A set of 26 American 1957 small-size one dollar silver certificate notes, each featuring an image of the first president George Washington based on the Athenaeum Portrait on the obverse, and the Great Seal of the United States is featured on the reverse. Silver certificates are a type of representative money issued between 1878 and 1964 in the United States as part of its circulation of paper currency. They were produced in response to silver agitation by citizens who were angered by the Fourth Coinage Act, which had effectively placed the United States on a gold standard. Vintage American Dollar Silver Certificates And Paper Money Currency Collectibles.