Wacky, Weird & Wonderful Obsolete Banknote Denominations

hi I'm Dan and welcome to Polar currency and video number eight this video continues looking at obsolete currency issued prior to the U.S Civil War specifically what we consider today is unusual denominations the obsolete banknote era was kind of a no limitations time period for paper currency with the constant shortage of precious metals and U.S coinage a way had to be found to fill the Gap only so many Bill Shields of corn can be Bartered for a pig or rendered services as untrustworthy as paper currency was it did serve a purpose for Commerce the wonderful thing about obsolete banknotes is they have a distinctive Beauty and elegance that stand alone along with some very peculiar denominations it still surprises me today that many people don't know that the US government still produces and issues a two dollar bill there were at least 115 million series 2017 a two dollar Federal Reserve notes printed in 2019 by the Bureau of Engraving and printing and the very first federally issued two dollar note is worth a closer look the 1862 two dollar United States note the first two dollar legal tender note issued by the federal government the design reveals something that has been in plain sight for over a century and a half and what we consider today as an odd denomination there's a one a two and a three what's that for what was the treasury Department thinking about it's also on the one dollar legal tender note it's obvious that the U.S treasury Department had plans to issue a three dollar bill or why print the one two three circles on both the two and one dollar bills but it never happened so what would a series 1862 legal tender three dollar bill look like well I'm gonna give John Adams a little love here certainly not really for his term as president just look up the Alien and Sedition Acts and you'll know why but as a Founding Father John Adams was a signer of the Declaration of Independence a member of the Continental Congress a key Diplomat during the Revolutionary War with France and England and considered the father of the U.S Navy so I put him on my fictional three dollar note because the man deserves recognition there were three dollar advertising notes that were worth money kind of some private companies released currency that could only be used at let's say their store a business would have advertisements printed that looked very close to U.S banknotes these advertising notes were common across all of the United States this is an example of a three dollar note that looks kind of like the one in two dollar legal tender notes of 1862. yes it's a bit crudely drawn but it is effective especially for the time the business would have taxed or stamps printed on them promoting whatever they wanted to promote these are categorized as advertising script notes a subgroup of obsolete banknotes during the obsolete banknote era the three dollar denomination was as normal as the one two and five dollar nodes all engraving companies offered a three dollar note design there was a myriad of three dollar options even in Minnesota which didn't have a single operating Bank in 1849 when it became a U.S territory but over the next decade preceding statehood numerous local banks issued notes like drunken Sailors no offense to Sailors of course it's just an expression my three dollar obsolete is the 1856 Merchant and Planters Bank of Savannah Georgia the lower right portrait is of Henry Clay a politician from Kentucky Speaker of the House Senator the ninth Secretary of State serving John Quincy Adams and three-time presidential candidate loser he also appeared on the series 1869 legal tender rainbow note but was replaced by Benjamin Franklin in 1874. this note does not carry a date but most likely it was issued between 1857 and 1859 the center vignette depicts the 267-foot long side wheel steamer originally named Louisiana when launched in 1851 but it was immediately sold to become a U.S mail steamer and renamed the Illinois ironically being on a banknote from Georgia the ship was chartered by the union during the Civil War you know I love my irony it's a uniface note printed by bald coaster and Company of Philadelphia an engraving company only in operation from 1855 to 1858 and later reformed under multiple names the story of the merchants and planners bank of Savannah Georgia is typical of banks that open the decade preceding the Civil War the bank was charted in 1854 by the state of Georgia and opened for business on February 7 1856 at a temporary location the bank constructed its own building on East Byron Street across the street from what is now Johnson Square by 1860. needless to say the Civil War was devastating for the bank and it ceased formal operations when Sherman marched into Savannah in 1864. the last meeting of stockholders appears to have been on July 18 1866. the president of the merchants and Planters Bank Hiram Roberts was instructed at that meeting to close the bank and finalize its affairs so the three dollar note denomination wasn't so odd after all but what about a four dollar bill jumping north of the border and ahead in time 100 years the Dominion of Canada actually issued a four dollar banknote from 1882 to 1912. and coming back south the Bank of Washington and North Carolina issued a beautiful four dollar obsolete note with George and Martha Washington on it this beautiful note with a pop of orange man it's just awesome thanks to Silver Surfer for providing footage and providing a really great video about this note make sure to check out the link to his video Below in the description note that the center vignette uses the same figures as my one dollar Minnesota obsolete note that I showed in the previous video number seven obsolete Beauty change out the center portrait with the Union shield and turn the oak tree into a Native American man above the mother and child tell me that's not a little strange but you know what the engraving companies that were making all these obsolete banknotes they would let the banks choose what they wanted to do and they would swap out various vignettes so each banknote would be just a little bit different than say a competitor in 1861 Missouri tried to one-up every four dollar bill with a 4.50 banknote the most unique denomination that I found many obsolete banknotes were uniface but some banks would choose to spend extra money and get the reverse printed such as the Commercial Bank of Wilmington North Carolina and there were quite a few banks that issued the four dollar denomination though not nearly as common as the three the five dollar note well it's been a standard since currency went on paper but what about a six a seven eight or nine dollar bills well if you wanted them you could get them the bank of Cape Fear by the way coolest Bank name ever was the first privately Chartered Bank in Wilmington North Carolina in 1804. shortest sidebar ever Wilmington was a great place to visit and by the way the USS North Carolina is well worth the Stop and I'm sure the ship wasn't run by a bunch of drunken sailors all right into that very quick sidebar back to the bank of Cape Fear they certainly enjoyed providing its customers with currency options adding to their three four and five dollar denominations with six through nine dollar bills oddly enough according to obsolete currency360.com they did offer a one dollar bill but a two was never issued weird the bank of Cape Fear wasn't alone with unique varieties throughout this period both North and South certainly more in the South issued some interesting six seven eight and nine dollar obsolete banknotes produced by a number of engraving companies the odd obsolete values didn't stop at nine dollars moving past 10 another traditional denomination one engraving among a few just kept on going with 11. 12 13 14 and even fifteen dollar banknotes rod and write and hatch and sometimes Edson of New York gave their customers the opportunity to go denomination crazy it seems they offered anything you wanted rod and Wright and hatch also seemed to have quite the fixation with the sea they produced some very um let's say exotic Marine flavored vignettes the 11 and 13 features the Greek god Poseidon riding a shell with presumably his wife am fertitty if it is her I have no idea why she's holding a caduceus that represents medicine she was the queen of the Seas and frankly I have no clue which isn't unusual about what's going on with the bizarre vignette used on a different 11 12 and 14 notes I guess it could be ampatriity again goddess of the sea with more sea monsters and another goddess hanging out there in the background again holding a caduceus I don't understand the connection somebody over at rod and Wright and hatch really had a thing for the high seas in Greek mythology because damn moving on 11 through 15 banknotes certainly weren't the mainstream but as you can see they were made available to issue into circulation by numerous Banks just like federally issued currency there were higher denomination obsolete banknotes available 20 50 and 100 banknotes were produced an issue that makes sense I did notice that these bills were more ornate in design and most had color mostly likely for counterfeit prevention with the higher denominations and again just like the post 1862 federally issued paper currency large denominations were offered a 500. a thousand five thousand and I was even able to find one ten thousand dollar proof in my opinion these higher denomination notes are some of the most beautiful obsolete banknotes produced in 1859 there was a new banknote engraving company on the scene the national banknote company was formed with the merger of seven companies in an act of resistance to the growing Monopoly of the American banknote company in the engraving and printing industry the company experienced Fierce competition with them for almost two decades before consolidating with continental and American banknote companies in 1879. the Taunton Bank of Tauton Massachusetts became a customer and issued a 500 note in 1860 essentially the same note was produced by the national banknote company two years later for the U.S treasury Department which was the first hundred dollar banknote issued by the federal government this was the series 1862 100 legal tender note of course obsolete notes couldn't just stick with the standard large denominations they just had to be different and they offered two hundred and three hundred dollar notes now these denominations were few and far between and the municipality of New Orleans went with an entirely different size but they did print the reverse with color The Chemical Bank of New York stuck with the standard size and its basic design for this 300 proof so the currency denominations we have today have always been standard but you certainly had a lot more options back in the obsolete banknote era just like the designs some of the denominations are curious last minute sidebar here the question of whether a banknote is an obsolete or a foreign currency issue such as the Republic of Texas and the Confederate States of America the Confederacy was never recognized formally By Any Nation yet the U.S Belgium France and the Netherlands recognize the Republic of Texas are Confederate banknotes just obsoletes issued in a region and Rebellion what would you call this banknote the 50 Virginia treasury note issued on August 13 1861 almost four months after Virginia seceded from the Union is this note Confederate or an obsolete or both side note to the sidebar I know you guys love these so bear with me interesting that this banknote Bears the portrait of the 10th President of the United States John Tyler Tyler was the first vice president to become president resulting in the death of the ninth President William Henry Harrison the first president to die in office and can I say president any more in one sentence Tyler a native of Virginia was elected and seated in the Confederate Congress on August 1st 1861 and he served until just before his death in 1862. his death was not recognized by the federal government in Washington D.C however Confederate President Jefferson Davis seeing a political opportunity to rub the U.S federal government's nose in it basically had a state funeral for him [Music] Tyler's coffin was draped and buried with the Confederate flag making him the only U.S president ever laid to rest under a flag not of the United States all right end of side note and sidebar you can see how fascinating obsolete banknotes reflect and intertwine with our nation's history I don't know what direction I'm going to take with collecting obsoletes on one hand they seem a bit overwhelming to me but on the other it seems they meet my collecting criteria of being achievable meaningful and they certainly tell a story and they are affordable at first glance on eBay for example there are almost 4 000 listings for obsolete banknotes between fifty and a hundred dollars one last thing that I noticed about obsolete banknotes Alexander Hamilton is nowhere to be seen he's all over federally issued banknotes from the first issue until today I think that's kind of strange even in the North I'll leave you with that thought to end video number eight and if you know anything please leave a comment let me know I hope you enjoyed it maybe learned a thing or two I know I certainly have hit the Thumbs Up Button if you like what you see and I'll see you in two weeks with video number nine the face of U.S currency I sincerely appreciate your time and thanks for checking in

Channel: Polar Currency

Views: 1,272

Keywords: Currency, Money, Collecting, Numismatic, Numismatist, History, Dollar, Dollars, Banks, Banknote, Banknotes, Hobby, Coin, Gold, Silver, Unites States, Bureau of Engraving & Printing, U.S.Treasury, Paper Currency, Legal Tender Note, United States Note, Federal Reserve Note, Federal Reserve Bank Note, Currency Collecting, Obsolete, Obsolete Banknote, Obsolete Bank Note, Civil War, U.S. Civil War, paper money, $3, $4, $6, $7, $8, $9, $11, $12, $13, $14, $15, President John Tyler, Confederacy, Republic of Texas

Id: nsGMkCW4_NE

Length: 16min 10sec (970 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 07 2023