Types of US Savings Bonds: Every Series From A to I

US savings bonds come in 13 lettered series plus Savings Notes, issued by the US Treasury since March 1935: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, EE, HH and I. Only Series EE and I are still sold, and only as electronic bonds. Every other type survives only as older paper bonds.

Of the 14 series and note types, only EE bonds under 30 years old and every I bond still earn interest in November 2026. The other 12 types are worth a fixed amount, and no type expires.

Some Retirement Plan Bonds and Individual Retirement Bonds, sold outside the lettered series, may also still earn. ClaimMyBonds is a private, independent reference, not Treasury or TreasuryDirect (Treasury's savings bond website). For how paper and electronic US savings bonds work in general, start with our guide to US savings bonds.

Every US Savings Bond Series at a Glance

14 series and note types make up the US savings bond program, and the table below lists each with its issue dates, price, final maturity, value and cashing route.

Face value is the amount printed on the bond; final maturity is when it stops earning for good. Series with the same terms share a row, so 14 types fit in 8 rows.

Sources: TreasuryDirect historical and retired bonds; 31 CFR parts 315, 316, 321, 332, 342, 351, 352, 359; checked November 11, 2026. "Bank" means a bank that chooses to cash savings bonds.

Names That Are Not Separate Series: War Bonds, Patriot Bonds and Others

War bonds, Patriot Bonds and Gulf Coast Recovery Bonds are names printed on bonds of an existing series, not series of their own. War bonds are Series E, sold as the Defense Savings Bond in 1941 and the War Savings Bond from 1942 to 1945.

Patriot Bonds are paper Series EE with a "Patriot Bond" inscription, issued December 2001 to December 2011. Gulf Coast Recovery Bonds are paper Series I issued March 29, 2006 to September 30, 2007, on Series I terms.

A war bond or Patriot Bond is worth exactly what a plain E or EE bond of the same issue month and face is worth.

The table below sorts 9 names in 7 rows, found on old bonds, albums and certificates: the 3 designations above and 6 other savings bonds and stamps outside the lettered series.

Which Savings Bond Series Still Earn Interest

Of the 14 series and note types, only two still earn interest in November 2026: Series EE bonds less than 30 years old and every Series I bond.

Series A to K and all Savings Notes stopped earning long ago, the last H bonds in December 2009 (31 CFR 332.8). The last Series E bonds stopped in June 2010 (31 CFR 316.8(b)), and every HH bond stopped in August 2024.

EE bonds issued January 1980 to November 1996 have stopped, and December 1996 issues stop on December 1, 2026 (31 CFR 351.5). The first I bonds, issued September 1998, reach final maturity in September 2028 (31 CFR 359.5).

Outside the lettered series, Retirement Plan Bonds and Individual Retirement Bonds follow rules tied to the owner's age or death, and some may still earn (TreasuryDirect). Each series' stop dates are set out under when savings bonds stop earning interest.

How to Tell Which Type of Savings Bond You Have

Read the series letter in the upper right corner of a paper bond, then check the issue date below it, which shows which series the bond can be.

The issue date is the first day of the month the bond was paid for, and it sets the value. Six date windows identify the series of a paper bond.

1. March 1935 to April 1941: Series A, B, C or D.
2. 1941 to April 1952: Series E (from May 1941), F or G.
3. May 1952 to April 1957: Series E, H (from June 1952), J or K.
4. May 1957 to December 1979: Series E or H; Savings Notes May 1967 to October 1970.
5. January to June 1980: Series EE, HH or a payroll-plan Series E.
6. July 1980 to 2024: Series EE (paper to 2011), HH (to August 2004) or I (from September 1998).

A "1955 EE bond" does not exist: Series EE began in January 1980, so a bond dated 1941 to 1980 marked E is Series E. The print date, the day the bond was inscribed, never prices it (31 CFR 316.2(d)).

Telling the two dates apart is the first step in how to read a paper savings bond.

Discount Bonds and Current-Income Bonds: How Each Series Paid Interest

Savings bonds come in two types by how they pay interest: discount (accrual) bonds and current-income bonds. Discount bonds sold below face and added interest to their value. Current-income bonds sold at face and paid interest every 6 months.

The discount series are A to D, E, F, J, Savings Notes and paper EE. Series I bonds sold at face but also add interest to their value.

The current-income series are G and K, paid by Treasury check; H, paid by check and later direct deposit; and HH, paid by direct deposit for issues from October 1, 1989 and by check or direct deposit before that (31 CFR 352.2(f)).

That difference decides what each bond pays today. A discount bond is worth its price plus all interest earned up to final maturity.

A current-income bond already paid its interest, so it pays face value; G and K add one final payment. A $100 Series E bond issued May 1941 cost $75 and is frozen at $362.36, while a $500 Series H bond pays $500.

What Each Type of Savings Bond Is Worth Today

What a savings bond is worth today depends on its series: Series E and Savings Notes have frozen values, EE and I bonds still grow, and the other series pay face value. A frozen value stopped changing at final maturity.

A $100 paper Series EE bond is worth $54.76 to $334.80 in November 2026, across all 384 issue months from January 1980 to December 2011. The low end is a December 2011 issue, which still earns; the high end is any issue from May to October 1980, which stopped earning between May and October 2010.

A $100 Series E bond is frozen at $362.36 (May 1941 issues) to $936.44 (December 1964 and January 1965 issues).

These values come from the Fiscal Service Savings Bonds Value Files and can change only on the 1st of a month; an earning bond rises or holds. To price one bond, use our savings bond calculator, built on Treasury's published value files.

Series A to D, F and J pay face value (31 CFR 315.35(b)), and so do Series H and HH. Series G pays face plus $1.25 per $100, and K pays face plus $6.90 per $500 (31 CFR 315.35(d)).

An HH tax-deferral legend shows earlier E or EE interest rolled into the bond; it is part of face, not extra. Series I and Savings Note values are not quoted here.

Where Each Savings Bond Series Can Be Cashed: Bank or Mail

Banks may cash Series E, EE, I and Savings Notes, but Series F, G, H, J, K and HH are cashed only by Treasury, by mail.

The rule is 31 CFR 321.7(a), which lists the series a paying bank (one Treasury allows to cash bonds) may pay. It also names Series A to D, yet TreasuryDirect gives mail as their route, so do not count on a bank for them.

A bank may cash paper bonds but is not required to, and serving non-customers is optional (FS Publication 0022, Rev. October 2022). Policies from each bank's own page, with the date checked, are collected under what banks cash savings bonds. The two routes by series are listed below.

• Paying banks may cash: Series E, EE, I and Savings Notes (A to D: TreasuryDirect gives mail).
• Treasury by mail only: Series F, G, H, J, K and HH.

HH bonds go to Treasury only and are paid by direct deposit. No paper bond is cashed in part, and no paper bond is cashed online; online cashing is only for electronic bonds.

Mail any series with FS Form 1522 (Rev. April 2026) to Treasury Retail Securities Services, the Treasury office for paper bonds: P.O. Box 9150, Minneapolis, MN 55480-9150.

Sign before a notary or certifying officer only when the bonds total more than $1,000; otherwise enclose a copy of a driver's license, passport, state ID or military ID. Treasury pays by direct deposit and charges no fee. The mail route with FS Form 1522 works for every series above.

Series EE and Series I Savings Bonds Compared for Owners

Series EE and Series I are the two savings bond series still sold and still earning, and they differ in price, rate and guarantee. Paper EE bonds cost half of face and earn a rate set by their issue period. I bonds cost face and combine a fixed rate with a semiannual inflation rate.

Sources: 31 CFR parts 351 and 359; 76 FR 66855; as of November 2026.

Both series earn for 30 years. Cashing within 5 years costs the last 3 months of interest, for every I bond and for EE bonds issued May 1997 or later (31 CFR 351.31, 359.7). Treasury's published values already include that loss.

History of US Savings Bonds From 1935 to Today

US savings bonds began with Series A on March 1, 1935, under a law signed February 4, 1935, and the program has issued 14 types of bonds and notes since. The 12 dates below trace each new type and the end of paper sales.

1. February 4, 1935: law authorizes savings bonds (49 Stat. 21; today 31 U.S.C. 3105).
2. March 1, 1935: Series A, the first "baby bonds".
3. May 1941: Series E (Defense Savings Bond, from May 1, 1941), F and G.
4. 1942 to 1945: Series E sold as the War Savings Bond.
5. May 1952: J and K replace F and G; June 1952: Series H.
6. May 1, 1967 to October 31, 1970: Savings Notes, sold only with an E bond.
7. January 1980: EE and HH replace E and H (E payroll sales end June 30, 1980).
8. September 1, 1998: Series I.
9. December 2001: Patriot Bond inscription on paper EE.
10. 2002: electronic EE and I in TreasuryDirect.
11. August 31, 2004: HH offering ends.
12. January 1, 2012: paper over-the-counter sales end (76 FR 66855); paper I through tax refunds ends January 1, 2025.

Since 2002, Series EE and I have also existed as electronic savings bonds in TreasuryDirect accounts, and every new I bond has been electronic since January 1, 2025. A paper bond from any period keeps the terms of its own series and issue date.

How Many Bonds of Each Series Were Issued and Remain Uncashed

Series E is the largest paper series ever issued, with 4,599,418,701 bonds, and 19,751,346 of them had not been cashed on September 30, 2026. The table gives both counts for each series.

All series: 103,064,737 matured bonds not cashed. Series I: none matured yet. Source: Fiscal Data, savings bonds issues, redemptions and maturities by series, September 30, 2026.

In total, 103,064,737 matured bonds of all series were uncashed on September 30, 2026. Fiscal Data publishes a piece count, not a dollar total. Savings bonds never expire, so none of these unclaimed savings bonds faces a cashing deadline.

What to Do With an Old Savings Bond of Any Series

4 next steps apply to an old bond of any series: cash it, claim it after a death, find it if missing, or replace it if lost. Each starts with the free route through a bank or Treasury.

1. Cash it at a bank that chooses to, or by mail: how to cash savings bonds.
2. Claim a deceased relative's bonds under the rules for savings bonds after death.
3. Trace missing bonds now that Treasury Hunt, Treasury's former search tool, closed September 30, 2025: find lost or missing savings bonds.
4. Replace a lost, stolen or destroyed bond with FS Form 1048 (Rev. March 2026), a free Treasury form.

Savings Bond Series Questions

How many types of savings bonds are there?

There are 14 types: 13 lettered series (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, EE, HH and I) plus Savings Notes. Only Series EE and I are sold today, as electronic bonds.

What is the difference between Series E and Series EE bonds?

Series E bonds were issued May 1941 to June 1980 at 75% of face and stopped earning by June 2010. Series EE paper bonds were issued January 1980 to December 2011 at half of face and earn for 30 years.

Can you still buy paper savings bonds?

No: over-the-counter sales of paper savings bonds ended January 1, 2012 (76 FR 66855, October 28, 2011). Paper I bonds bought with tax refunds ended January 1, 2025. New EE and I bonds are electronic only.

Do savings bonds of any series expire?

No: savings bonds never expire, and there is no deadline to cash them (Executive Order 13968 of December 18, 2020, 85 FR 83745). A bond at final maturity simply stops earning, so a 1941 Series E bond still pays its frozen value.

Are any savings bond series tax-free?

Yes: interest on Series A, B and C, and on Series D issued through February 1941, is free of federal income tax. Other series are federally taxable but exempt from state and local income tax (31 U.S.C. 3124(a)), not from estate, gift or inheritance taxes. The rules are set out under taxes on savings bond interest; a tax professional can apply them.

Do banks cash Series I bonds?

Yes, a bank may cash paper Series I bonds under 31 CFR 321.7(a), but it is not required to. Any paper I bond can also be cashed by mail with FS Form 1522.

How long do Patriot Bonds take to mature?

Patriot Bonds earn interest for 30 years, reaching final maturity between December 2031 and December 2041. Original maturity, when a paper EE bond is worth at least face, is 17 years for issues through May 2003 and 20 years from June 2003 (31 CFR 351.29, 351.34).

Can I buy old savings bonds from a collector?

No: savings bonds are not transferable. TreasuryDirect warns: "Do not buy savings bonds from someone else or in an online auction site. You cannot cash them." Treasury pays only the registered owner or another person entitled (31 CFR 315.39(b), 353.39(b), 360.39(b)), so a bought bond pays the buyer nothing, a risk shared with other savings bond scams.

What interest rate does my savings bond earn?

The rate depends on the series and issue date: Series A to K, HH and all Savings Notes earn nothing now. EE bonds under 30 years follow their issue period's rules, one of 4 rate regimes. I bonds combine a fixed rate with an inflation rate announced each May 1 and November 1. Because each bond follows its issue-date rules, savings bond interest rates by issue date differ from new-bond rates.

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