Endorsed Notes


Endorsed notes were a means by bankers to achieve a circulation by avoiding local laws prohibiting the issue of bank notes. Minnesota was one state where the issue of notes was prohibited before statehood. Yet there were several bankers in the St. Paul area who wanted to increase the local money supply. They purchased the notes of defunct of non-existent banks for about the cost of printing them. The local bankers added their endorsement -- often a pen notation on the face or back -- and issued the notes as money. Often the notations indicated they would be redeemed at "current rates," which was left to the determination of the banker that issued them.

Image: 
Specializations: 
Obsolete Notes