Five-dollar back plate 637 spent most of its life as a master plate that directly and indirectly fathered all small-size twelve-subject $5 back plates made between 1935 and 1951. It was the most important plate of its era. The design it carried was rendered obsolete in 1951 when back plates with new designs began to be made. Originally, back 637 had been used to impart a previous design change to $5 backs.

By 1928, sheet spoilage had become a serious problem for plate printers because of tight margins on finished sheets created by the narrow vertical separations between each subject on printing plates. The BEP resolved this in 1934 by increasing the vertical separations between subjects, on what were called new-gauge plates. This change required the production of new master plates and commenced with the production of a new-gauge $1 steel master face in July.

The change for $5 backs came on October 26, 1935, when the BEP started $5 new-gauge steel master back plate 630. Each subject impressed on 630 was spaced slightly farther apart in the vertical direction to create wider margins on the printed sheets. Back plate 637 was begun a few months later on January 24, 1935. It was immediately pressed into service as the new $5 master plate and would remain so for the next eight years. At this time serial number 637 was not etched into any subjects on the plate.

Backplate 637 was retired as a master plate in 1943 and saved as an economic measure. The following year it was salvaged and certified as a production plate on November 10, 1944. Plate serial number 637 was etched into each subject in micro-size numerals similar to those used on plates finished prior to January 1938. The plate met its demise five years later when it was canceled on June 14, 1949, fourteen years after it was made.