A woman in Lowell, MA, tries to exchange a $10,000 bill for smaller change, but the bank employees will have none of that.

The bill is presented at a teller station and is instantly questioned. First of all, there are no $10,000 bills still in circulation.

There were 4,000 of those big bills in circulation long ago. Banks used them to pass large sums of money between each other. Today most of those bills are in the hands of private collectors, although there’s one $10,000 bill safely locked in a vault at the U. S. Treasury in Washington, D. C.

Do you know whose face appears on the $10,000 bill? Here’s a clue: He’s not even a past president, although he once held high public office. The answer is Salmon P. Chase, a former Secretary of the Treasury. The only non-presidents ever to appear on U. S. currency are Chase and Benjamin Franklin, whose face appears on the $100 bill.

Back to the lady at the Lowell bank. The Secret Service is called into action because that federal agency is in charge of any funny business with U. S. currency. They do not comment on the bill that was submitted or identify the woman. She is not arrested. Authorities hint that perhaps there are "mental issues" involved.

While we’re on the topic of dead presidents’ faces on U. S. currency, you may find it interesting to know who appears on other large U. S. bills: Ulysses S. Grant is on the $50, Benjamin Franklin on the $100, William McKinley on the $500, Grover Cleveland on the $1,000, James Madison on the $5,000, Salmon Chase on the $10,000, Woodrow Wilson on the $100,000.

As a fun fact, the head of the Statue of Liberty is on the $1,000,000 bill — but there’s only one of those and it’s a promotional print — also safely locked in a Treasury vault.