Timeline of U.S. Savings Bonds
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| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1935 | Series A bonds were issued. They were discontinued in December 1935. |
| 1936 | Series B bonds were issued. They were discontinued in 1936. |
| 1937 | Series C bonds were issued. They were discontinued in 1938. |
| 1939 | Series D bonds were issued. They were discontinued in 1941. |
| 1941 | Series E, F, and G bonds were issued. Series F and G bonds were discontinued in 1952. The Series E Bonds were discontinued in 1980. |
| 1952 | Series H, J, and K bonds were issued. The series J and K bonds were discontinued in 1957. The series H bonds were discontinued in 1979. |
| 1954 | January 1, 1954: Over-the-counter bond sales at most post offices ended, except for those located in communities having no local bank or other issuing agent (discontinued in 1977). |
| 1962 | September 1962: Taxpayers were offered the option of receiving Series E U.S. savings bonds in lieu of cash tax refunds. |
| 1963 | January 1963: U.S. retirement plan bonds were offered, following enactment of Self-Employed Individuals Retirement Tax Act of 1962. They were discontinued in 1982. |
| 1967 | May 1, 1967: Savings Notes (Freedom Shares) were offered in four denominations ($25, $50, $75, & $100). They were discontinued in 1970. |
| 1973 | October 1, 1973: Issuing agents required to include the social security number of the owner or first-named co-owner on all Series E savings bonds with issue dates of October 1, 1973, or later. |
| 1975 | May 1, 1975: President Gerald R. Ford purchased a Bicentennial-design Series E savings bond—the first printed—from Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon in the White House Oval Office. Bicentennial bonds were issued until December 1976. |
| 1980 | Series EE were issued. HH Bonds were available for cash purchase until 1982. |
| 1980 | July 1, 1980: Social security numbers required on U.S. Savings Bonds and Savings Notes (Freedom Shares) cashed after July 1, 1980. |
| 1982 | Changed to market-based interest rates for accrual-type Series EE savings bonds. Prior to removing the statutory ceiling on the savings bond rate, Congress had acted numerous times since savings bonds were first sold in 1941 to change that ceiling. The Treasury had changed the rate offered to investors only on a fixed rate basis. Cash sales of current income Series HH savings bonds were discontinued, and they were made available only in exchange for accrual-type savings bonds. |
| 1982 | Series HH bonds were obtained only by exchange. They were discontinued in 2004. |
| 1985 | March 29, 1985: Treasury announced a newly designed face for Series EE and HH savings bonds as part of a gradual shift from punch card to paper bond stock. |
| 1989 | A schedule of final maturity dates for U.S. Savings Bonds was established. Series E savings bonds issued before December 1965 will stop earning interest 40 years from their issue dates. Series E, Series EE and Savings Notes issued after November 1965 will stop earning interest 30 years from their issue dates, as is already the case with Series H bonds. Series HH bonds issued since 1980 will stop earning interest 20 years from their issue dates. |
| 1997 | The interest earned on Series EE savings bonds was increased to 90%, from 85%, of the average yields on 5-year Treasury securities, with interest accruing monthly, instead of every six months. |
| 1998 | Series I Bonds were issued. |
| 1999 | The Savings Bond Connection became Public Debt’s original online storefront. It allowed customers to buy Series EE and Series I savings bonds on the Internet using a credit card. 2001 February 5, 2001: The Treasury Hunt website launched. It helped savings bond owners track bonds that had matured and bonds and payments the Postal Service couldn't deliver. Treasury Hunt was decommissioned in 2017 and reactivated in 2019. |
| 2001 | December 2001: The Patriot Bond, a special Series EE savings bond, was introduced after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Sales proceeds supported anti-terrorism efforts. The last sales occurred in 2011. |
| 2002 | October 15, 2002: An electronic version of the inflation-indexed Series I savings bond was offered. This book-entry savings bond was part of the new TreasuryDirect system, designed to offer investors a one-stop web location for buying and managing holdings of Treasury securities. The electronic Series I bond marked the first time a savings bond had been offered to the public in a paperless form. |
| 2002 | October 17, 2002: Annual purchase limit raised to $30,000 on paper and electronic Series I savings bonds. |
| 2003 | February 1, 2003: Minimum holding period for Series EE and I savings bonds extended from 6 to 12 months. Bonds with issue dates prior to this date retained the 6-month minimum holding period, the length of time bonds must be held before eligible for redemption. |
| 2003 | May 5, 2003: Paperless version of the Series EE savings bond added to TreasuryDirect. Until now, only the inflation-indexed Series I bond was available in electronic form. |
| 2003 | May 8, 2003: Annual purchase limit raised to $30,000 on paper Series EE savings bonds. This made paper and electronic Series EE and I savings bonds consistent. |
| 2008 | January 1, 2008: Annual savings bonds purchase limit decreased from $30,000 to $5,000 per social security number. The limit applies separately to Series EE and Series I savings bonds, and separately to bonds issued in paper or online. |
| 2010 | In early 2010, individuals could buy paper Series I savings bonds by checking a box on their tax return, without opening an account at Treasury or taking any other action. |
| 2010 | September 30, 2010: Purchase of paper savings bonds through payroll sales for federal employees eliminated. |
| 2011 | December 31, 2011: Sales for over-the-counter (OTC) paper savings bonds ceased, marking the end of paper savings bonds, with one exception. Paper bonds are still available to taxpayers who choose to use some of their tax refund to purchase their bonds. This action supports Treasury’s goal to increase the number of electronic transactions with citizens and businesses. |
| 2012 | January 4, 2012: Annual purchase limit for online savings bonds increased to $10,000 per series. An individual can buy a maximum of $10,000 worth of electronic savings bonds of each series in a single calendar year, or a total of $20,000. |
| 2025 | January 1, 2025: Tax Time Savings Bonds eliminated. You can no longer purchase paper savings bonds with your tax refund, or direct your tax refund to your TreasuryDirect account. January 31, 2025: The Payroll Savings Plan eliminated. You can no longer use a payroll deduction to fund your zero-percent C of I. |