The 1861 ten dollar bill was America's first $10 dollar note. Early examples have handwritten text and are hand signed. You can imagine why this practice didn't last. Fortunately these examples can be found still. Nice notes are hard to come by, the paper these notes was printed on is tissue thin and somewhat brittle. The 1861 ten dollar bill was issued for redemption in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati and St. Louis.