There is, or at least has been a $10,000 bill. As a matter of fact, there have been several different versions. The earlier, so-called large size bill was used up to 1928. US President Andrew Jackson was displayed on the legal tender note of 1878, as well as the Gold Certificates of 1870 and 1875, as well as 1882, 1888 and 1890. It has to be said, however, that all but one of these bills are extremely rare, with no more than two samples surviving today.
The later version, a much smaller, current sized bill, was only printed until the 1940s. This bill pictured the not very happy, unsmiling face of Salmon P. Chase, who, by the way, was one of only three individuals who were commemorated on cash without ever having been a US president. The other two are Alexander Hamilton, who can be found on the $10 bill, and Ben Franklin, who appears on the $100 bill.
Salmon P. Chase served under President Lincoln as the 25th Secretary to the Treasury. The Civil War resulted in a monetary crisis, which forced a very reluctant Chase to implement the first ever printing of money on paper in the US. Chase's portrait, as a matter of fact, featured on the first, original $1 bill. 'Old Mr Greenbacks', the nickname this earned him, did, however, not stick for long. It failed to stick because shortly after the war, Chase, by now the Supreme Court's Chief Justice, declared that paper currency was unconstitutional. One cannot help but wonder what good 'Old Mr Greenbacks' would make of today's use of plastic for payments. The poor old soul must be turning in his grave at the thought of online payment methods.
