify the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The numeral 12 represents the Twelfth Federal Reserve District. The letter L also identifies San Francisco within the Federal Reserve system.
In addition, the district seal stands opposite the blue Treasury seal. Those strong overprints create a vivid contrast against the black engraved design.
Most importantly, this example retains sharp margins, bright paper, and crisp visual detail. Those qualities helped it earn the Choice Uncirculated 64 grade.
A Capitol Masterpiece Appears on the Reverse
The back transforms the note from a financial instrument into a miniature history painting.
Its central vignette adapts William Henry Powell’s monumental painting Discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto. The original hangs inside the Rotunda of the United States Capitol.
Powell’s scene shows Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto arriving at the Mississippi River below present-day Natchez on May 8, 1541. The Architect of the Capitol identifies De Soto as the first documented European to see the river.
However, the painting does not present a peaceful moment.
Weapons, armor, wounded men, and soldiers moving a cannon fill the foreground. A monk prays nearby as members of the expedition raise a large crucifix. Native people watch from the surrounding landscape, while canoes and small islands appear across the distant river.
The image reflects a dramatic 19th-century interpretation of conquest, exploration, religion, and territorial expansion. Today, viewers may also recognize the fear, violence, and cultural conflict embedded within the composition.
That complexity gives the note a visual power rarely found on American currency.
William Henry Powell’s Journey From Canvas to Currency
William Henry Powell was born in New York City on February 14, 1823. He grew up in Cincinnati and later returned to New York, where he studied under portrait painter Henry Inman. Powell also spent three years studying art in Italy.
Congress originally commissioned Inman to create a Daniel Boone scene for the Capitol Rotunda. However, Inman died in 1846 before completing the work.
Powell then received the commission. Instead of continuing Inman’s Boone subject, he chose De Soto’s encounter with the Mississippi.
Powell worked on the painting in Paris from 1848 through 1853. He studied period weapons, clothing, and equipment at the Museum of Artillery. He then exhibited the finished canvas in Harrisburg, Baltimore, and New York before taking it to Washington.
The painting’s success established Powell as an important American history painter. It also led to commissions for his celebrated Battle of Lake Erie. One version hangs in the Ohio Statehouse. A larger version hangs in the United States Capitol.
Engravers later adapted Discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto for the backs of $10 National Bank Notes issued during the 19th century.
Then, nearly four decades after Powell’s death in 1879, the government revived the design for the Series of 1918 $500 Federal Reserve Note.
The engravers modified the edges and reduced some detail to fit the currency format. Even so, the vignette remained one of the most ambitious narrative scenes ever placed on a Federal Reserve Note.
Sole Finest San Francisco Example at PMG
Condition separates this note from most surviving Series of 1918 $500 bills.
Stack’s Bowers reports a PMG population of one at Choice Uncirculated 64 for the San Francisco district, with none finer. In other words, no higher-graded Fr. 1132-L appears in the cited PMG census.
Only one other district reportedly has a comparable Choice Uncirculated example. PMG graded that Atlanta note Choice Uncirculated 64 EPQ.
Stack’s Bowers sold the Atlanta note for $111,000 in March 2020 as Lot 6133 in the D. Brent Pogue Collection. The San Francisco note later appeared as Lot 20209 in the firm’s November 2023 auction. It carried a $150,000 to $250,000 estimate and realized $150,000.
Those results reveal the true challenge facing elite currency collectors. A buyer cannot simply wait for another example in the same grade. Comparable notes may remain unavailable for years.
Why the 1918 $500 Note Matters
Several factors drive demand for this note.
First, the $500 denomination carries instant appeal. Second, the large-size format showcases American banknote engraving at its most dramatic. Third, the Marshall portrait and Powell vignette connect the note with both judicial and artistic history.
Then comes condition.
Large-denomination notes often moved through bank channels, cash rooms, vaults, and counting operations. Many survivors show folds, handling, stains, or other signs of commercial use. An Uncirculated example therefore represents far more than a routine high-denomination rarity.
This note combines rarity, technical quality, visual drama, and a major auction pedigree. That mix gives it the traits collectors expect from a six-figure trophy note.
1918 $500 Federal Reserve Note Specifications
- Denomination: $500
- Series: 1918
- Type: Large-Size Federal Reserve Note
- Friedberg Number: Fr. 1132-L
- Federal Reserve District: San Francisco
- District Designation: 12-L
- Treasury Signatures: John Burke and Carter Glass
- Face Portrait: Chief Justice John Marshall
- Back Design: De Soto Discovering the Mississippi
- Original Artwork: William Henry Powell’s Discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto
- Approximate Size: 7.375 by 3.125 inches
- Treasury Seal: Blue
- Certification: PMG Choice Uncirculated 64
- PMG Population: 1, with none finer reported for Fr. 1132-L
- Previous Auction Result: $150,000 in November 2023
- Current Estimate: $125,000 to $175,000
The Bottom Line
The Series of 1918 $500 Federal Reserve Note already ranks among the great designs of American paper money.
This San Francisco example goes much further.
It pairs an extraordinary denomination with one of the most dramatic historical scenes ever engraved on a United States note. Moreover, its Choice Uncirculated grade places it at the top of the San Francisco PMG population.
For collectors who pursue the finest available large-size currency, opportunities like this rarely return on schedule.
