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Series E U.S. Savings Bonds were marketed by the United States government as war bonds from 1941 to 1980. Those issued from 1941 to November 1965 accrued interest for 40 years; those issued from December 1965 to June 1980, for 30 years. They were generally issued at 75 cents per dollar face value, maturing at par in a specified number of years that fluctuated with the rate of interest. Denominations available were $25, $50, $75, $100, $200, $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000. Series E bonds were issued only in registered, physical form and are not transferable. The guaranteed minimum investment yield for the bonds was 4 percent, compounded semiannually.
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The U.S. Savings Bond programs
The first modern U.S. Savings Bonds were issued in 1935, to replace United States Postal Service Bonds. They were marketed as a safe investment that was accessible to everyone. The first bonds, series A, were followed by series B, C, D, E, EE, F, G, H, HH, and I.
Financing World War II
In December 1941, the US declared war on Japan and Germany declared war on the US shortly thereafter. This was the starting point for a large scale – and thus expensive — defense program. The problem of the financing of World War II was greater than that of World War I, as the struggle lasted longer and the amounts involved were larger.
The budgetary expenses for the years 1941–1945 amounted to some $317 billion, of which $281 billion was directly related to the war effort; expenditures climbed from $9.6 billion in fiscal 1940 to nearly $100 billion in 1945. Of these outlays some 45 percent was covered by taxes and other non-borrowing sources. The deficit had to be covered by selling bonds. The Treasury sold $185.7 billion of securities (over $2.1 trillion in 2016) to finance the war. The public debt rose from $50 billion in 1940 to $260 billion in 1945.
War bonds
The first Series E bond was sold to President Franklin D. Roosevelt by Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau on May 1, 1941. These were marketed first as "defense bonds", then later as "war bonds".
During World War II the "drive" technique used during World War I was replaced in part by a continual campaign using a payroll deduction plan. However, eight different drives were conducted during the campaign. In total, the overall campaign raised $185.7 billion from 85 million Americans, more than in any other country during the war. Li'l Abner creator Al Capp created Small Fry, a weekly newspaper comic strip whose purpose was to sell Series E bonds in support of the Treasury.
Of the $185.7 billion raised during the continual campaign, a total of $156.4 billion was raised during the eight specific drives, despite an average duration of only one month each, as follows:
After the war
Although Series E bonds are usually associated with the war bond drives of World War II, they continued to be sold until June 1980, thereafter being replaced by Series EE bonds. A version of Series EE bonds, known as the Patriot Bond, is a sort of post-September 11 war bond, but has never enjoyed the broad subscription of the Series E war bond. These bonds are no longer available as of 2012.
In October 2008, several news reports claimed there were several billion dollars in unclaimed bonds. The US treasury set up a web site called "Treasury Hunt." The system provides information only on Series E bonds issued in 1974 and after.