<P> As of December 2013, the average life of a $10 bill is 4.5 years, or about 54 months, before it is replaced due to wear . Ten - dollar bills are delivered by Federal Reserve Banks in yellow straps . </P> <P> The source of the portrait on the $10 bill is John Trumbull's 1805 painting of Hamilton that belongs to the portrait collection of New York City Hall . The $10 bill is unique in that it is the only denomination in circulation in which the portrait faces to the left . It also features one of two non-presidents on currently issued U.S. bills, the other being Benjamin Franklin on the $100 bill . Hamilton is one of only four people featured on U.S. paper currency (1861 to the present) who were not born in the continental United States or British America; he was from the West Indies . The others were Albert Gallatin, Switzerland ($500 1862 / 63 Legal Tender); George Meade, Spain ($1,000 1890 / 91 Treasury Note); and Robert Morris, England ($1,000 1862 / 63 Legal Tender; $10 1878 / 80 Silver Certificate). </P> <P> In 2015, the Treasury Secretary announced that the obverse portrait of Hamilton would be replaced by the portrait of an as yet undecided woman, starting in 2020 . However, due to the surging popularity of Hamilton, a hit Broadway musical based on Hamilton's life, in 2016 this decision was reversed and Hamilton will remain on the $10 bill, and instead a woman will appear on the $20 bill . </P> <P> (approximately 7.4218 × 3.125 in ≅ 189 × 79 mm) </P>

Who's face is on the 10 000 dollar bill