official journal of Lexington & Concord the battle that started it all LEGENDARY COLLECTIONS | LEGENDARY RESULTS | A LEGENDARY AUCTION FIRM Uncut Sheet of (16) CC-23 to CC-30. Continental Currency. February 17, 1776. $1 to $8. PMG Choice About Uncirculated 58. From the Richard August Collection. Fr. 313. 1886 $20 Silver Certificate. PMG About Uncirculated 55. Low Serial Number. From the Shores Collection Part I. Fr. 345d. 1880 $500 Silver Certificate. PMG Choice Fine 15. From the Shores Collection Part I. Los Angeles, California. $20 1875. Fr. 434. First NB. Charter #2491. PMG Very Fine 20. From the Eric Agnew Collection. Newman, California. $5 1902 Date Back. Fr. 593. First NB. Charter #9760. PMG Choice Extremely Fine 45. From the Eric Agnew Collection. SBG PM Spring2025 HL 250301 Official Auction of the Whitman Expos America’s Oldest and Most Accomplished Rare Coin Auctioneer 1550 Scenic Ave., Ste. 150, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 • 949.253.0916 • Info@StacksBowers.com 470 Park Ave., New York, NY 10022 • 212.582.2580 • NYC@stacksbowers.com Visit Us Online at StacksBowers.com California • New York • Boston • Philadelphia • New Hampshire • Oklahoma Sacramento • Virginia • Hong Kong • Copenhagen • Paris • Vancouver For More Information 800.458.4646 (CA) • 800.566.2580 (NY) Info@StacksBowers.com StacksBowers.com Highlights from the Spring 2025 Showcase Auction March 31-April 4, 2025 • Costa Mesa, CA Fr. 1217. 1922 $500 Gold Certificate. PMG About Uncirculated 50. Fr. 42. 1869 $2 Legal Tender Note. PCGS Banknote Gem Uncirculated 66 PPQ. From the Shores Collection Part I. Fr. 168. 1869 $100 Legal Tender Note. PMG Choice Extremely Fine 45. From the Shores Collection Part I. Fr. 284. 1878 $10 Silver Certificate. PMG Very Fine 30. From the Shores Collection Part I. 71 Issued in Defence of American Liberty--Steve Feller 76 Ormby's Unit System--Peter Huntoon 84 When Babe Ruth Lost a $1000 Bill--Lee Lofthus 86 No Cash Taken--Al Bailey 90 Santo Domingo Notes--Roberto Menchaca 94 Final Note from the Pelham National Bank--Raiden Honaker & Lee Lofthus 98 Bank of Niagara of Buffalo--Bernhard Wilde SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 65 104 Alfred Quimby Mart Scrip--Rick Melamed 105 Sad State of Port Antofagasta--Roland Rollins 125 SPMC Activities at F.U.N. 2025 Columns Advertisers SPMC Hall of Fame The SPMC Hall of Fame recognizes and honors those individuals who have made a lasting contribution to the society over the span of many years.  Charles Affleck Walter Allan Mark Anderson Doug Ball Hank Bieciuk Joseph Boling F.C.C. Boyd Michael Crabb Forrest Daniel Martin Delger William Donlon Roger Durand C. John Ferreri Milt Friedberg Robert Friedberg Len Glazer Nathan Gold Nathan Goldstein Albert Grinnell James Haxby John Herzog Gene Hessler John Hickman William Higgins Ruth Hill Peter Huntoon Brent Hughes Glenn Jackson Don Kelly Lyn Knight Chet Krause Robert Medlar Allen Mincho Clifford Mishler Barbara Mueller Judith Murphy Dean Oakes Chuck O'Donnell Roy Pennell Albert Pick Fred Reed Matt Rothert John Rowe III From Your President Editor Sez New Members Uncoupled Cherry Picker Corner Postal Notes Chump Change Quartermaster Small Notes 67 68 69 106 112 114 117 120 Robert Vandevender Benny Bolin Frank Clark Joe Boling & Fred Schwan Robert Calderman Bob Laub Loren Gatch Michael McNeil Jamie Yakes 123 Stacks Bowers Galleries IFC Pierre Fricke 65 Executive Currency 83 Higgins Museum 89 PCGS-C 110 Lyn Knight 111 Bob Laub 114 Greysheet 119 FCCB 119 Bill Litt 124 G. Anderson 124 PCDA IBC Heritage Auctions OBC Fred Schwan Neil Shafer Herb& Martha Schingoethe Austin Sheheen, Jr. Hugh Shull Glenn Smedley Raphael Thian Daniel Valentine Louis Van Belkum George Wait John & Nancy Wilson D.C. Wismer SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 66 Officers & Appointees ELECTED OFFICERS PRESIDENT Robert Vandevender II rvpaperman@aol.com VICE-PRES/SEC'Y Robert Calderman gacoins@earthlink.net TREASURER Robert Moon robertmoon@aol.com BOARD OF GOVERNORS APPOINTEES PUBLISHER-EDITOR smcbb@sbcglobal.net ADVERTISING MANAGER Benny Bolin smcbb@sbcglobal.net Megan Reginnitter mreginnitter@iowafirm.com LIBRARIAN Jeff Brueggeman MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR Frank Clark frank_clark@yahoo.com IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Shawn Hewitt WISMER BOOk PROJECT COORDINATOR Pierre Fricke From Your President Robert Vandevender IIFrom Your President Shawn Hewitt Paper Money * July/August 2020 6 jeff@actioncurrency.com LEGAL COUNSEL Robert Calderman gacoins@earthlink.com Matt Drais stockpicker12@aol.com Mark Drengson markd@step1software.com Loren Gatch lgatch@uco.edu Shawn Hewitt Shawn@north-trek.com Derek Higgins derekhiggins219@gmail.com Raiden Honaker raidenhonaker8@gmail.com William Litt billitt@aol.com Cody Regennitter rman andrew.timmerman@aol.com cody.regenitter@gmail.com Andrew Timme Wendell Wolka purduenut@aol.com In my last column, I mentioned that our SPMC website requires a significant upgrade due to some specific software we use becoming obsolete. We reached out to our membership for help with the significant financial need to make the improvement and had a fantastic response. I have great news. Thanks to the generous contributions from several of our members, we have met the financial goal for this project and now have the resources to perform the upgrade to keep our website running smoothly and securely. I really appreciate the way so many people pitched in to accomplish this effort. We have initiated the work with our website designer and the fix is in progress. In January, several of us attended the 70th annual Florida United Numismatists (FUN) show at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. We had a good turnout of our members with plenty of help to staff our SPMC table at the show. We also participated in the youth treasure trivia hunt where we had over one hundred young kids stop by the table to answer our question and receive a prize. This year, we asked them how many Federal Reserve Banks there are and had a case displaying a location map, along with a very nice district set of $1 notes loaned to us by our Vice President Calderman. On Friday, at our annual membership meeting, SPMC Governor Derek Higgins entertained and educated us with a wonderful talk on plate numbers and mules. I learned a few new things on that topic during his presentation. On Saturday, we held our annual breakfast and raffle, including the presentation of many awards. Overall, the week went very smoothly, and we enjoyed seeing everyone. Our board voted to hold our 2026 breakfast and annual meeting at next year’s FUN show in January. Looking forward, many of you will no doubt be attending the upcoming ANA National Money Show. Unfortunately, Nancy and I will not make it to that one due to the timing. We will be busy at the end of March closing out of our California apartment and moving back to our home in Florida. I am looking forward to taking some time off from work. On our way back to Florida, we are tentatively planning on a stop in Dallas to attend the 4th annual National Banknote Collectors Conference on April 7th. I have not yet been able to attend one of those events and am looking forward to this one if the travel schedule works out. And finally, to be a bit repetitive from my last column, I would like to remind our members that we would appreciate any new articles written for publication in our Paper Money magazine. Our Editor Benny would love to hear from you. Benny can also help with constructing the article if you would like the assistance. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 67 Terms and Conditions  The Society  of  Paper Money  Collectors  (SPMC)  P.O.   Box 7055,  Gainesville, GA    30504, publishes    PAPER    MONEY (USPS   00‐ 3162)  every  other  month  beginning  in  January.  Periodical  postage  is  paid  at  Hanover,  PA.  Postmaster  send  address  changes  to  Secretary  Robert  Calderman,  Box  7055, Gainesville,  GA  30504. ©Society  of  Paper Money  Collectors, Inc.  2020.  All  rights  reserved.  Reproduction  of  any  article  in whole  or  part  without written approval  is prohibited.  Individual copies of  this  issue of PAPER MONEY are available  from the secretary  for $8  postpaid. Send changes of address, inquiries concerning    non    ‐    delivery    and    requests    for    additional copies of this issue to  the secretary.  MANUSCRIPTS  Manuscripts     not     under      consideration      elsewhere and  publications  for  review should be sent  to  the editor. Accepted  manuscripts  will  be  published  as  soon  as  possible,  however  publication  in  a  specific  issue  cannot  be guaranteed. Opinions  expressed  by  authors  do  not necessarily  reflect those  of  the  SPMC.   Manuscripts should be  submitted  in WORD  format  via  email (smcbb@sbcglobal.net)  or  by  sending memory stick/disk  to  the  editor.  Scans  should  be  grayscale  or  color  JPEGs  at  300 dpi. Color  illustrations may be changed to grayscale at  the  discretion  of  the  editor.  Do  not  send  items  of  value.  Manuscripts are  submitted with copyright release of the author  to  the  editor  for  duplication  and  printing as needed.  ADVERTISING  All advertising on space available basis. Copy/correspondence  should be sent to editor.  All advertising is pay in advance.  Ads are on a “good faith”  basis.  Terms are “Until Forbid.”  Ads  are  Run  of  Press  (ROP)  unless  accepted  on  a  premium  contract basis. Limited premium space/rates available.  To keep rates to a minimum, all advertising must be prepaid  according to the schedule below.  In exceptional cases where  special  artwork  or  additional  production  is  required,  the  advertiser  will be notified  and  billed accordingly.  Rates  are  not commissionable; proofs are not  supplied.  SPMC  does not  endorse any company, dealer,  or  auction  house.  Advertising  Deadline: Subject to space availability, copy must be received  by  the  editor  no  later  than  the  first  day  of  the  month  preceding  the  cover date  of  the  issue  (i.e.  Feb.  1  for  the  March/April  issue). Camera‐ready art or electronic ads  in pdf  format are required.  ADVERTISING RATES  Editor Sez Benny Bolin Required file    submission format    is    composite    PDF v1.3  (Acrobat 4.0   compatible).   If   possible, submitted files should  conform to ISO 15930‐1: 2001 PDF/X‐1a file format standard.  Non‐  standard,  application,  or  native  file  formats  are  not  acceptable. Page  size: must  conform to specified publication  trim  size.  Page  bleed:  must  extend minimum  1/8”  beyond  trim for page head, foot, and front.  Safety margin:  type  and  other  non‐bleed  content must  clear  trim by minimum 1/2”.   Advertising c o p y   shall be restricted to paper currency, allied  numismatic material, publications,   and   related   accessories.    The SPMC  does  not  guarantee advertisements,  but  accepts  copy  in good faith,  reserving  the right  to  reject objectionable  or  inappropriate  material  or  edit      copy.  The          SPMC   assumes      no      financial       responsibility for  typographical  errors  in  ads  but  agrees  to  reprint  that portion of an ad  in  which a typographical error occurs.  Benny (aka goompa) Space  Full color covers  1 Time  $1500  3 Times  $2600  6 Times $4900 B&W covers  500  1400  2500 Full page color  500  1500  3000 Full page B&W  360  1000  1800 Half‐page B&W  180  500  900 Quarter‐page B&W  90  250  450 Eighth‐page B&W  45  125  225 6 months old—able to sit up, recognize and reach for things she wants and eating baby food! What is better than creamed spinach and pureed carrots? Yummy F.U.N. 2025 was just that!FUN! This was the first year I was able to go to FUN for more than a day or two and it was indeed a great time. Meeting and reminiscing with old friends was great and this time I was able to get back in the exhibiting saddle again. It was success as well--3rd place in single case class with my Spencer Clark Third Issue Fractional notes. AND--don't throw rocks or mud pies (chocolate pies okay) second place in U. S. Coins with my large cent exhibit. I have always had an affinity for large coppers and history so I melded the two together for an exhibit. Also specking of coins (what sacrilege) mint director Ventris Gibson was at the show signing autographs and products. Here she is signing my 2025 my 2025 uncirculated set. I have always enjoyed courtesy courtesy autographs, books signed by the author, etc., so a dark so just a side item to add to my collection. Normally, I buy very little at FUN due to my narrow collecting scope but I found a couple of manuscript fractionals and as I was walking past a dealer's table, I saw a stack of fractional and the top one had a hand-written lable "inverted surcharges." I looked at it and behold it was one I did not have which is remarkable as it is now the 42nd fractional invert in my collection. So, I would term F.U.N. as great FUN! The SPMC had a lot of great activities, including a great presentation at our general meeting by Derrick Higgins, a great dinner for carnivores (like me) to welcome out newest class of inductees into the SPMC Hall-of-Fame and our annual breakfast and Tom Bain raffle made even more enjoyable due to out emcee Wendell Wolka. Make plans now to join us at FUN '26, January 8-12, 2026. You will not be disappointed! So as we go into this 2026 year of uncertainty, I encourage each and every one of you to become involved in the hobby. Join your local coin (gasp) club, write me an article, exhibit, just become involved. OYour hobby needs you and it provides a therapeutic distraction for the ills that are bothering you and gives that always need relaxation. Till next time! Stay safe and love your family like never before. They may be gone in the blink of an eye--trust me, I know! SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 68 The Society of Paper Money Collectors was organized in 1961 and incorporated in 1964 as a non-profit organization under the laws of the District of Columbia. It is affiliated with the ANA. The Annual Meeting of the SPMC is held in June at the International Paper Money Show. Information about the SPMC, including the by-laws and activities can be found at our website-- www.spmc.org. The SPMC does not does not endorse any dealer, company or auction house. MEMBERSHIP—REGULAR and LIFE. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and of good moral character. Members of the ANA or other recognized numismatic societies are eligible for membership. Other applicants should be sponsored by an SPMC member or provide suitable references. MEMBERSHIP—JUNIOR. Applicants for Junior membership must be from 12 to 17 years of age and of good moral character. A parent or guardian must sign their application. Junior membership numbers will be preceded by the letter “j” which will be removed upon notification to the secretary that the member has reached 18 years of age. Junior members are not eligible to hold office or vote. DUES—Annual dues are $39. Dues for members in Canada and Mexico are $45. Dues for members in all other countries are $60. Life membership—payable in installments within one year is $800 for U.S.; $900 for Canada and Mexico and $1000 for all other countries. The Society no longer issues annual membership cards but paid up members may request one from the membership director with an SASE. Memberships for all members who joined the Society prior to January 2010 are on a calendar year basis with renewals due each December. Memberships for those who joined since January 2010 are on an annual basis beginning and ending the month joined. All renewals are due before the expiration date, which can be found on the label of Paper Money. Renewals may be done via the Society website www.spmc.org or by check/money order sent to the secretary. WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS! BY FRANK CLARK SPMC MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR NEW MEMBERS 01/05/2025 Dues Remittal Process Send dues directly to Robert Moon SPMC Treasurer 403 Gatewood Dr. Greenwood, SC 29646 Refer to your mailing label for when your dues are due. You may also pay your dues online at www.spmc.org. 15794 Daniel Zonker, Website 15795 Howard Korey, Website 15796 Raymond Mead, Website 15797 Ralph Dennis, Robert Calderman 15798 Gina Morningstar, Robert Calderman 15799 Bartosz Trzos, Robert Calderman 15800 Richard Byrns, Frank Clark 15801 Michael Berry, Frank Clark 15802 Kevin Sidney, Frank Clark 15803 Lynn Ourso, Frank Clark 15804 Joseph Venuti, Raiden Honaker 15805 Jacob McDonald, Cody Regennitter REINSTATEMENTS 15537 Robert Shanks, Robert Moon 15578 Walter Sanjuan, R. Calderman LIFE MEMBERSHIPS None NEW MEMBERS 2/05/2025 REINSTATEMENTS None LIFE MEMBERSHIPS None 15806 Ben High, Robert Calderman 15807 Thomas Kobialka, Frank Clark 15808 James T. Lemon, Frank Clark 15809 Dan Dillon, Robert Vandevender 15810 William Gragg, Rbt. Calderman 15811 Gene Pica, PMG 15812 Craig Glass, Coin World Podcast 15813 Armin Tadayyon, Website 15814 Enrique Perez, Robert Moon 15815 Brett Cason, Robert Calderman 15816 Eric Levine, Website 15817 Robert Herrick, Frank Clark 15818 Gabriel Carr, Robert Calderman 15819 Jesse Kraft, Mark Anderson 15820 James Garrett, PMF 15821 Jennifer Allocca, Website 15822 Cameron Kaszas, Facebook 15823 Felipe Garcia Flores, Website 15824 Steve Blanchard, Frank Clark 15825 Darryl Beck, Website SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 69 Welcome New SPMC Hall of Fame Members Albert Avery Grinnell Grinnell was born in Shelby, Orleans County, New York on 6/12/1865 and passed away on 4/18/1951. He began collecting coins at age 11 from the till at his father's general store. Author of United States Paper Money From a Collector's Viewpoint in 1937. He was a founder and the second president of the Detroit Coin Club. In 1941 the club honored him with a gold medal. The occasion was the 400th meeting of the club January 23, 1941. The first sale of the Grinnell collection was conducted by B. Max Mehl June 15, 1943. The 2214 lots realized $38,659.56. Eight additional sales were conducted by Barney Bluestone from 1944 through 1947. The 5898 lots brought $250,457. The seven catalogues of the Grinnell collection were reprinted and offered in a hardbound version in 1971. He was life member number 20 of the ANA. Robert Medlar Medlar was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1922 and passed away on 1/4/1991. Best known as a collector of Texas banknotes, he began collecting in 1950. He was the owner of the Glascock Supply Company, distributer of numismatic books and supplies. Medlar was a charter member of the Society of Paper Money Collectors and served as vice president 1971 to 1975 and as president 1975 to 1979. He was the top recruiter from 1977-1979 and wrote 14 articles for Paper Money. He served on the Assay Commission for 1969. He also served as chief assayer for the Old Timer Assay Commissioners Society. He was also a charter member of the Texas Numismatic Association, founding president of TCDA and PNG board member. He received the ANA Howland Wood Memorial Award in 1965, the ANA Medal of Merit in 1977, and the Heath Literary Award. He served on the ANA board of governors after 1983. He was the author of Texas Obsolete Notes and Scrip in 1968. John & Nancy Wilson John and Nancy are the epitome of an involved couple. They were married in Milwaukee Wisconsin on April 27, 1968. Collectors of paper money, Wisconsin tokens and medals, porcelain coins and medals, Civil War tokens and numismatic literature. They are seen at most large shows representing the hobby. They have both served as officers or governors of many different clubs. John was on the board of governors of SPMC from 1983- 1986. Nancy is the consummate exhibitor and has won many exhibit awards including the SPMC Best in Show award 3 times. John was elected to the ANA board and served as VP before being elected President, serving from 2001-2003. Nancy was elected to the ANA board in 1988. Both have won the Glen Smedley Memorial award, the Farran Zerbe award and the Award of Merit from the ANA. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 70 Issued in Defence of American Liberty by Steve Feller On April 19, 2025 the nation will celebrate the 250th or Semiquincentenial anniversary of the start of the American Revolution at Lexington and Concord. It is also called the Bisesquincentennial, the Sestercentennial or the Quarter Millennial. The well-known poem, Paul Revere’s Ride, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is about the prelude to the battle and the first stanza famously reads: LISTEN, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, “If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church tower as a signal light, — One, if by land, and two, if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm. At right is a visual representation of the ride is given in the painting The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Iowan Grant Wood (1931), Interestingly, according to the Paul Revere house, Paul Revere warned many houses before reaching John Hancock and Sam Adams in Lexington but was captured before he reached Concord. He was released and walked back to Lexington to see the end of the battle at Lexington Green, see below. His riding partner who had taken a different route to Lexington, William Dawes escaped the British and made it to Concord along with Dr. Samuel Prescott who met them between Lexington and Concord. On the next morning, April 19, 1775, the British wanted to breakup the minutemen and confiscate their guns. At Lexington Green (Figures 2 and 3) the first shotes were fired in a short fight. This left 8 Americans dead or mortally wounded and 10 more wounded; for the British one soldier was wounded. The British Army continued to Concord. There at the Old North Bridge (Figure 4) the Americans fired and didn’t yield but the British retreated after the volley at the bridge. This was the so-called “Shot Heard Round the World.” By the end of the day 300 British soldiers were killed as they went back to Boston and the eight-year revolt war was on. The battle at Concord was immortalized by Ralph Waldo Emmerson who wrote the stirring Concord Hymn. It was first sung at the completion of the battle monument at the Old North Bridge on July 4, 1837: By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood And fired the shot heard round the world. The foe long since in silence slept; Alike the conqueror silent sleeps; And Time the ruined bridge has swept Down the dark stream which seaward creeps. On this green bank, by this soft stream, We set today a votive stone; That memory may their deed redeem, When, like our sires, our sons are gone. Spirit, that made those heroes dare To die, and leave their children free, Bid Time and Nature gently spare The shaft we raise to them and thee. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 71 . While visiting daughter Ray’s family in Boston we took a little side trip to historic Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. They are located just outside the city. When we got to the Old North Bridge in Concord we could see construction taking place as the United States gets ready for the Semi quincentennial celebration. As a result of the ruckus caused by Lexington and Concord, the colonies united by forming an army under General George Washington and a Congress, initially in Philadelphia. These United Colonies issued paper money. Individual colonies were already issuing paper currency and then the United Colonies joined in and began issuing numerous paper currency notes. The first of the United Colonies notes, also called Continental Currency on the notes, came with the issue of May 10, 1775, see Figures 5a and 5b. This was a direct response to the battles of Lexington and Concord and its purpose was to supply the nascent army with provisions and pay for the soldiers. Figure 2: The “Lexington Minuteman” at Lexington Green (Steve Feller) Figure 3: Site of the grave of seven patriots killed in the opening shots of the American Revolution at Lexington Green (Steve Feller). Figure 4: The Old North Bridge in Concord, MA, the site of the “Shot Heard Round the World” (Steve Feller) SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 72 Recently, in one of Cedar Rapids’ numismatic establishments I picked up the rag shown in Figures 6a and 6b. This is a note printed for the Colony of Massachusetts Bay on plates engraved by Paul Revere, Eric Newman notes that 10,000 were printed for three due dates for this and 10,000 each for several other denominations, this particular note has the earliest date of August 18, 1778. A far superior relative of it from a Heritage auction is shown next in Figures 7a and 7b, it is a 24 shilling note. The notes clearly reflect the start of the Revolution with the back having a magnificent image of a soldier. Furthermore, the back carries the legend: Issued in Defence of American Liberty and Enfe petit placidam, fub Libertate, Quictem. This latter phrase, according to Newman, means By arms he seeks peace with freedom. Ultimately this led to a flood of “Continentals” until “not worth a Continental” became a famous phrase in American History. British counterferits helped too in the great depreciation of the values of the notes. Figure 5a: Face of a six dollar note of the first emission from the United Colonies with an issue date of May 10, 1775. 49000 were printed. (Heritage Auctions). Figure 5b: Back of a six dollar note of the United Colonies with an issue date of May 10, 1775 (Heritage Auctions). Figure 6a & 6b: Face and back of Colony of Massachusetts Bay 5-shilling paper currency of August 18, 1775 . SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 73 Certainly, these notes are evocative contemporary mementos of that first set of revolutionary battles at Lexington and Concord. Paul Revere engraved several other notes of the period as well, see Figure 8 for an image of him. For a fairly modest sum a bank note collector can secure an authentic example of one of his notes. Besides the historic role of horseback rider to spread the alarm to the patriots of Lexington and Concord and his expertise as a bank note and document engraver, Paul Revere was an excellent silversmith, see Figure 9. Such handmade silverware of the colonial American style are still hand-made and sometimes available at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, see Figure 10. Figures 7a & 7b: Front and Back of a 24-shilling note of August 18, 1775. (Heritage Auctions) Figure 8: Image of an elderly Paul Revere (The Paul Revere House, Boston, MA) Figure 9: Highly prized silver spoon circa 1790 of Paul Revere (Heritage Auctions). Figure 10: A handmade silver spoon from Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia that models the work of Paul Revere and other colonial silversmiths (Steve Feller). SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 74 Another set of issues from the United Colonies dated February 17, 1776 are the highly emblematic fractional notes printed in Philadelphia, see Figures 11a and 11b for images of a 2/3 dollar note. Based on designs by Benjamin Franklin they use some of his mottos. Also, the linked chain design of the thirteen colonies, soon to be states, has at its center: WE ARE ONE and AMERICAN CONGRESS. In 1925 the Philadelphia mint issued a commemorative half dollar to honor the sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) of the battles of Lexington and Concord. Figures 12a and 12b depict the obverse and reverse of this attractive coin. References  Eric P. Newman, The Early Paper Money of America, 2023 Edition (Greysheet Publishing: Virginia Beach, VA and Eric P. Newman Numismatic Society: St. Louis, MO) 2023. A recreation of the Old belfry is just off the green now.  https://www.paulreverehouse.org/the-real-story/  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Midnight_Ride_of_Paul_Revere_%28painting%29#/media/File:Midnight_Ride_of_Paul_Revere.j pg Figure 11a & b: Face and back of a 2/3 of a dollar continental currency note (Steve Feller). Figure 12a: Obverse of the 1925 Lexington/Concord commemorative half dollar. It features the “Concord Minuteman” statue by Daniel Chester French that is at the Old North Bridge. The statue was created for the battle’s centennial in 1875 (Steve Feller). Figure 12b: Reverse of the 1925 Lexington/Concord commemorative half dollar. It features the “Old Belfrey” in Lexington; this is where the alarm was sounded to bring the minutemen to Lexington Green (Steve Feller). SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 75 Ormsby’s Unit System & Series of 1896 Educational Silver Certificates Purpose To fully understand the designs on the faces of the Series of 1896 silver certificates, it is necessary to become acquainted with Waterman Ormsby. The purpose of this piece is to make that connection. Ormsby was a talented mid-1800s engraver and innovative mechanically-minded bank note company owner. He never held a position in the U.S. government nor was he alive when the Series of 1896 debuted, yet his concept for bank note designs found life in the faces of the Series of 1896 notes. Waterman Lily Ormsby The biographical information in this section and the section on the unit system that follows is from Bob McCabe’s seminal book on counterfeiting (McCabe, 2016. p. 124-141,192-196). Waterman Lily Ormsby Jr.—born September 9, 1809, died November 1, 1883—rose as a book illustration engraver for Carter, Andrews & Co. in Lancaster, Massachusetts, student at the National Academy of Design in New York, vignette engraver at the New England Bank Note Company in Boston, engraver and first adopter of roll transfer technology for applying engravings to Colt firearms, etc. In due course, he established the New York Bank Note Company in 1842 at 142 Nassau Street, later renaming it the Continental Bank Note Company in January 1863 upon taking on new investors in order to complete with the American and National bank note companies (McCabe (p. 124). It was with his New York Bank Note Company that controversy swirled around him. At issue was that some bank note contracts that he executed were placed by fraudsters using fictitious bank names. It was reported that he produced notes for ten Washington, DC banks, all of which proved to be frauds. In 1854, Douglas Benjamin, the owner of the Mercantile Agency, a credit rating firm in New York, repeated rumors in private conversations with clients that Ormsby either helped counterfeiters or was one of them. Ormsby sued Benjamin for slander but didn’t win a judgement in the original court or an appellate court. Unit System for Currency Design Ormsby (1852, 1862) published two treatises wherein he advocated for the adoption by the securities engraving profession of a concept he called the unit system. The unit concept consisted of one panoramic engraving having some relevance to the bank that covered the entire face of a note with the necessary lettering so interwoven by the hand of the engraver that it formed an integral part of the scene. Thusly, the scene and character of the lettering would be unique to the note. The use of mechanically engraved elements made on ruling machines and geometric lathes to produce overlain elements such as borders and counters were to be eschewed. He argued that the fidelity and uniqueness of such “unit” engravings would offer sufficient anti-counterfeiting security. Because the faces of such bank notes would be totally unique, Ormsby recommended that their designs be copyrighted by the banks. Ormsby’s goal was to supplant the then industry standard patch work approach to currency design that stitched together separate—often stock—vignettes, lathe work and lettering to create the faces of notes. The Paper Column Peter Huntoon Figure 1. Waterman Lily Ormsby, 1854. From Ormsby (1991). SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 76 He disdained the use of lathe work—engravings made by geometric lathes. They were popular and cheap to make, and were used as stand-alone ornaments, backgrounds upon which counters were superimposed, or building blocks used in repetitive border work. Naturally, his opinions drew the ire of his competitors, but Ormsby’s opinions gradually gained a bit of traction. Spencer Clark, head of the Treasury’s printing bureau, clearly was listening as he was soliciting designs from the bank note companies in 1863 for the Original Series national bank notes. For his applications, he specified that the central vignettes on the backs cover the space allotted for them. Ormsby organized the Continental Bank Note Company in New York with financing from investors in January 1863 to serve as a rival to the American and National Bank Note companies in order to secure government contracts. Treasury Secretary Salmon Chase had serious misgivings about Ormsby’s character and decreed that he shouldn’t be involved in work on the nation’s currency. At that juncture, the trustees of Figure 2. Proof of an unissued pre-Civil War bank note engraved by George Casilear that faithfully employs the principles of Waterman Ormsby’s unit system for currency designs. Morrisania is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern part of Bronx just east of Yankee Stadium, New York. Heritage Auction Archives photo. Figure 3. Ormsby’s Continental Bank Note Company won the contract for the engraving and printing of the $5 Original Series National Bank Notes. Although they did not adhere to Ormsby’s unit system criteria, they did use the largest vignettes to appear on the faces in the series and they carried distinctive hand-engraved counters in the upper corners that were nicely integrated into the vignettes, revealing his influence. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 77 Continental cosmetically removed Ormsby as head of the company. Chase then requested a full investigation of the charges against Ormsby, a task that fell to Comptroller of the Currency Hugh McCulloch. In due course, McCulloch reported that the charges were unfounded. The trustees of Continental then appointed Ormsby head of the practical part of the business. Continental received the contract for the $5 Original Series national bank notes. Although the faces of the $5 are a far cry from his unit system, the vignettes on them certainly occupy more surface area than on any other Federal notes of the era. Also, he employed distinctive hand-engraved counters that were woven into the vignettes. Although Ormsby organized the Continental Bank Note Company, he didn’t own a controlling interest. A man named Touro Robertson gained control and pushed him out in 1867. Ormsby attempted to form a new firm he called Republican Unit Bank Note Company around 1870, but nothing came of it. The Continental Bank Note Company, along with the National Bank Note Company, merged into The American Bank Note Company in 1879. New Artistic Silver Certificates Democratic president candidate Grover Cleveland ran both of his detached term campaigns as a government reformer who especially targeted the policies of the Treasury Department. A priority in both campaigns was to reduce protective tariffs. In his second run, he focused considerable energy on repeal of the ill-conceived Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 that was causing a serious export drain of the Treasury’s gold stock, with an attendant unconstrained increase in the national debt. He blamed the Silver Purchase Act for the Panic of 1893 that rolled over the country as he took office, because it caused the public to lose confidence in the nation’s currency. The top management positions in the agencies were patronage positions, and in those days patronage extended down to the level of the Chief of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. For his second term, Cleveland appointed as his Secretary of the Treasury John G. Carlisle. Carlisle in turn installed Claude M. Johnson as Chief of the BEP. Carlisle was a seasoned influential Kentucky politician who served in both the U.S. House of Representatives, including as speaker, and the Senate. Johnson was a Carlisle Democratic protégé, also from Kentucky, who served as mayor of Lexington. Carlisle arrived at Treasury to carry out Cleveland’s reforms, but also with a lessor reform agenda of his own; specifically, to replace what he considered to be inferior looking Treasury currency. He laid out his vision in his first annual report as follows (Carlisle, 1894, p. XLV). It has been deemed advisable to improve the designs adopted by the Department for the various bank- note issues of the Government, and to accomplish this end the best artists of the country have been invited to contribute, and are now submitting designs to supersede the defective and insecure forms used in the past. It is expected that the future notes and certificates issued by the Government, if this policy is continued, will be not only highly creditable from an artistic standpoint, but will be beyond the skill of counterfeiters to imitate to such an extent as to be at all dangerous to the public. Congressional acts authorizing currency issues during the 19th century consistently delegated responsibility for their designs to the Secretary of the Treasury. Consequently, upon taking office, Secretary Carlisle quickly seized on this authority to replace the then current silver certificates with an entirely new series. His BEP chief Johnson was thoroughly on-board with the plan and moved the project through the Bureau with priority. To accomplish this, Johnson encouraged George Casilear, the then BEP Chief of the Engraving Division and longtime currency designer, to resign because it was his designs that were deemed inferior. Casilear’s resignation took effect October 30, 1893. The next day, Thomas Morris, an accomplished currency designer who came from the Homer Lee Bank Note Company in New York as their Superintendent of Design and Engraving, assumed Casilear’s position. Johnson articulated his vision for the BEP in his 1893 annual report to Carlisle as he managed the progress on the new silver certificates (Johnson in Carlisle, 1894, p. 722-723). Artistic skill applicable to the production of bank notes, bonds, etc., has not advanced with time. Bank notes prepared twenty-five years ago are as finely engraved as those of to-day. The bank notes produced by this Bureau and by the bank-note companies of the country appear to have reached the highest standard of engraving and printing, but the designs, as a rule, are weak and meaningless. The conventional design for bank notes which has been used for many years appears to be wholly lacking in artistic merit, SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 78 consisting as it does of a patchwork of engraving, including the portrait, the title, and the lathe-work counters, having no connection with each other, and a vast improvement can be made in designing the future issues of the Government. I consider the artistic beauty of a design for a bank note to be as essential to protection against counterfeiting as the manner in which either the engraving or printing is executed. In fact, they must all be of the highest standard of excellence to afford perfect protection. To attain this standard of excellence I have secured the services of some of the best engravers and printers, and have received aid from some of the most talented artists in the country in preparing designs for a new issue of silver certificates, and the result, in my opinion, will be not only a creditable work from an artistic standpoint, but a series of notes which will be beyond the skill of counterfeiters to imitate in a way to be at all dangerous to commerce. Such talent commands a high price, and it is an item of expenditure which should have consideration in the making of appropriations for this Bureau. Figure 4. The faces of the Series of 1896 silver certificates were the closest notes to the Ormsby unit system of design issued by the U.S. Treasury. BEP Chief Claude Johnson was responsible for their use. Heritage Auction Archives photos. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 79 The Treasury Department hyped to a fever pitch the coming new silver certificates with their radically improved artistic designs. They arrived as Series of 1896 $1, $2 and $5 silver certificates with the promise of higher denominations to follow. The timing of their release came on the last year of the Cleveland administration. The notes encountered intense hostility in the banking and commercial communities. The overriding complaint from these constituencies turned on a practical flaw. The notes were difficult to sort because the counters—numbers denoting the denominations—in the corners of the faces were not large and plain. The worst were the $1s. There were incessant demands that the series cease to be issued. The 1896 election was in full swing with Democrat populist silverite William Jennings Bryan pitted against Republican William McKinley. McKinley was advocating for protective tariffs but found that hard- money rhetoric also resonated well in the east, where he was counting electoral votes. The Democrats lost to McKinley, a victory touted as hard money over soft. Outgoing Secretary of the Treasury Carlisle left incoming Lyman Gage holding the bag in dealing with the fallout from the failed Series of 1896 silver certificates. Gage, coming from the presidency of The First National Bank of Chicago, had no use for the series and cut the Treasury’s losses by deciding in May 1897 to replace the series as soon as practicable with what became the Series of 1899. One consequence of the failure of the Series of 1896 was that Secretary Gage on May 21, 1897 appointed a committee of three to investigate the operation of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. One of the primary threads that the committee pursued was decision making pertaining to the failed designs of the Series of 1896 silver certificates. The report of the committee was published in 1899 as a Senate Document. It contains invaluable testimony that tracked the impetus for creating the series and the decisions and decision makers that guided the designs of the notes. That testimony unequivocally leads us back to Waterman Ormsby’s unit system currency design. Smoking Guns The proof illustrated as Figure 2 is hailed as having a classic Ormsby unit design that often is attributed to him. It certainly is a fine example of a unit design as envisioned by Ormsby but it wasn’t produced by him. The actual creator was the George Casilear who served at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing from December 1, 1862 beginning as an assistant modeler shortly after its inception to his rise to head the Engraving Department. The design concept for the faces of the Series of 1896 silver certificates, as well as the pedigree of the Morrisania note, were laid out in Casilear’s June 1, 1897 testimony before the investigating committee. He was called from retirement to provide historic context for the design work within the Bureau at the time work on the series commenced (Senate, 1899, p. 298). So with but few exceptions, since the inauguration of the Bureau I have made all the designs of the notes except under the Cleveland Administration—the first and second Administrations. * * * All the designs of the bank notes, the first issue of greenbacks, in 1869, and the different bonds of all series fours, four and a-halfs, and the 6 per cent bonds, all the internal revenue stamps were designed by me. I would state in this connection that when [BEP Chief] Mr. Johnson came in [1893] he got an idea of getting up a unity form of notes—that is one solid design, with the title and the denomination interwoven in. I tried to persuade him out of it, but no, he was going to get up something original. I showed him, or rather tried to convince him that it would be a failure, because the thing had been tried. I had one of that kind that I engraved some years ago, or year or two before I came here; it was a landscape, an agricultural scene and I gave it to him and he put it in his pocket. All this was nothing but the Ormsby scheme. Ormsby wrote a book in 1853. * * * The result was that my argument was not a very convincing one to Mr. Johnson. He informed Secretary Carlisle that I wouldn’t agree with him, that I opposed all his new ideas, etc., and the result was I was requested to resign. Casilear added the following in later testimony that clarifies the identity of the unit system note he hand engraved with the agricultural scene that he gave to Johnson (Senate, 1899, p. 308). I engraved one of those plates years ago—prior to the civil war—for the Bank of Morrisania, New York. The bank bursted [sic] up—didn’t live long. I saw that it was a faux pas [embarrassment] and the result was that they never got it out. BEP Chief Johnson acknowledged in his testimony that he wished to employ the unit system on SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 80 the Series of 1896 notes (Senate, 1899, p. 326). In the first interview I ever had with Mr. Carlisle regarding the business of this Bureau, he told me that he had understood the work, particularly the engraving division of the Bureau, was not as good as was being done by private corporations, and that he wanted me to improve the standard of the work in the Bureau as much and as rapidly as I could, and that the designs of the bank notes did not strike him favorably. Naturally, I considered his remarks very carefully, and suggested to him the idea of employing artists to make those designs, to which he agreed; and the policy was agreed upon to attempt to make a unit design— to make the design with a meaning—rather than to have a model composed of two or three or four spots and a portrait and a piece of lathe work and a counter—just simply a model. Johnson had this exchange with committee member Charles Lyman (Senate, 1899, p. 328). Lyman: From your experience with these notes, are you still satisfied that the unit plan can be successfully carried out? Johnson: Well, I don’t really care to express an opinion in opposition to the policy of the Administration under which I am working. The Secretary of the Treasury [Gage] has expressed a desire to go back to the old conventional bank note, and if he desires that, certainly this Bureau ought to carry out his wishes. There is no ambiguity that BEP Chief Johnson floated and sold the Ormsby unit system to Secretary Carlisle for use on the new silver certificates. The quoted testimony reveals that the concept was still rattling around within bank note engraving circles. The word unit had no other meaning in currency design, Implementation The faces of the Series of 1896 silver certificates represent the closest that any Congressionally authorized currency adhered to Ormsby’s unit system concept. Contrary to Ormsby’s dictates, the faces of the notes were given borders, much of the lettering was not woven into the pictorial engraving, and the counters on the $1s looked pasted on. Also, machine engraved elements, including white line lathe work, were used on some. The notes weren’t pure Ormsby classics, but his influence is undeniable. The idea of covering the entire canvas afforded by a note was not new. Over the decades engravings of the backs of many large size series filled virtually all the available space. The backs on the 1863 gold certificates have the appearance of Persian carpets. More recent were the elaborate backs on the Series of 1886 silver certificates. The all-time show stoppers were the backs of the Series of 1890 Treasury notes. However, none of these qualified as Ormsby unit system designs because all employed extensive repetitive Figure 5. Engravings covered the entire backs of the notes in many large size series such as this 1863 gold certificate. Although the engravings completely filled the space, they didn’t conform to any of Ormsby’s unit system design criteria. Instead, they consisted of repetitive lathe work, often intermixed with white-line lathe work, instead of pictorial engravings. Ormsby eschewed such machine engraving techniques, even if limited to borders. National Numismatic Collection, Smithsonian Institution photo. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 81 machine engraved work, often reproduced as white line work. Although beautiful, these backs have a mechanical look. They certainly aren’t the free-form hand-engraved pictorial vignettes envisioned by Ormsby. Ormsby’s Photo You never know what you will find when you pursue the people in these currency tales. I didn’t have to go far into Ormsby’s life to recognize that he was brilliant, a self-promoter, quite the hustler, but what I found next knocked me off my feet. When you write a piece like this, you have to attempt to illustrate it with a photo of the principal, so I began what seemed like a futile search for an image of Ormsby. However, in due course, an Ormsby hit came up on Google to a three-part series of articles by Susan Bremer, a writer/researcher at Heritage Auctions. I couldn’t believe it; Ormsby’s photo graced each of her parts, the photo reproduced here. Immediately I contacted Greg Rohan, a valued contact at Heritage, asking him to pass along a request to Susan asking where she found the photo. Within an hour she got back to me with this bombshell. The photo was taken of Ormsby when he was 49 years old as he was embarking as the very first and only through passenger from St. Louis to San Francisco on John Butterfield’s Overland Stage. That trip left St. Louis on September 16, 1858. To heck with this bank note stuff, I had to follow this phenomenal thread. Ormsby obviously had finagled this trip with Butterfield while simultaneously positioning himself as a correspondent in cahoots with the New York Herald. He would write a running commentary describing the trip in exquisite detail. He would hand off his reports to the stages coming from San Francisco as they passed to be forwarded to the Herald, where they were published as they arrived. This is simply too good. His dispatches were compiled into a book published by the Huntington Library in California that contains the most comprehensive extant historic record of the Butterfield operation. His photo is in that book. Far more people know Ormsby from this adventure than as a bank note man. This trip was, in fact, a proof-of-concept undertaking. Butterfield had a contract with the Post Office Department to deliver mail between St. Louis and San Francisco with stops along the way. Small coaches were employed with canvas tops, lighter than typical stage coaches for greater speed. Three stages would leave each week from both St. Louis and San Francisco, thus populating the route. If you had the grit to stand the journey, the fare was $200 one way. That was a ton of money in 1858. Figure 6. The Butterfield Overland Stage line spanned 2,795 miles between St. Louis and San Francisco. The coaches operated 24 hours per day in order to meet the 24-day schedule. Ormsby ran the gauntlet without any layovers. Map from https: maps-of-the-route. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 82 Now contemplate what you were buying into. The total distance was 2,795 miles. The first 160 miles was via the Pacific Railroad westward from St. Louis to a place called Tipton, Missouri. From Tipton, the rest was by stage on dirt trails. You headed southwest from Tipton through Missouri, crossed the northwest tip of Arkansas, on through Indian Territory to El Paso, Texas. Then it was across the Rio Grande River to Mesilla and west across the newly acquired Gadsden Purchase to Tucson, Arizona Territory, on to Yuma, Los Angeles and then north to San Francisco. The route looped south to avoid the Rocky Mountains thereby allowing for year-round travel and a minimum of high passes. You weren’t allowed to carry cash or valuables and the stage hands were unarmed, both of which were widely advertised so highwaymen wouldn’t bother targeting the stages. Now here is where the rubber hits the road, or I should say the steel tires on the wooden stage wheels hit the dirt and rocky ruts. A through trip took 24 days. The coaches traveled non-stop day and night save only to change drivers and horse or mule teams, and occasionally coaches. You slept on the coach; you grabbed a bite to eat if lucky at stops and you continued on your way on what were hard seats. The trails were rough. It was akin to riding on a wooden crate in the back of an old pickup truck on a rough road all the way. You got physically beaten practically to death and you didn’t get so much as a bath if you were on a non-stop through trip. You were averaging over 100 miles per full 24-hour day. Ormsby’s trip met the 24- day schedule arriving at the San Francisco Post Office on October 10, 1858. Sources Bremer, Susan, Jun 20, Jul 25, Sep 5, 2021, W.L. Ormsby, parts 1, 2 & 2: The E-Sylum, electronic publication of the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Carlisle, John G., 1894, Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances for the Year 1894: Government Printing Office, Washington, DC. Jackson, Glenn E., 1978, W. L. Ormsby correspondence with Treasury Department uncovered: The Essay-Proof Journal, whole no. 139, p. 111-118. Jackson, Glenn E., 1984, Further light on the reputation of W. L. Ormsby, 19th century bank note and stamp engraver: The Essay- Proof Journal, whole no. 162, p. 60-65. Jackson, Glenn E., 1983, Mosaic engraving: The Essay-Proof Journal, whole no. 159, p. 136-138. McCabe, Bob, 2016, Counterfeiting and technology: Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, GA, 480 p. Ormsby, Waterman Lily, 1852, A description of the present system of bank note engraving, showing its tendency to facilitate counterfeiting to which is added a new method of constructing bank notes to prevent forgery: privately published, New York, NY, 101 p. Ormsby, Waterman Lily, 1862, Cycloidal configurations or the harvest of counterfeiters, containing matter of the highest importance concerning paper money, also explaining the Unit System of bank note engraving: privately published, New York, NY, 45 p. Ormsby, Waterman Lily, 1991, The Butterfield Overland Mail: L.H. Wright and J.M. Rynun, eds., Huntington Library Press, 179 U.S. Senate, February 3, 1899, Report of Committee to Investigate the Bureau of Engraving and Printing: 55th Congress, 3rd Session, Document 109, 594 p. https://butterfieldoverlandstage.com/2015/06/23/the-first-running-of-the-stage/ https://butterfieldoverlandstage.com/2012/08/01/maps-of-the-route/ SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 83 When Babe Ruth Lost a $1,000 Bill Lee Lofthus Ever wonder, like I have, who carried around $1,000 bills? Well, Babe Ruth for one. According to a story in the New York Times, he managed to lose one in New Orleans during Spring training in 1924. Figures 1. Babe Ruth taking batting practice in the early 1920’s. Ruth was a larger-than-life figure on and off the field. He was carrying multiple $1,000 bills like the one above when he lost one during spring training camp in 1924. Library of Congress photograph (LCN 2014716596); note images from Heritage Auction Archives. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 84 In those days, the New York Yankees held their Spring training camp in New Orleans, Louisiana. After the team’s practice on Tuesday, March 18, 1924, Ruth left his hotel and went to the bank carrying $4,000 in cash, including three $1,000 bills. His intent was to get a bank draft and send the money home. At the teller window, Ruth started “fishing money the money out of his pockets, only to discover one of the $1,000 bill was missing.” The Times reported Ruth returned to his hotel and continued to search for the missing bill, but to no avail. The newspaper account made no mention of Ruth having gold certificates, so most likely he was carrying Series of 1918 $1,000 Federal Reserve notes. Local banks were served by the New Orleans branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, so perhaps his $1,000s were Atlanta notes if he obtained them locally, but we have no way of knowing. In 1924, Ruth earned a then-enormous salary of $52,000 a year from the Yankees. He lived well, enjoying hunting, fishing, fine food and drink in quantity, and traveling. By 1930, the Yankees were paying him $80,000 a year. When a reporter asked Ruth if he should be earning more than President Herbert Hoover, sportswriter Tom Meany said Ruth replied, “What the hell has Hoover got to do with this? Anyway, I had a better year than he did.” Sources Meany, Tom. Babe Ruth – The Big Moments of the Big Fellow. A.S. Barnes, New York, New York. January 1947. Via QuoteInvestigator.com. The New York Times, “Ruth Loses $1,000 Bill.” New York, March 19, 1924, p. 24. Via Timesmachine.nytimes.com The Sporting News, “Babe Ruth’s Salary Draws.” Alfred Spink, St. Louis, MO. April 1932. Figure 3. New York Yankees team photograph, New Orleans Spring training, 1921. Babe Ruth sits at center in the plain jersey. Library of Congress photograph (LCN 91784619). Figure 2. A smartly dressed Babe Ruth in the stands at a baseball game in Washington DC, c. 1922. Library of Congress photograph, (LCN 2016886596, cropped). SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 85 No Cash Taken By Al Bailey This past summer the SPMC president wrote about vendors refusing cash at a stadium and how this might impact paper money collectors. He asked how can a vendor refuse cash, after all, our paper money is legal tender for all debts public and private. There is a federal statute 31 U.S.C § 5103 on the matter. How can a vendor refuse a sale of a hotdog when offered cash instead of a credit card? This question comes up often enough that the federal reserve has a FAQ for this same question. Is it legal for a business in the United States to refuse cash as a form of payment? The short answer is yes. There is no federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law that says otherwise. Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal tender," states: "United States coins and currency [including Federal Reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal Reserve Banks and national banks] are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues." This statute means that all U.S. money as identified above is a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. i The legal understanding of this is that generally, a creditor must accept dollars from a debtor as payment. A private business’s decision to refuse cash at the point of sale is a regulatory matter left to the states.ii This sounds like us lawyers talking to each other. Let me explain. When a business sells you a hotdog, (the point of sale) the state can regulate this, not the federal government. Regardless of whether the vendor accepts cash or credit the vendor ends up with dollars. If the vendor accepts cash, he receives dollars for the hotdog. If the vendor accepts your credit card, he ends up with dollars electronically transferred into his account. The vendors decision to accept cash or credit when you buy a hotdog is up to the states to regulate, and ultimately the vendor is free to refuse cash if the state does not require it. This can get quite complicated. Some states have passed laws requiring retailers to accept cash, such as Tennessee, and Washington D.C. while some cities have statutes allowing cash as payment.iii Take for example the Washington D.C. statute. There are exceptions for internet and phone sales. There is an exception if the retail store has a device in the store that allows a customer to convert their cash to a prepaid card. Then there are rules about the prepaid card. There is an exception for parking facilities if the facility did not accept cash prior to December 1, 2020. There is an exception if the mayor declares a public health emergency.iv A violation is not a criminal matter, it is a retail violation of the code. The police have no role to enforce, after all what would you say to an officer: “this vendor won’t accept my cash”? These laws can be mind boggling and every state can decide how or if they want to regulate this. How did we get here? So how did we get here? Our belief in cash is new relative to the history of paper money. We have come a long way since the Civil War introduced the greenback legal tender note in 1862. Public acceptance was slow and involved numerous Supreme Taken by author in Washington D.C SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 86 Court cases to decide. Below are a few interesting cases that help illustrate a slow path of acceptance by the public. The path is full of twists and turns. Hepburn V. Griswold (1870)v On June 20, 1860, Mrs. Hepburn promised in writing to pay Henry Griswold $11,250 on February 20, 1862. When Mrs. Hepburn signed the promissory note the only lawful money was gold and silver coin. Five days after her debt was due on February 25, 1862, Congress passed the statute authorizing $150 million in new legal tender notes to help pay for the civil war. During the civil war gold and silver coin held their value, while the new legal tender notes tended to reflect the Union success or failure in battle. Mr. Griswold sued Mrs. Hepburn for payment in March 1864. Mrs. Hepburn brought to court $12,720 in legal tender notes to pay her original debt plus interest and costs. The court accepted the money and declared her debt paid. Mr. Griswold refused the payment in legal tender notes and appealed. The case eventually made it to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court found that parts of the Legal Tender Act of 1862 were unconstitutional. The constitution did not explicitly state that Congress could make currency as legal tender for payment of debts. The Court noted there was a universal and general legal understanding that all contracts written before February 25, 1862, were payable in gold and silver coin. The only exception would be if the contract specifically said otherwise. The court took special notice that the value of the paper money notes varied as compared to gold coin. The value of gold and silver coins held value while the legal tender notes varied in value reaching as low as $2.85 in legal tender notes being equivalent to one gold dollar (1 dollar note = $0.35). Because lawful money was gold and silver when Mrs. Hepburn signed the contract, she must pay in gold and silver coin. Otherwise, Mr. Griswold must accept less than the whole value he agreed to when he signed the contract. This was an astounding court decision because the author of the opinion was none other than Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase himself. Chase served as Secretary of the Treasury from 1861 to 1864 and personally oversaw two important changes. Establishment of a national bank system and the introduction of paper money – the legal tender notes at issue in this case. Chase suggested the idea, helped implement and even placed his own portrait on the $1 1862 legal tender notes. This decision did not stand for long. Knox v Lee (1871)vi Mrs. Lee of Pennsylvania owned a flock of sheep in Texas. When the civil war broke out, she left her sheep there under the care of her shepherd. In March 1863, Confederate authorities confiscated and sold the sheep as “property of an alien enemy.” Mr. Knox purchased the sheep. In 1867, Mrs. Lee sued Mr. Knox for unlawful conversion of her property. Conversion is the non-criminal taking of someone else’s property for their own benefit. During the trial, the evidence valued the sheep in gold dollars. However, the judge instructed the jury that any damages they assessed against Mr. Knox, he would pay in legal tender notes of the United States. (Legal tender notes had a discount relative to gold dollars). The jury found for Mrs. Lee and awarded her $7,368. Mr. Knox appealed claiming that the jury instruction was the equivalent of assessing the value of the sheep in gold dollars and then adding a premium for the discount of the legal tender dollars. The jury instruction was wrong because it made a distinction between gold dollars and legal tender dollars for a debt that accrued after the passage of the legal tender acts. Mr. Knox claimed this was different than the decision in Hepburn v Griswold because the debt in that case accrued before the legal tender acts. This was a difficult decision before the Supreme Court, especially considering their previous decision in Hepburn v. Griswold. If the Court decided Congress had no power, under any circumstances, in any emergency, to make treasury notes a legal tender for the payment of all debts, then the government had no means of self preservation. Yet, every other independent sovereign claimed this power. The sheer volume of contracts, transactions, and debts of every kind contemplating payment in legal tender notes would suddenly have a premium added to them. Such a decision would mean the government itself would be responsible for injustice, bankruptcies, and economic distress. The Supreme Court noted that when Congress made treasury notes legal tender, the United States was in a dire situation. The Public Treasury was nearly empty. The federal government had suspended specie [coin] payments. Taxation did not cover the interest on the public debt. War and Navy requisitions for supplies totaled almost $50 million. The Federal government owed soldiers in the field almost $20 SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 87 million. The total amount of coin in the country held by the public, the banks and the government would fund the government for three months if it was all poured into the public coffers. It was under these circumstances, that Congress passed the first Legal Tender Act of February 25, 1862. The Supreme Court overturned their decision in Hepburn v. Griswold, noting they decided it without a full court. The Court held that the legal tender acts made by congress were constitutional and applied to contracts made before or after the acts. Legal tender notes issued during war time or emergency conditions were constitutional. As time passed the Treasury replaced mutilated and worn-out currency with new issues. As an effort to return to a gold standard, on January 15, 1875, Congress authorized federal banks to resume specie [gold and silver coin] payments when requested with greater than $50 in legal tender notes. Then on May 31, 1878, Congress passed an act that when the Treasury redeems legal tender notes of the United States, the Treasury shall reissue the legal tender notes to remain in circulation. So, what happens when a person pays a debt with legal tender notes that were not issued in time of war or national emergency? Julliard v. Greenman (1884)vii In March 1879, Thomas Greenman bought 100 bales of cotton from Augustus Julliardviii for $5,122.90 on delivery. The cotton bales arrived and Greenman paid Julliard with $22.50 in gold coin, $0.40 in silver coins, and $5,100 in 1878 legal tender notes. Julliard accepted the coinage but refused the notes and then sued Greenman for failure to pay. Greenman brought to court a $5,000 1878 legal tender note and a $100 1878 legal tender note offering to use them to pay his debt. Greenman argued that the legal tender notes, were good for all debts public and private, except duties on imports and interest on the public debt. Julliard refused the paper money and argued on technical grounds that the 1878 notes were not a war emergency issue and thus were not constitutional. The Supreme Court ruled the new issued legal tender notes were constitutional and good for debts. Julliard must accept the payment of his bill with the offered 1878 legal tender notes. Legal tender notes were legal tender regardless of whether they were issued under emergency conditions. But what if the parties agree in a contract that the payment will be in gold or silver coin? Can someone pay the debt with legal tender notes instead? Trebilcock v. Wilson (1871)ix In June 1861, Wilson gave to Trebilcock a promissory note for $ 900 due in one year at 10% interest payable is specie [gold coin]. In February 1863, Wilson offered to pay his debt in legal tender notes, which Trebilcock refused, noting the contract required payment in specie. Trebilcock wanted gold not paper and the contract said as much. Trebilcock noted Congress approved the legal tender act of February 25, 1862, long after the contract specified payment in specie. The question before the Court was could a contract be satisfied against the wishes of the holder by payment in legal tender notes declared by Congress to be legal tender? The answer was a resounding no. The Court held that a contract that specified payment in specie is descriptive of the kind of dollars for payment. The Court noted there are two kinds of dollars, recognized by law; and the contract specified that payment shall be in so many gold and silver dollars of United States coinage. When a contract specifies payment in specie [coin] the courts shall enforce the payment in gold coin. People are free to write contracts and specify the payment terms. The next case shows that states can make a contract, but once the state agrees to a contract, the state cannot subsequently invalidate the terms of that contract. The issue is of course, state taxes. Poindexter v. Greenhow (1885)x Poindexter lived in Richmond Virginia and owed $12.45 in property taxes for property he owned in Richmond due on December 1, 1882. Samuel Greenhow was the city treasurer responsible to collect the taxes for the state. On April 25, 1883, Greenhow demanded Poindexter pay his overdue taxes. Poindexter paid his taxes with $0.45 in coin and $12 in mature Virginia state bond coupons. Greenhow, the city treasurer refused the coupons and demanded payment in gold, silver, or federal notes instead. When Poindexter refused, Greenhow levied Poindexter by entering his office and taking his desk as payment for his taxes. Poindexter sued for the return of his desk. As always there is a background story that explains the context of a legal case. The background issue here is the Virginia Debt Controversy. The debt controversy was how Virginia sought to pay a staggering debt of $34 million dollars accrued between 1822 and 1861. The money funded canals, toll roads and railroad infrastructure to ensure Virginia’s economic future. However, after the civil war and the SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 88 separation of West Virginia, Virginia’s economy was in tatters with a large debt. Several state acts were at issue in this case and affected the outcome. In 1871, Virginia passed the Funding Act. This refunded the state debt, assigned one third of the debt to West Virginia, and allowed new bond holders to use the interest-bearing coupons as payment for state taxes. The coupon had printed on its face this coupon was receivable after maturity for all taxes, debts and demands owed the State. This was a major incentive for old bond holders to surrender their old bonds and accept the new bonds in return. In January 1882, Virginia passed an act requiring tax collectors to accept only gold, silver, United States Treasury notes, National Bank currency, and nothing else for taxes. The Supreme Court held the issuance of the new bonds in 1871 was a contract made with the previous bond holders and the state could not retroactively change it. The constitution prevents states from passing a law that impairs the obligation of a contract, even when the state is itself a part of the contract. The subsequent acts passed by the state attempted to get around accepting the mature coupons as payment for taxes and thus were not legal. Poindexter lawfully paid his taxes with the matured bond coupons. The federal government would not step in to tell the state how people should pay their taxes. This was up to the state, but once the state decided that bond holders could use coupons, the state had to honor that decision. These cases were just a few of the many examples in law that show a path of acceptance and the many complications that can arise from a new idea. The federal government defines that dollars are legal tender but does not dictate how people must use those dollars. People are free to make contracts to specify any manner of payment. Likewise, the state can make rules about certain transactions. Yes, even the simple act of buying a hotdog at the stadium. Please pass the mustard. Note--AL Bailey is a government attorney working for the federal government in Washington D.C. Any opinions expressed are his alone and do not reflect any position of the United States or any agency of the United States. i https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12772.htm. ii Mathew Cavanaugh, Cash Not Welcome Here, Minnesota Law Review, April 23, 2020, https://minnesotalawreview.org/2020/04/23/cash-not-welcome-here-the-trend-and-backlash-towards-cashless-retail/. iii See the following: Tennessee, https://puloonatms.com/tennessee-added-to-the-list-of-states-requiring-cash/ ; Washington D.C. https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/laws/23-187 ; New Laws Require Merchants to Take Cash, https://leg.mt.gov/content/Committees/Interim/2019-2020/Economic-Affairs/Meetings/Sept- 2019/NewLawsRequireMerchantstoTakeCash.pdf. iv D.C. Law 23-187. Cashless Retailers Prohibition Amendment Act of 2020. Chapter 54: 28-5401 through 5404; https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/laws/23-187#%C2%A73. v Hepburn v. Griswold, 75 U.S. 603 (1870). vi Knox v. Lee, 79 U.S. 457 (1871). vii Julliard v. Greenman, 110 U.S. 421 (1884). viii Augustus Julliard was a wealthy businessman and philanthropist whose estate funded the Julliard Foundation which eventually created the famous Julliard School in New York City. ix Trebilcock v. Wilson, 79 U.S. 687 (1871). x Poindexter v. Greenhow, 114 U.S. 270 (1885). SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 89 THE STORY BEHIND CERTAIN BANKNOTES FROM SANTO DOMINGO THAT BEAR A CUBAN SEAL By Roberto Menchaca Abstract: Some banknotes issued in Santo Domingo bear an enigmatic Cuban seal on the reverse. Apart from the mere description of the notes, no explanation has been given so far in the literature to justify the presence of such a foreign stamp. The present article sheds light on the history of these banknote issues and how they acquired a seal from a different jurisdiction. Following the Dominican War of Independence, the Dominican Republic was proclaimed in 1844. The young nation endured repeated attacks from its neighbour, Haiti, and annexation attempts from France, Spain, Great Britain and the United States. General Pedro Santana had wrested the presidency from Buenaventura Báez, who had bankrupted the nations’ treasury at a great profit to himself. Faced with an economic crisis as well as the possibility of a renewed attack from Haiti, Santana asked Spain to retake control of the country in 1861. The annexation was declared by the Royal Decree signed in Madrid on May 19, 1861 and Santana became Governor-General of the newly created Spanish colonial province of Santo Domingo. While the annexation violated the Monroe Doctrine, that opposed the European colonialism in America, the United States, then ravaged by the Civil War, was unable to enforce its unilateral policy. Figure 1: Portrait of General Santana in 1854 The Royal Decree empowered the Governor of Cuba to make the necessary arrangements to restored the colonial rule in the new province. To this effect, Spanish troops and civil servants were dispatched to Santo Domingo and colonial institutions under the so-called “Intendencia de Santo Domingo” were quickly set up. The Spanish authorities approved in February 1862 to issue banknotes for the colony in order to replace the previous republican emissions, mostly made without control. A unique emission was made on May 1, 1862 for an amount of 400,000 “pesos fuertes” backed by 200,000 pesos in metallic currency. Between December 1862 and June 1863, the depreciated republican banknotes were finally exchanged at a ratio of 250 pesos to one (new) “peso fuerte”. The notes were printed in Madrid on behalf of the “Intendencia de Santo Domingo”. Different colours were used for each of the denominations consisting of half (blue), two (green), five (orange), fifteen (yellow and grey) and twenty-five pesos (pink and brown). The name of the colonial institution appears engraved on the upper side of the notes, above the Spanish coat of arms, which is flanked by the series, the serial number and the nominal value expressed in “pesos fuertes”. Serial letter “A” was used for the half peso notes, “B” for the two-peso notes, “C” for the five-peso notes, “D” for the fifteen-peso notes and finally, all twenty-five-peso notes were assigned to the serial letter “E”. The legend in the obverse declares the notes to be redeemable in metallic currency by the General Treasury of Santo Domingo. The notes bore the signatures of the Intendent SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 90 of the Royal Treasury Blas de Castro, the General Accountant José Daubon and the Treasurer José Román. The read seal corresponding to the “Ministerio de la Guerra y de Ultramar” (Spain’s Ministry of war and overseas) was embossed to the right-hand side of the notes, that were only printed on one side (uniface). Figure 2: Obverse of a two-peso banknote issued on May 1, 1862 The “War of the restoration” of the Dominican Republic broke out in 1863 and lasted for two years. Spain lost some 18,000 men, mostly belonging to the troops sent from Cuba, and the “Banco Español de la Habana” (Spanish Bank of Havana) was repeatedly forced by the colonial authorities to provide the monetary resources needed to support the war, which drained its gold reserves (Menchaca, 2024). The end of the American Civil War in 1865 and the re-assertion of the Monroe Doctrine by the United States, which was no longer involved in internal conflicts, prompted the evacuation of the Spanish forces back to Cuba on that year. The last Spanish troops withdrew on July 11. The Law of April 29, 1865, sanctioned by the Spanish Queen Isabella II, put an end to the Spanish sovereignty over Santo Domingo, thereby restoring the Dominican Republic. With the end of the colonial rule, the banknotes issued barely three years earlier were demonetized in 1865. However, many of them were brought back to Cuba by the Spanish soldiers and the personnel that had just been evacuated from Santo Domingo. It has to be recalled that part of their wages were paid using this currency. A Decree signed by the Spanish authorities on February 3, 1866 ordered the Treasury to redeem the Dominican banknotes brought to Cuba by the evacuated personnel. Counting from February 6, a non- extendable period of fifteen days was fixed for the banknote owners to deliver them at any of the branches of the Royal Treasury located in Havana, Matanzas, Cuba (present-day Santiago de Cuba), Villa Clara, Puerto Príncipe (present-day Camaguey), Pinar del Rio and Trinidad. A signed form summarizing the details of the notes (i.e. series, serial number, nominal value, etc.) was also required. Figure 3: Official form to be used for the recollection of the Dominican banknotes SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 91 The notes were subsequently perforated to render them unfit for use. After their authenticity was verified, an appointment was made to refund the amount in cash corresponding to the value of the notes. In this way, the Spanish Treasury honoured its obligation to redeem the notes in cash to the military, who will become crucial in the years to come with the outbreak of the First Cuban War of Independence (1868-1878) The recollected banknotes were additionally stamped on the reverse with a black seal displaying the legend “CONTADURIA GENERAL DE HACIENDA. ISLA DE CUBA” and the date of recollection. Figure 4: Obverse and reverse of a perforated twenty-five-peso banknote bearing on the reverse the Cuban seal dated February 21, 1866 Interestingly, the norm also defined a different procedure to follow in respect of Dominican banknotes that had been issued prior to the Spanish Annexation. For the latter, Spain had no official obligation to redeem them in cash. Some of these banknotes were also brought to Cuba in 1865 by the evacuated personnel. The owners of these banknotes were given forty days, also counting from February 6, to present them to the authorities for inspection. Once their authenticity was ascertained, they were given back to their owners without perforation but bearing the aforementioned black seal that displayed the legend “CONTADURIA GENERAL DE HACIENDA. ISLA DE CUBA” and the date of reception. Unlike the previous case, the notes were not redeemed by the authorities but were allowed to circulate in Cuba. This is empirically confirmed by the existence of some banknotes printed in 1848, during the first Dominican Republic, which were validated in 1866 for circulation in Cuba. The notes had been printed with nominal values of 1,40 “pesos fuertes” and 2,80 “pesos fuertes”, respectively. However, they did not circulate in Santo Domingo until 1853, when as stipulated by the National Congress in its Decree number 309 of May 19, 1853, they were used with different nominal values (i.e. twenty and forty pesos, respectively) after being validated with a stamp engraved on the reverse. Some of these notes display on the reverse an additional stamp that validates them for circulation in the island of Cuba (i.e. “1866, HABILITADO PARA USO EN LA ISLA DE CUBA”). In order to alleviate the scarcity of monetary signs provoked by the financial crisis of 1866, the SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 92 notes were temporarily accepted in Cuba for the corrected values of twenty and forty pesos, respectively. Presumably, the arrival in Cuba of the new banknotes issued by “El Banco Español de La Habana” in 1867, and their entry in circulation towards the end of that year, caused the withdrawal of the Dominican banknotes. Figure 5: Obverse and reverse of a Dominican banknote printed in 1848 and validated in 1866 for circulation in Cuba CONCLUSIONS Based on newly uncovered evidence, the present article provides the first ever given explanation to the presence of a Cuban stamp on the reverse of certain Dominican banknotes. The notes had been brought to Cuba after the evacuation of the Spanish forces from Santo Domingo. Those issued during the Spanish annexation period (1861-1865) were recollected and cancelled while those issued earlier were temporarily allowed to circulate in Cuba in order to alleviate the lack of fiduciary currency provoked by the financial crisis of 1866. BIBLIOGRAPHY De Montaud, Inés Roldán (1995): “El Banco Español de la Habana, 1856-1881”, Revista de Historia Económica, año XIII, nr. 2, pp. 281-310. Escolano, Luis Alfonso (2012): “Política financiera y hacendística en la provincia de Santo Domingo durante la anexión a España, 1861-1863”, XVIII Congreso de la Asociación Mexicana de Estudios del Caribe. Estrella, Miguel and Henríquez, José Manuel: “Historia del Papel Moneda de la República Dominicana”, Website of the “Sociedad Numismática Domincana”. Menchaca, Roberto (2024): “Spanish colonial banknotes issues in Cuba during the XIX century, part one”, International Bank Note Society Journal, vol. 63, nr. 1, pp. 31-38. Rodríguez San Pedro, Joaquín (1868): “Legislación Ultramarina”, Vol. 13, Ed. Manuel Minuesa, Madrid, Spain. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 93 Saving the Best for Last The Final Note Issued for the First National Bank of Pelham, Georgia By Raiden Honaker & Lee Lofthus I am excited to share with the collecting community a Georgia National Bank Note that I recently obtained for my collection that comes with quite a story and plenty going for it. Lee Lofthus and I saw a great opportunity to collaborate and write up an intriguing article, so here we are! To preface, I am an avid collector of National Bank Notes and pairing ephemera (checks, postcards, letterheads) from my home state of Georgia. Georgia is a challenging state to collect if your goal is to acquire as many banks as possible, as the Peach State was home to a grand total of 165 issuing charters. Here is the catch: out of 165 issuing banks, a whopping 49 are either unique or unreported. That leaves just 116 banks that have more than one note reported. Twenty-seven of those 116 banks have less than six notes reported in total. I mention these statistics to paint the picture of Georgia’s difficulty in terms of “completion.” As of this article, I have exactly 80 different charters in my collection, so I have indeed entered difficult territory. Acquiring a note from a one bank town like Pelham was not in my near-term expectations, but our great hobby is always full of surprises. Now let’s take a look at this note. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 94 Fresh from the weeds and brand new to the census, here is a special note from the sole issuer of Mitchell County, the First National Bank (FNB) of Pelham, Georgia, charter 9870, with serial number A001284 plate letter F. The bank officers certainly saved the best for last, as this beauty is the VERY last $10 issued by the bank. It could also very well be the last note the bank issued, period. Keep reading to find out if it is indeed the last note. Pelham was named after Major John Pelham, a Confederate artillery officer under calvary commander Jeb Stuart. Pelham was posthumously promoted to lieutenant colonel after dying at the age of 24 during the Battle of Kelly’s Ford, Culpeper County, Virginia, on March 17, 1863. Stuart was so affected by the death he wrote afterwards that “The gallant Pelham—so noble, so true—will be mourned by the nation.” The town of Pelham does not act as the county seat of Mitchell County. That honor goes to the city of Camilla, which is eight miles northwest of Pelham. Pelham is also home to a Carnegie library, which is one of only eight in the state that still operates as a library. The FNB of Pelham opened its doors for business on October 13, 1910, and was open beyond the issuing period. It issued 1902 Date Backs and Plain Backs, and Series 1929 Type 1 and Type 2 $10s and $20s. In total, the bank issued 22,236 large size vs. 6,444 small size notes. FNB of Pelham was one of those banks that I did not think I would be able to acquire anytime soon, as the very small population remains in very tight hands and auction appearances are equally as rare. Today, the National Bank Note Census (NBNC) lists just two large, with the note in this story being the seventh reported small size. This is the finest small size by a mile as the other known notes are low grade examples. Now, about that serial number. The Van Belkum data listed on the SPMC National Bank lookup site shows that charter 9870 issued $10 Type 2 (Ty. 2) serials 1 to 1284 alongside $20 Ty. 2 serials 1 to 324. Flip the note over and you have another surprise: a stamped date of “APR 27 1935” in the left margin. My initial guess was that this was the exact date that the final sheet was cut and when this note was set aside as a souvenir or keepsake. Finally, there is another cherry on top, as if this note doesn’t have enough going for it. I noticed that the black charter overprint seemed to have a very clear doubling of the embossing. I immediately consulted Jim Simek about this anomaly. Jim stated that what likely occurred is that while the order was being overprinted, two sheets were accidentally fed through the overprinting press at the same time. The bottom sheet received the blind embossing while the top received the black overprint. Once the “un-overprinted” sheet was discovered, it was placed back into the pile of sheets to receive its proper overprint, while holding onto the deep embossing of the first overprint. The result is not one but two separate embossings, visible from both the face and back. The accompanying image shows the double embossing on the face. As far as I know, and per my research, this is only the second “last note issued” Georgia national, large or small, reported in the NBNC. The other note is a part of the final Ty. 2 $10 uncut sheet from charter 3983 in Gainesville. Funny enough, I obtained a last serial number for my collection before a serial number 1, but honestly I think the final serial is much cooler and underrated/underappreciated. I am ecstatic to call this note my own! The signature combination found on this note is that of Cashier Robert Glenn McDonald and President Warren Clyde Cooper. Cashier McDonald was born on August 28, 1907, in Oconee County, and assumed his position at the very young age of 22 years old. After his time at the First National Bank of Pelham, McDonald moved 30 minutes east to Moultrie, GA in 1945, where he spent the rest of his life. There, he served as executive vice-president of the Citizens & Southern Bank until his passing on April 6, 1990, at the age of 82. McDonald is one of only five Georgia bank officers that I have found to have survived into the 1990’s. Not much information is available regarding President Cooper. We know that he was born on June 29, 1887, and passed away on September 11, 1954, at the age of 67, and is interred at the Pelham City Cemetery. McDonald and Cooper served as a pair from 1929 to at least 1935. Stamped date of “APR 27 1935” A close look reveals the additional “ghost” embossing found near the President’s signature and charter number. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 95 In case you find yourself in Pelham and would like to visit the original bank building, you are in luck as the building still stands. Unfortunately, the building is currently vacant and in a state of disrepair. The address is 121 Mathewson Ave SW. Illustrated is one of my postcards that depicts the Pelham State Bank, which was constructed in 1906 and later became the location of the FNB in 1910. Next to it is how the bank building looks today. The only other piece of ephemera that I have from charter 9870 is an interesting printer’s block with the not-so-creative motto of “A Good Bank.” After I shared a post about this note in the National Bank Note Collectors page on Facebook, I had wondered if we would be able to find out if this was not only the last $10 issued, but the last note for the bank period. Within a few days, I received an email from Lee that answered my question, and along with it came some great information that he turned up while visiting the National Archives II location in College Park, Maryland. Lee went into the Comptroller of the Currency’s National Currency and Bond Ledgers to see whether serial A001284 was the very last note delivered to the Pelham bank. As it turns out, answering that question was just one of several interesting finds for the bank. $10 Ty. 2 serial A001284 was indeed the last note from the last sheet sent to the bank on April 24, 1935. It was a modest shipment of ten notes, $100 in total. It exhausted all the bank’s note stock on hand in the Comptroller’s vault. The bank did not have a particularly high rate of redemption of its unfit worn notes, so its vault stock was slowly being consumed in the Spring of 1935. $10 Ty. 2 serial A0012184 may have been the last note sent to the bank, but it was part of a Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) delivery of new sheets of $10s and $20s sent to the Comptroller more than six months earlier on September 22, 1934. Notes from that BEP delivery slowly trickled out to the bank all the way to April 1935 when the stock ran out. Postcard dated 1909 above, current day view at right. The last National Currency and Bond Ledger page for the FNB of Pelham (9870). At left, $10 Type 2 serial number A001284 was the last note sent to the bank on April 24, 1935, when the vault stock of new sheets was exhausted. Rather than request more sheets, the Comptroller’s Issue Division simply noted “Issue suspended, no cy (currency)” on May 4 since the Treasury had already announced the circulation bonds backing National Currency would be called. National Archives II, College Park, MD. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 96 In the Spring of 1935, the bank had $20,000 in circulation backed by 2% Consol bonds. On March 11, 1935, Treasury called in the 2% Consols for redemption as of July 1, 1935. The end of National Bank note circulation was near. The Comptroller sent out the last notes in the vault for the bank on April 24th. This was the $100 delivery containing the final serial A001284. The next entry in the Issue ledger is on May 4, 1935, saying “Issue suspended, no cy (currency)”. The stamped date on the back of serial A001284, “APR 27, 1935,” could be the day it was received by the bank or perhaps the date the bankers cut the sheet, since the sheet’s shipping date from Washington was April 24th. Whether the stamp was meant to designate the last note received or issued by the bank we can’t say, because we can’t know if the bank understood at the time that A001284 was indeed the last sheet or note. The Comptroller’s office advised banks of redeemed notes, and banks would then expect replacements. In this case, when the $100 delivery was made, representing all the stock for FNB of Pelham left in the vault, the bank was due $350. The $100 was a partial shipment. It is likely the $100 shipment contained an explanation the bank was due another $250 but the delivery was short because the stock was exhausted. We just don’t know for certain what the bank was told. Reconciling the last ledger page, we can see what happened next. At the end of April, when the supply of vault sheets ran out for the bank, the Comptroller’s office sent the $100 left in the vault. The Comptroller’s staff deemed it wasteful to ask BEP to print more sheets given the looming end of national currency. Instead, they noted the suspension of further issues in the ledger. After April 24, more redemptions of unfit notes were received by the Comptroller, leaving the bank owed $1,350 at the end of May since no replacement notes were being sent. The Treasury easily handled the open accounting matter when the $20,000 Consol bonds were redeemed as of July 1. Out of the $20,000 redeemed bond, Treasury sent the bank the $1,350 in lawful money it was due and kept the remaining $18,650 to liquidate the bank’s remaining outstanding circulation. The result was that $10 A001284 was the last National Bank Note of any kind sent to the FNB of Pelham. In conclusion, this note is a prime example of the treasures and stories that can be unearthed by researching National Bank Notes. Upon first glance this Type 2 $10 looks like any other National, but research proved that this note is the exact opposite. There are still masses of discoveries and intriguing National Bank Notes to be turned up for decades to come. Sources American Battlefield Trust, “Kelly’s Ford.” Battlefields.org Comptroller of the Currency, National Currency and Bond Ledgers, Record Group (RG) 101/550/901/19/2 Box 2, Open banks, charters 9400- 10295. National Archives, College Park, MD. National Currency Foundation, National Bank Note Census, 2024. nbncensus.com Wikipedia, “The Battle of Kelly’s Ford,” quoting David J. Eicher, The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. Newspapers.com, The Macon Telegraph, April 1990, Page 10 “Warren Clyde Cooper (1887-1954) - Find a Grave...” Findagrave.com, 2024 “Robert Glenn McDonald (1907-1990) - Find a Grave...” Findagrave.com, 2014 Printer’s block from the First National Bank, Pelham, Georgia (Ch. 9870). “A Good Bank” SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 97 The Bank of Niagara of Buffalo, Part 1: The Niagara Falls Vignettes by Bernhard Wilde, FCNRS Early history of western New York State and the Bank of Niagara at Buffalo After the Thirteen Colonies of British North America won the American Revolutionary War (1775-83), many of the so-called Loyalists settled in other British territories. The western part of the Niagara River region, in Upper Canada, saw a large influx of these former British colonists because of the cheap and fertile land made available for those that remained loyal to the British Empire. Figure 1 shows the Niagara River at the left connecting Lake Erie from the south to Lake Ontario towards the north. This 1800 map was commissioned after the Holland Land Company bought a land grant from Robert Morris, once the richest man in America, in 1798. It was composed of over two million acres, most of the land in western New York west of the Genesee River. The image of the above cropped map only contains about half of the purchase. The rest extends southward to the Pennsylvania border. Native Indians retained the reservations, colored in pink. The survey of land was done by Joseph Ellicott, Fig. 2, with over 130 men. Ellicott became the Resident-Agent for the next two decades and sold many tracts of land to arriving settlers. The company provided roads, canals and other infrastructure. In 1802, the Buffalo (labelled New Amsterdam on the map) street structure was laid out. In 1839, all of its holdings had been sold and the company closed its offices in Batavia. At the turn of the century, there was a small settlement on Buffalo Creek and the area became known as the Town of Buffalo. The name of New Amsterdam probably did not become popular since New York City had also been called New Amsterdam. At the time of the War of 1812-15, the area had a population of about 1,500 inhabitants. The Niagara River Region saw many battles on both the Canadian and American sides of the river. American armies crossed the Niagara River and fought battles at Queenston, Chippewa, Lundy’s Lane, Newark, and Fort Erie. Buffalo fell to the British in late December 1813 and was burned down as revenge for the burning of Newark. By the end of the war, the Niagara River remained the line of demarcation of the border between Canada and the United States. During the first two decades of the nineteenth century, the Holland Land Company dominated western New York State. Joseph Ellicott, as their agent, also operated as “banker” of the region, selling land, at $1-2.5 per acre, and loaning money to most of the new settlers. Some specie, scrip and bank notes from eastern New York banks circulated. The Bank of Utica, 200 miles to the east started issuing notes in 1812 and The Ontario Bank at Canandaigua, 100 miles away, started in 1813. Buffalo was rebuilt after the War of 1812, incorporated as a city in 1816, and became the capital of Niagara County. In the same year, the first bank in the region, the Bank of Niagara at Buffalo, was formed. Figure 1. Map of the northern half of the HollandLandPurchase in Western New York (LOC). Figure 1. Joseph Ellicott SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 98 Since Joseph Ellicott was providing banking services, he was initially not very enthusiastic about the bank’s formation. However, given limited circulating specie and eastern banknotes, he joined other local leaders in the formation of the Bank of Niagara. The bank received its charter, in the summer of 1816 with capital of $500,000 and was to operate for 16 years. The New York legislature in Albany designated it a specie bank, the first in the state of New York, that is, the bank must have enough hard currency for on-demand redemption by its depositors and of its banknotes. The new bank would serve the entire community, for farming and other day-to-day mercantile business. Augustus Porter and later Ellicott were directors of the bank. Isaac Kibbe was the first president and Isaac Leake the first cashier. The bank opened its doors on October 1, 1816, the date on its first non-fractional banknotes. The Bank of Niagara’s notes, rather than specie, became almost the only medium of exchange in western New York. It was located at Washington and North Division Streets. “Many Canadians also bought Niagara stock, and at Canada’s Fort Erie the commanding officer proposed to exchange British guineas valued at ten thousand dollars for a like sum in notes of the Bank of Niagara. The investors in this bank expected the Niagara notes to become the circulating media not only in western New York, but also in the Michigan territory. In servicing such a large area, the bank would circulate more money than it possessed in actual capital and, at the same time, could give its stockholders large dividends. These hopes seemed to be coming true, for in January, 1817, the directors declared a 9 percent dividend.”1 Early Maverick bank notes of the Bank of Niagara Peter Maverick2 (1780-1831), shown in Fig. 3, was an early 19th century engraver who engraved maps, book plates and illustrations, portraits and over 200 obsolete banknotes in the 1810s and 1820s. Figure 4 probably shows the original and first $1 and $3 proof notes pulled from a plate engraved by Peter Maverick in 1816 for the Bank of Niagara located in Buffalo, New York. This copper plate had denominations of 1.2.3.3. dollars with check letters of A.B.C.D, which was determined by the surviving notes from this plate. Notice that the check letters were not A.A.A.B, as they would become with later plates done via siderography, that was patented in 1813 by the American engineer Jacob Perkins (1766-1849).3 With siderography,4 a small die would be engraved, say, with a vignette of Niagara Falls, then transferred via a cylindrical transfer role, that then could be used to transfer the same vignette to several notes of a 4/on steel plate. This process was considered counterfeit proof at the time since all of the same vignettes of the notes would have exactly the same strokes of the burin. As can be seen from Fig. 4, the engravings of Niagara Falls on the two notes are quite different. Besides the sky, there are many other subtle differences in the spray of both the American and the Canadian Falls. However, the most noticeable difference is in the number, shape and placement of the foreground trees. This certainly indicates that Peter Maverick engraved the same vignette very differently for the $1 and the $3 notes of the plate, and probably even for the unknown $2 notes. Close comparisons of imperfections in the proof notes, reveals that the $1 proof of Fig. 4 is the Haxby5 plate note (NY-460-G20p). Since Haxby illustrated a proof note, he did not know of, nor have access to any images of issued $1 notes. This note last crossed the auction block in the November 1996 Spink sale of The Western Reserve Historical Society. The $3/D proof (NY-460-G56p) was sold by Smythe in their 2006 Schingoethe sale #6 to this lucky author. This $3/D proof note is not listed in Haxby since he had an image of an issued note. These proofs are some of the earliest surviving proofs of the United States obsolete era of banknotes. Given the engraving of Niagara Falls, they are also some of the first with an engraving based on local scenery. The 1990s auction of the American Bank Note Company archives did not contain any proofs from this bank. Figure 3. Peter Maverick Figure 4. Two 1816 proof banknotes of the Bank of Niagara at Buffalo (Russell Kaye, BW). SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 99 Source of the Niagara Falls vignette This author is always interested in determining the source of a particular engraving like that of Niagara Falls6 in Fig. 4. The top 1810 engraving of Fig. 5, by George Cooke, entitled General view of the Falls of Niagara, was based on drawings by John James Barralet after sketches by Alexander Wilson.7 The middle image is an 1813 direct copy engraving of Cooke’s done by Peter Maverick for A Gazetteer of the State of New York. There were limited copyright laws at the time, especially for foreign engravings. Both of these engravings measure about 4 by 7 inches and are thus too large for a banknote measuring about 3 by 7 inches. Maverick therefore significantly decreased the size and simplified the engraving shown at the bottom of Fig. 5 for the banknotes of Fig. 4. Notice the removal of the people and horses at bottom center. Issued Banknotes from the first plate Issued bank notes from any of the Bank of Niagara notes with vignettes of Niagara Falls are very rare. Haxby lists the $2 note as Surviving Examples Not Confirmed (SENC) and this author has never seen one either over the last 30 years. Figure 6 shows three of the four issued notes known, at least to this author. The condition of these notes is very poor, missing significant portions of the notes. However, all seem to be signed by Isaac Kibbe as the first president and Isaac Leake as the first cashier on 1 Oct. 1816. The top $1 note of Fig. 6, Haxby NY-460-G20, with S#5050 seems to be the only surviving $1 issued note. There are three $3 notes (G56): the middle $3/C note with S#2534/C, the bottom banknote with S#1481/D, and the Haxby plate note with S#717/D. The latter note only has a small piece missing at the upper left, but has not been seen in any auction by this author. Counterfeit Banknotes of the first plate Haxby lists and prices a counterfeit of the $1 (C20) note; however, he shows no image of such a note. He does show an image of the $3 (C56) counterfeit with check letter D. This author has not seen any counterfeits of this type with check letter of C. All known $3 counterfeit notes have check letter D, as shown in Fig. 7. At first glance, the top note of Fig. 7 looks like it might be an uncut note from a remainder sheet. However, since it has the check letter D, it would come from the bottom of the sheet. That is, it should not have the large upper margin next to the $3/C note. this also indicates that the counterfeit notes came from a plate of one, as was typical. The bottom note of Fig. 7 shows a finished or “issued” counterfeit note of the one above it. Close comparison of the many features of the two notes confirms that they are the same. The vignettes with trees, waterfalls, sky, etc. are the same. The moiré patterns at the left and right panels of the notes are the same. Russell Kaye, of Hudson Valley Antique Currency, taught this author to look very closely at the printer’s imprints. Figure 8 shows a closeup comparison of the $3 proof of Fig. 4 with the same D position counterfeit remainder of Fig. 7. As Russell has indicated, the proof shows a very well engraved imprint of P. Maverick, whereas, the counterfeit shows a very poor engraving. The imprints are so small that the counterfeiters did not spend much time on a good engraving thereof. The genuine note has a period after the imprint and the counterfeit does not. Unfortunately, this difference in imprints is not that obvious on many of the well-worn genuine or counterfeit bank notes. The ultimate determination of genuineness versus counterfeit is comparing proof notes to the candidate note. Figure 5. Engravings of Niagara Falls by George Cooke, Peter Maverick and Peter Maverick (Philadelphia Print Shop, Lane, BW). Figure 6. Three rare issued 1816 banknotes from the first plate (2017 Heritage, BW, Russell Kaye). Figure 7. A “remainder” counterfeit note and an “issued” counterfeit note (Russell Kaye, BW). SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 100 During this time Cyrus Durand, an apprentice of Maverick’s, perfected a ruling machine that produced the end panels of these banknotes with various changing moiré patterns. Due to the closely spaced lines, most counterfeiters were unable to produce good moiré patterns. The right side of Fig. 8 shows how different the moiré patterns are between the two notes. The counterfeiters of this note were able to produce passable moiré patterns. However, unless the recipient of the note has a genuine $3/D note for comparison, these moiré patterns turned out to be a poor counterfeit deterrent. So now, Figures 4 to 8 can be used to determine whether a note is counterfeit or not. Returning to the genuine $3/D note, one sees that this note is much closer to the proof than the counterfeit in the imprints and the moiré patterns. This author feels that a detailed comparison of the vignette will determine whether a note is genuine or counterfeit. In particular, looking at the darker and taller trees in the foreground. The genuine notes have three groves of about five or six trees each that are much taller than the background shrubbery. The counterfeits seem to be missing the middle grove and the left grove is not as prominent. Also, all of the counterfeit 3/D notes are missing the period after the D. This is true of all 11 known images of the $3/D counterfeits. The serial numbers for these C56 counterfeits are: 747, 1211, 1249, 1317, 1320, 1322, 1323 ,1333, 1755, 3069, plus the remainder. Thus, given the 2 proofs, 4 genuine notes, and two handfuls of $3/D counterfeits, it turns out to be relatively easy to separate the counterfeits from the genuine notes. Without the proofs, this would have been difficult. Since there is no evidence that a $2/B ever existed, the plate might have been $1.1.3.3 instead of $1.2.3.3. Since no proof exists of the $3/C notes, it is also possible that the $3/C note of Fig. 6 could be an excellent counterfeit! However, since it is unique, this is doubtful. A modified $1.2.3.3 plate Recognizing that the moiré patterns at the left and right panels were not counterfeit deterrents, the bank and the engraver probably determined to change the panels for the Bank of Niagara notes of 1 Dec. 1817, just 14 months after the date of the first set of notes. The result is shown in Fig. 9 and to be compared to the proofs of Fig. 4. The widths of the new panels are slightly wider which makes the notes slightly wider since the central parts of the notes were not changed much. Haxby lists prices and shows a proof of the bottom $3/D note, G60. The issued note in the figure was sold in 2009 at Stacks and Bowers for a whopping $1,610, after only realizing $115 at Smythe six years earlier . This author obtained the top $1/A well-used note for the very good price of $22. This note is not listed in Haxby, making it a discovery note. Interestingly, both notes do not have an imprint, indicating that the plate might not have been altered by Peter Maverick, although Haxby lists the Maverick imprint in parenthesis as the possible printer. Comparing the vignette of the proofs in Fig. 4 to these two notes, one can determine that the Niagara Falls vignettes, especially the trees, are the same. The notes are thus, most probably genuine and printed with the altered Maverick plate. The engraver of the $1/A note added “State of N. York” above the vignette since this information was previously contained in the right panel shown in Fig. 4. The last change for these notes is the interesting engraved names of the payees. That is, on the $1 note, J. Ellicott is the payee while the $3 has E. Walden, a director of the bank, as the payee. Respectively, the $3 note has signatures of E. Walden as V(ice) president and J. Ellicott as president. This shows that both directors of the bank signed over notes to each other. What machinations might have been involved in this effort? It is interesting to note that J. Ellicott did not become president until July 1818. Isaac Leake still signed as cashier. Figure 8. A closeup of the imprints of the $3 proof and $3 remainder counterfeit. Figure 9. Two 1817 banknotes from the 1816 modified plate (BW, 2009 Stack’s). SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 101 High denomination plates Low denomination banknotes, from a plate of $1.2.3.3, were extremely useful for day-to-day monetary transactions. A sheet of banknotes from the low denomination plate would add up to $9 and since a copper plate, at the time, could print only about 5,000 sheets, this would add up to only 10% of its designated capital of $500,000. A plate could be retouched as mentioned above or a new plate could be created. None of the notes mentioned in this article have serial numbers above 5,050. If there were more plates engraved, these notes would also have check letters above D. Since banks would also exchange money between themselves, larger denomination banknotes would make this much easier. Figure 10 shows a $5 and a $50 banknote with Niagara Falls vignettes. The $5 note is listed only as a proof in Haxby. Comparison of the note of Fig. 10 to the Haxby plate proof, reveals that this issued note is probably genuine and possibly unique. It was found on eBay, in 2007, for only $85. Yes, there are still bargains to be had on eBay. The firm of Willard & Rawdon of South Albany NY, printed this beauty. Both Asaph Willard and Ralph Rawdon studied under Abner Reed. The company only existed shortly in 1816 and 1817. The vignette is based on an 1806 drawing by Daniel Wadsworth. It is signed by the same cashier and president of the 1816 notes of Fig. 6. Unfortunately, the plate configuration is impossible to determine since other notes from this plate are unknown. This note, like the proof, has a check letter of B, making it the second note of a 4/on plate. It, of course, is possible that all of the notes of such a plate had a denomination of $5. The serial number of 3086 suggests that such a plate would have covered more than $100,000 of the bank’s capital. This author always wondered what the letterpress “M,” located to the right of the Niagara engraving, was supposed to mean. Reading Stephen DeWitt Stephens’ book (Ref. 1), the feud between Peter Maverick and his apprentice, Asher Durand, engendered this designation. The “M” for Maverick was an indicator that he and not Durand created the vignette. Remnants of the “M,” looking more like a “V,” can also be seen on the vignette of the $3 note of Fig. 9. If Durand had engraved a vignette, there would be a “D” on the note. This, of course, would be in addition to a D check letter if appropriate. Since the imprint of the $5 note in Fig. 10 is that of Willard & Rawdon, this firm probably printed the notes from a plate engraved by Peter Maverick. This was not unusual when, say Maverick, did not have the capacity to print all of these notes and probably others from other banks. Maverick even advertised that he, himself, would print notes from other’s plates. He stated that printing is much more profitable than engraving a plate. In addition, his apprentices, including several of his daughters, could perform the printing operation. The end panels are very similar to others that were printed by Willard & Rawdon, whose imprint sometimes was W&R. The $50 proof, without check letter, shown in Fig. 10 is also the Haxby plate note (G104) and might therefore be unique and that in 1988, there was no issued note known to Haxby. The imprint is that of Peter Maverick residing in Newark, NJ, where he had recently bought a large farm for his extremely large family. Also listed in Haxby are $10, $20 and $100 notes with the designation of NDA or No Data Available. It might have been a 4/on plate with denominations of 10.20.50.100 and maybe had different engravings of Niagara Falls. Another possibility is that the $5 note was part of a Willard & Rawdon plate of $5.5.10.20 and the $50 note came from a Maverick half plate of $50.100, saving metal and separate engravings since siderography probably was not used for these notes. Figure 11 shows an enlarged vignette of the $50 proof and the larger source thereof below it. The source is from an engraving entitled The Falls of Niagara by Robert Sutcliff.8 This author is reminded of the many Louis Hennepin derivatives from the 18th century that distorted the height to length dimensions of Niagara Falls. Since the vignette needed to be much smaller for a banknote, Peter Maverick changed the aspect ratio to make it more like the actual falls of Niagara. One can even see the four spectators below the falls in the lower right. Figure 10. Different Niagara Falls vignettes on a $5 issued and on a $50 proof (BW, BW). Figure 11. Closeup of the $50 Niagara Falls vignette with its 1810 source (BW, Sutcliff). SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 102 Summary and Conclusions During its first two years of operation, probably four plates were produced for the Bank of Niagara of Buffalo. They were probably all engraved by Peter Maverick, although Willard & Rawdon printed notes from the third plate. The second plate was modified from the first plate. Together they had at least three very different vignettes of Niagara Falls that were inspired by the sublime local scenery. From October 1816 to early 1819, the bank offered services to the early settlers of the Niagara Region, including for Canadians. Some notes probably served surrounding areas because both specie and paper were in very short supply during this time. The bank suspended redemption of notes in 1819, but reopened shortly afterwards. However, afterwards, it was not considered a major banking house for the region and finally closed its doors in 1827. Buffalo did not have a new bank until 1831 when the Bank of Buffalo opened. Given this lack of banking in the region and Buffalo’s building boom engendered by Benjamin Rathbun, in the 1830s, he issued his own scrip notes in a pyramid scheme that resulted in his imprisonment in 18369. As a summary of the known, at least to this author, banknotes from the Bank of Niagara, Table I shows those with Niagara Falls vignettes for the four plates. The columns represent the Haxby number, the printer, the denomination, the serial number with check letter, the date on the note, the grade, the price realized, the date of the auction, and the auction house. Haxby in the last column indicates that it is the plate note in Haxby. The serial numbers of the known counterfeit notes have been mentioned above. Note that there were only two different dates of issue, 14 months apart. The circa 5,000 sheets per plate, with corresponding values of $9+9+40+150=$208 could easily have amounted to the original capital of $500,000 and the redemption and destruction of redeemed poor quality notes for the Bank of Niagara. From the above discussion and the summary in the table, one determines that these notes are quite rare today. That is, most were redeemed or somehow destroyed. There are five known proofs, about seven issued notes and about a dozen counterfeits. Of course, neither the proofs nor the counterfeits were redeemable. This article shows six out of the seven issued notes for a total of $(1+3*3+1+3+5)=$19 of unredeemed notes. One of them might also be a very good and dangerous counterfeit. As the title indicates, this article is Part 1 in a series of articles about the banknotes of the Bank of Niagara at Buffalo. Part 2 will discuss another plate of notes, while Part 3 will discuss the rest of the later 1820’s notes, and maybe Part 4 will exhibit the fractional currency of this bank. All images in this article are from the author’s collection (BW) except where specifically stated otherwise. Thanks go to Russell Kaye for his generous use of his high-resolution images. If anyone has more or better images of these Bank of Niagara of Buffalo notes or additional information for the registry of notes of Table I, this author would appreciate copies sent to cuf@earthlink.net. 1 Chazanoff, William, Joseph Ellicott and the Holland Land Company: The Opening of Western New York. Syracuse University Press. 1969, p. 147, ISBN 978-0815601616. The oil Portrait of Peter Maverick was done by John Neagle in 1826. 2 Stephen DeWitt Stephens, The Mavericks: American Engravers, Rutgers University Press, 1950, frontispiece. 3 Greville and Dorothy Bathe, Jacob Perkins, His inventions, His Times, & His Contemporaries, Philadelphia, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1943. Also see Mark D. Tomasko, The Feel of Steel, American Numismatic Society, New York, 2012. 4 Bernhard Wilde, ”Siderography: Niagara Falls on Steel” CPMS Journal, Vol. 54, No. 158, September 2018, p. 74. 5 James A. Haxby, Standard Catalog of United States Obsolete Banknotes 1782-1866, Krause Publications, 1988, p. 1468. 6 Christopher W. Lane, Impressions of Niagara, The Charles Rand Penney Collection of Prints of Niagara Falls and the Niagara River from the Sixteenth to the early Twentieth Century, Philadelphia Print Shop Ltd, 1993, ISBN 978-0963692405, p. 41. 7 Alexander Wilson, The Foresters: A Poem, Descriptive of a Pedestrian Journey to the Falls of Niagara in the Autumn of 1804, in Port Folio New Series 1-3 ( June 1809 - March 1810 ). 8 Robert Sutcliff, Travels in Some Parts of North America In The Years 1804, 1805 and 1806, Philadelphia, 1812, frontispiece. 9 Bernhard Wilde, “Benjamin Rathbun, Master Builder and Banker of Early Buffalo, New York,” to be published in Paper Money. Table I. Known notes with Niagara Falls vignettes from the four plates SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 103 ALFRED QUIMBY PERIODCAL MART SCRIP By Rick Melamed Shown is a 2¢ and 3¢ merchant scrip from Quimby’s Periodical Mart from Manchester, New Hampshire (only denominations known). These notes were issued durng the Civil War when the dearth of coinage forced merchants and municipalities to issue their own privately made tokens and currency to make change. The notes are numbered and signed by the proprietor, Alfred Quimby. What makes these notes stand out is the American shield with 13 stars and stripes and the “UNION” imprint. No doubt where Mr. Quimby’s loyalties lay. The story of the benevolent and generous Mr. Quimby is worth exploring. Amost 100 years after his death, Alfred Quimby's name still resonates in his native Sandwich, N.H. He was born on September 20, 1829; died August 14, 1901. He married Nancy Torrence Starbird on October 30, 1853, in Bowdoinham, Sagadahoc, Maine. They were the parents of at least 6 sons and 1 daughter. In 1860, he and his family moved to Manchester and began work at Daniel F. Buckley's news and stationery store on Hanover Street, eventually buying the store and making it a thriving and profitable company. When the Civil War broke out in 1861 many men from New Hampshire enlisted. Quimby did his part to keep the locals up to date on the news. Every day he rode the early morning train to Boston to stock up on the latest newspapers that recounted troop action. When someone bought a paper and was owed change, Quimby resorted to using his privately made scrip for change. For decades, the fund he established has helped educate children and made college a reality for the town's young people. At the time of his death, Quimby’s estate was valued at $1 million. In his birth town of Sandwich, Quimby's bequeathed an average of $5,000 each to 24 relatives and friends. His will directed a trust of $244,000 be formed to help meet some of the town's most basic needs such as the development of the Quimby School. It was active for 80 years but is now closed. Quimby’s will also gave funds for road and bridge improvements and rural electrification. This circa 1820 barn in Sandwich, N.H. was part of the Quimby School. After the school closed in 1963, the barn was acquired by the Sandwich Fair Association, which leased it to the Sandwich Historical Society in 1991. The barn now serves as the society's Transportation Museum. Thanks to the New Hampshire Historical Society for Quimby’s biography and to Stack’s of the currency images. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 104 Sad Banknote Story of Port of Antofagasta By Roland Rollins I was researching images on banknotes not from the country of issue. From my collection, I came across this 500 Pesos Bolivianos banknote of Bolivia issued in the early 1980s. The note features coat of arms and Eduardo Abaroa Hidalgo on the front. The reverse offers a view of ships and buildings in Puerto de Antofagasta, Chile. The note is attributed by the Standard Catalog of Paper Money (Pick) as P165 (printed by American Bank Note Company) and P166 (printed by Thomas de la Rue Company). In the Bolivia chapter of The Bank Note book it’s attributed as B352a to B352c. This certainly appears to fit the criteria for this series of banknote and their images, but sadly not so! The reason is the Port of Antofagasta used to be part of Bolivia! The Bank Note Book adds that the image on the reverse as circa 1879. In fact, it was the only port Bolivia had for access to the Pacific! Bolivia lost access to the port city of Antofagasta during the War of the Pacific, which resulted in the country losing its entire coastline to Chile and becoming landlocked. The war ran from 1879–1883, with the conflict officially ending in 1904 when Bolivia signed a treaty accepting the loss of its coastal territory. In all, Bolivia ceded about 250 square miles to Chile. Colonel Abaroa was declared a hero of the war; though he lost his life in the first conflict with Chile after all the remaining troops of Bolivia had withdrawn. The silver mine the then engineer Abaroa worked at was also lost to Chile. The banknote celebrates the major hero of the war, but displays the man and more critically the only port - both lost to Chile. At best, Bolivians must have viewed the note with pride in Abaroa, but anger, dismay, weakened economy, and a great sense of loss to its once precious coastline. Bolivia is a country with a navy, but no sea. Every year, Bolivians mark the Day of the Sea on March 24th, where politicians give speeches and people listen to the recorded sound of seagulls. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 105 U N C O U P L E D : PAPER MONEY’S ODD COUPLE Joseph E. Boling Fred Schwan Official Counterfeiting—Thailand During WWII Thailand fell under the influence of Japan. While not formally occupied, the tradeoff for that status was provision of rice and other agricultural products for Japanese troops throughout the region. Thailand was bounded on the north by Burma, and on the south by the Straits Settlements, both British colonies, and both occupied by Japan. The British inserted clandestine teams of the Special Operations Executive into both colonies. Some of their work was with Thai nationalists resisting Japanese economic programs in Thailand. Those folks needed cash (as well as other support, such as weapons and training). So, how to get cash for them? As the war continued, the production quality of circulating notes in Thailand deteriorated. Before the war Thai notes came from Britain, printed by DeLaRue (DLR). During the war, notes were first printed locally at the Thai national topographic agency (they had large presses for printing maps). Early in the war, intaglio notes from Japan (printed without imprint for the Mitsui Trading Company) circulated for a while. Those were replaced by additional local products, and by some series printed in the Dutch East Indies (also occupied by Japan). All those printers were handicapped by wartime shortages of paper and ink, leading to reduced quality. The prewar British notes were preferred by Thai merchants, who considered that they would be valid after the war, whereas the notes issued under Japanese influence likely would not be. To provide notes of pre- war quality to anti-Japanese groups, the SOE in Britain approached DLR to reprint some of the pre-war notes, with serial numbers that had already been used, so that users in Thailand would not be tripped up by serial numbers higher than those originally issued. See Boling page Armed Forces Leave Bonds “Carter Glass” is the answer to a question in the quiz contest played each year at MPCFest. The question is “Whose portrait appears on Armed Forces Leave bonds?” The same answer could be given to the question “Whose portrait appears on a United States bond and a United States coin?” (1936 Lynchburg, Virginia commemorative half dollar). Carter Glass (4 January 1858 – 28 May 1946) is the answer. Glass was an American newspaper publisher and Democratic politician from Lynchburg. He represented Virginia in both houses of Congress and served as the United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Woodrow Wilson. He played a major role in the establishment of the U.S. financial regulatory system, helping to establish the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (info from Wikipedia). The first numismatic reference that we know of to show Armed Forces Leave Bonds (AFLB) was World War II Remembered (1995, page 393 catalog number 321). I was at one of the Cherry Hill, NJ paper money shows in the early 1990s. I cannot remember if Joe was there. A collector handed me the tattered $75 leave bond shown in Remembered. Of course I had never seen anything like it. Sadly, I cannot remember who the collector was—I would love to give him credit. Anyway, we worked out a deal and the bond went home with me and into Remembered. Armed Forces Leave Bonds were issued after World War II under provisions of the Leave Act of 1946 as compensation for unused leave. The value of the bond issued was based on accrued leave, rank, subsistence and quarters allowance, and length of service. Payment was limited to 120 days of accrued leave. The bonds were issued in computer punch-card SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 106 form to “enable the Treasury Department to handle it promptly” according to text on the back. The denomination was printed on each bond based on the amount due to the recipient in multiples of $25.00 with a minimum of $50.00. The amount due in excess of the multiple of $25.00 was paid by check. The bonds earned 2.5% and had an original maturity of five years. In July 1947 the terms were modified to permit immediate redemption of the bonds. A document titled Current Business, dated August 1947 published by the Department of Commerce, contained an article titled “Redemption of Armed Forces Leave Bonds.” The subject of the article was the effect of the immediate redemption of Armed Forces Leave Bonds upon the economy using the experience of the redemption of Adjusted Service Bonds in 1936 as a model. The prediction was that it would have a substantial expansionary effect on the economy. This document was found by Jim Downey and reported in MPCGram 1634, 15 April 2008. The following information concerning Armed Forces Leave Bonds is paraphrased from the Current Business article. As of 30 June 1947, approximately 8,500,000 veterans held Armed Forces Leave Bonds having a face value plus accrued interest of $1,838,000,000. Fifty- four million dollars had been redeemed because of the death of the owner or for use to pay life insurance premiums. Although it was difficult to estimate how many of the remaining 6,000,000 veterans of World War II were eligible for bond payments and might be expected to make applications before 1 September 1948 (the new deadline replacing 1 September 1947), indications were that the bonds already issued constituted the bulk of the government liability. The average holding (face value plus interest) was $216, and 82% of the total bond value was in denominations of $400 or less. While the face value of the bonds ranged from $50 to $1,000 and more, the greatest concentration of total bond value was in the smaller denominations, with almost 30% of the total value in $125 to $200 bonds, and an additional 29% in $225 to $300 bonds. The concentration of veterans holding bonds in the smaller denominations was even greater, with 93% of the veterans holding bonds in denominations of $400 or less, and 39% in denominations ranging from $125 to $200. A chart accompanying the article showed the distribution of bonds. denom bonds out value outstanding as . of 30 June 1947 $50-100 1,762,000 $142,000,000 $125-200 3,284,000 $544,000,000 $225-300 2,016,000 $529,000,000 $325-400 812,000 $295,000,000 $425-500 336,000 $157,000,000 $525-1000 275,000 $152,000,000 $1025- 15,000 $19,000,000 A close look at the chart leads to the conclusion that the breaks in the list of denominations generate collectable (barely) varieties! As I see it now, we should have varieties alpha through golf for the second edition of Remembered! A full set of seven bonds would be a remarkable sight. Heck, it would be great to assemble a set of images! I will try to do that if you will help by sending me images from your collections or at least sending me notice of what you have (fredschwan@yahoo.com). If we can find images of the all (or even most), we will show them here in the future. AFLBs are scarce. They were rare until the Internet age. Now it is possible to find one—if you are diligent. At the same time you should be able to find an AFLB check. These were created as a result of the issuing scheme described above. The checks are fascinating. They add new collecting opportunities. In at least most cases, the checks were issued by the respective arms of service (Army and Navy). Some of the checks were issued by “War Finance.” The example of a War Finance check that we have for illustration here is spectacular for additional reasons. It was issued by an Army finance officer in San Juan, Puerto Rico! Most WW II territorial numismatic items are rare and desirable, so discovery of this check is exciting. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 107 Armed Forces Leave Bonds are fascinating historical documents. I am surprised at how much we have learned about them after the chance discovery of the first example thirty years ago. Boling continued DLR declined the request for reprints, pointing out that the Thai Finance Ministry was their customer, not the British government. The government then confiscated the printing plates. Handing them back to DLR as Crown property, they ordered DLR to use them as originally requested. DLR did so, but first introduced tiny changes that could be used after the war to identify the illicit products, should the Thai government wish to repudiate them. This, of course, was a major violation of operational security. If the Japanese learned how to identify the reissued notes, anyone found using them would be subject to on-the- spot beheading. In the end, the new notes were used in areas far from direct Japanese influence (remember, there were no occupation troops), and they apparently were not brought to the attention of Thai officials until late in or after the war. The government then allowed them to be exchanged for legitimate money if they had been acquired in normal commerce. The modified notes are now known as the Free Thai issues. They were never common, and not all were used, so today they are minor rarities among Thai currency series. This column points out the typographic changes in the plates that can be used to identify the Free Thai pieces. There are also minor (harder to identify) differences in signature overprints; those will not be discussed. Interestingly, the SOE agents who took delivery in the UK did not notice that there were no signatures on the notes. DLR never printed signatures; those were applied by the Finance Ministry in Bangkok before issue. When the reprints arrived in India for use in the field, typographic plates for signatures had to be created there and the notes overprinted by hand on field printing presses. The table shows the serial ranges that were reprinted, spread across many alphanumeric blocks and a few tens of thousands of individual serial numbers within each block. For the one-baht denomination, 36 blocks were used and only 41,667 notes per block. For the ten-baht notes, only nine blocks were used, and 7,000 notes per block. If a note in hand does not fall into one of the ranges shown, you need not look for the typographic changes. Note the sixth line in the five-baht group, not properly aligned. This table is taken directly from the IBNS Journal, and it was misprinted there. The five-baht note is the one most commonly found among the Free Thai issues. Either the one-baht notes were all used up in circulation, or they were not used much because of low face value, and were mostly destroyed. I have never handled one. I have handled five of the five-baht notes, none of which was correctly described by its seller (four from auctions, and one in a friend’s stock, which I pointed out to him). I have handled only one ten-baht note, again not correctly described by its auctioneer. Thai auctions always describe them properly; the only one-baht note I have seen offered went for more than I could pay. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 108 Figure 1 (bottom, prior page) shows an original five-baht note, with blue arrows pointing to the regions of the note that contain the diagnostics. Figure pairs 2-3, 4-5, and 6-7 show the places where lines were removed from the plate, or a triangular device was extended. There are other places that show differences as well; feel free to find more if you have a pair of notes to compare with each other. Figure 8 shows an original printing of the ten-baht note, also with regions identified. Figure pair 9-10 (below) again shows lines removed or the triangle extended. The bay in figure 5 and the notch in figure 10 are both naked-eye diagnostics; you do not need magnification to see them if you know what you are looking for. Figure 11 is an original printing of the one-baht note. As I said, I do not have a Free Thai piece to photograph. Based on the somewhat crude photos in the IBNS article from which the table is drawn, I am sure that figure 12's triangle will be extended, and I am surmising that the two top lines indicated in figure 13 will both be removed. Figure 13 uses red arrows because there is so much blue already in the picture. Good luck searching for these. If you have a spare Free Thai one-baht note, I am looking for one. Figure pairs 2-3 Figure pairs 4-5 Figure pairs 6-7 Figure 8 Figure 11 Figures 12 & 13 SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 109 You Collect. We Protect. Learn more at: www.PCGS.com/Banknote PCGS.COM | THE STANDARD FOR THE RARE COIN INDUSTRY | FOLLOW @PCGSCOIN | ©2021 PROFESSIONAL COIN GRADING SERVICE | A DIVISION OF COLLECTORS UNIVERSE, INC. PCGS Banknote is the premier third-party certification service for paper currency. All banknotes graded and encapsulated by PCGS feature revolutionary Near-Field Communication (NFC) Anti-Counterfeiting Technology that enables collectors and dealers to instantly verify every holder and banknote within. VERIFY YOUR BANKNOTE WITH THE PCGS CERT VERIFICATION APP Lyn Knight Currency Auct ions If you are buying notes... You’ll find a spectacular selection of rare and unusual currency offered for sale in each and every auction presented by Lyn Knight Currency Auctions. Our auctions are conducted throughout the year on a quarterly basis and each auction is supported by a beautiful “grand format” catalog, featuring lavish descriptions and high quality photography of the lots. Annual Catalog Subscription (4 catalogs) $50 Call today to order your subscription! 800-243-5211 If you are selling notes... Lyn Knight Currency Auctions has handled virtually every great United States currency rarity. We can sell all of your notes! Colonial Currency... Obsolete Currency... Fractional Currency... Encased Postage... Confederate Currency... United States Large and Small Size Currency... National Bank Notes... Error Notes... Military Payment Certificates (MPC)... as well as Canadian Bank Notes and scarce Foreign Bank Notes. We offer: Great Commission Rates Cash Advances Expert Cataloging Beautiful Catalogs Call or send your notes today! If your collection warrants, we will be happy to travel to your location and review your notes. 800-243-5211 Mail notes to: Lyn Knight Currency Auctions P.O. Box 7364, Overland Park, KS 66207-0364 We strongly recommend that you send your material via USPS Registered Mail insured for its full value. Prior to mailing material, please make a complete listing, including photocopies of the note(s), for your records. We will acknowledge receipt of your material upon its arrival. If you have a question about currency, call Lyn Knight. He looks forward to assisting you. 800-243-5211 - 913-338-3779 - Fax 913-338-4754 Email: lyn@lynknight.com - support@lynknight.c om Whether you’re buying or selling, visit our website: www.lynknight.com Fr. 379a $1,000 1890 T.N. Grand Watermelon Sold for $1,092,500 Fr. 183c $500 1863 L.T. Sold for $621,000 Fr. 328 $50 1880 S.C. Sold for $287,500 Lyn Knight Currency Auctions Deal with the Leading Auction Company in United States Currency Robert Calderman When a Cherry Starts to Turn Sour! It is a joyous monumental day when we get the opportunity to purchase a note for such a gift price that it makes us take a step back and ask ourselves, “Did that really just happen?” Where would we be here in this column without those legendary moments of triumph? Well today we look at exactly the opposite of one of our typical success stories and highlight a note that, for at least a few pickers, was an amazing opportunity on the surface that unfortunately, once the dust settled, left them watching their hopes and dreams of the deal of a lifetime crash and burn. Of course this is all in jest as is typical here. When the good stuff brings actual real money, should it be a surprise to us? If every note was a steal then the overall market would be an absolute mess! Here we have a note that even though it sold seemingly strong, could it still actually be an amazing bargain? Let’s take a closer look. Tuesday February 4th, 2025 a rather innocuous looking group lot pair of $5 PMG graded notes appeared on the Heritage weekly U.S. paper money auction. With a very brief lot description, an ultra low opening bid, and no reserve, this was the beginning of a very exciting proposition! So what makes this pair worthy of our attention? There are two five dollar Federal Reserve notes pictured both Fr.1959 with one on the Minneapolis district graded PMG 64EPQ and the other on New York graded PMG 65EPQ. These are series of 1934C fives, a series that is not rare or overly expensive in normal circumstances. The Minneapolis note in this condition is worth around $150 on a good day. The New York example in Gem would “Normally” be worth $100, bringing this group lot pair into the $200 - $300 realm in combined value. So it is no wonder why these two notes were lumped together in one lot. There is one very important feature on this New York note that makes this Gem a game changer! Accurately described in the description and on the PMG holder, this note is the ultra scarce Narrow Face variety! Currently PMG has only graded a total of seven examples of this tough variety with just two examples reaching the uncirculated level, this sole 65EPQ and a lofty trophy Superb Gem 67EPQ. Surprisingly, the 67EPQ example also sold on a Tuesday night Heritage auction back in November 2021. That note was featured in our CPC installment back in 2022 Jan/Feb Paper Money whole #337. Narrow face $5 FRN’s are only found on the series of 1934C and only on the New York district! Face plate #’s 298-303 are the ones you need to be hunting for. So what are these scarce varieties that are especially rare in CU actually worth? The two notes featured here that sold as a pair brought $1,920.00 a far stretch from the $200-$300 they were expected to bring. Hence the winning bidder did not necessarily get an absolute steal on this specialized variety. However, was this too much, or still cheap? SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 112 Back in June of 2014 on the way to dinner during a heavy downpour deluge of a rain shower and while taking shelter in an open air trolley stop in Memphis Tennessee during the infamous and now unfortunately extinct IPMS show, I was climbing my way out of the flooding streets and bidding via my cell phone on this exact narrow face $5 we have featured here! I was the unfortunate under bidder, and this note sold via Lyn Knight Auctions for $1,035 from a very wide bucket lot estimate of $500 - $2000. So now after just over ten years, this same 65EPQ note brought nearly double and even came with a free bonus Minneapolis note! So was this still a deal or did the new buyer grossly overpay? Tough varieties are not nearly as black and white when pertaining to value as we would like them to be. If only two examples are known in CU, what do other lesser examples typically sell for? Of the complete PMG census of seven narrow face 1934C NY $5 notes, three of them fall into the AU range. There is one graded AU53, and two examples graded AU55, with none of these three notes earning the coveted Exceptional Paper Quality modifier. Over the past roughly fifteen years, these AU examples have come up for auction bringing anywhere from $900 to $2280. With this in perspective, the sole 65EPQ was not an outlandish price when it brought $1920 this February! In fact, this note would have rightfully had a much better spotlight had it been featured in a Platinum sale with a $5,000 estimate and a $2,500 opening bid. When varieties are this tough that the known census can be counted in the single digits and no EPQ about uncirculated examples are bringing $1,000 - $2,000, then an attractive and rare Gem note on this popular variety is an absolute trophy note that deserves a full color spread at major auction! So even though this note may not have seemed at first glance to be a massive cherry pick, it is very possible that it none-the-less sold this year for easily half its potential outcome! If you were not the lucky winning bidder (It wasn’t me this time either), keep your eyes peeled for the next one. You may just find it in a dealer junk box at the next coin show you attend! Take a look at the recommended reading articles and study up on more great rare small size varieties. If you find something special let me know, it may be featured here in a future issue of Paper Money! Do you have a great Cherry Pick story that you’d like to share? Your note might be featured here in a future article and you can remain anonymous if desired! Email scans of your note with a brief description of what you paid and where it was found to: gacoins@earthlink.net Recommended reading: - Superb Narrow Sighting Confirmed by Robert Calderman Paper Money *Jan/Feb 2022* Whole No. 337 - The Transition from Wide to Narrow Designs on U.S. Small Size Notes between 1947–1953, Peter Huntoon and James Hodgson. Paper Money Sep/Oct 2006 Whole #245 SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 113 Vermont’s History and Postal Note Contribution By Bob Laub Vermont is located in the North-eastern section of the United States in what is known as New England. Its neighboring states include Massachusetts to the South, New Hampshire to the East, New York shares its Western most boarder, while the Canadian Province of Quebec lies to the North. The state capital is Montpelier which is the least populous state capital in the United States. The origin of the name “Vermont” is uncertain but likely comes from the French phrase “les Verte monts” meaning “The Green Mountains”. This phrase was first introduced in 1777 by Thomas Young. Vermont Republic is a term used by historians of Vermont from 1777 to 1791. In January1777, delegates from 28 towns met and declared independence from the jurisdictions and land claims of both the British Colony of Quebec and the American States of New Hampshire and New York. They also abolished adult slavery within their boundaries allowing for all adult males, regardless if they owned property or not, to vote. The independent state coined its own currency called Vermont coppers, from a mint operated by Reuben Harmon in East Rupert from 1785 until 1788 and also operated a statewide postal system. Much of the symbolism associated with Vermont during this period, expressed a desire for political union with the United States. Vermont’s coins bore the Latin inscription “Stella Quarta Decima” (meaning “The 14th Star”) Even The Great Seal of Vermont, designed by Ira Allen, centrally features a 14-branch pine tree. Vermont was admitted to the Union as the nation’s 14 state, March 4th, 1791. This was the first area to enter the United States after the 13 original colonies had joined. Vermont had always been renowned for its beautiful Marble which was mainly quarried around the western area of Rutland but it wasn’t until 1851, when the Rail Road arrived, that the Marble Quarries began to prove profitable. Rutland Vermont Serial #1 Postal Note. Rutland is Vermont’s 3rd largest city and was named after John Manners, 3rd Duke of Rutland. In 1880 the city had a census of 7,502 and by 1890 showed an increase to 8,239. These two decades are of particular interest as they represent the time period in which U.S. Postal Notes (1883-1894) were issued nationwide. During these same years the statewide population remained relatively unchanged at 332,000. When this series of postal notes was first introduced, our growing nation had about 45,000 post offices. The Government felt the notes were largely an experiment, and any problems that might arise would be more easily handled by the almost 6,500 “veteran” first class offices, rather than the 45,000 mainly inexperienced ones. Thus under the guidelines to be established, only post offices able to issue money orders (offices with an annual revenue of $250.00 or more) would also issue postal notes. During the 12-year span of postal notes, 555,317 notes were issued statewide for Vermont. As of 2021 less than 25 notes have come to light from Vermont. These 2 from Rutland are the states only serial #1’s. This particular survivor is a Type I note, easily distinguishable from other types by its yellow paper and slightly larger size. All later types were printed on an off-white paper and are about 12% smaller than Type I’s. The note was purchased on the official “first day of issue”, Monday September 3rd, 1883, and was payable only at the Boston Massachusetts Post Office. The note was issued in the amount of 10 cents. (This did not include the standard 3-cent processing fee which was applied to all postal notes of the series). All Type I (and Type II) Postal Notes had to have a city or town designated at the time of purchase where the note was to be redeemed. This was a safe-guard implemented to make a note virtually worthless in the event it was stolen. The Postmaster, at the time, was Albert H. Tuttle. Mr. Tuttle held that position for 11 years from April 24th, 1874 until July 15th, 1885. The Rutland Vermont Station A, Serial #1 Postal Note. Post Office stations and branches were facilities which were subordinate to a local post office that provided a range of postal services. Until 1908, the terms “station” and “branch” were used interchangeably. The first post office branch, to serve a growing city’s needs, was in New York in 1837. This system was implemented to alleviate customer congestion at the main post offices and to make mail services more convenient in localized neighborhoods. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 114 This Type V note was printed by the Philadelphia company of Dunlap and Clarke. The firms name appears in the engraving at the bottom of the notes obverse This company was the successful low bidder, in the third and final contract, providing postal notes to the countries’ more than 6,500 Money Order Offices. This printing contract was in effect from August 15th, 1891 until the series officially ended, June 30th, 1894. The bright red serial #1, the color officially used for all serial numbers, is plainly visible on the obverse (top left center). Issued on June 20th, 1892 in the amount of 10- cents. This is evidenced by the “1” in the Dimes column having been circle punched and the “0” in the cents column punched in the same manner. If the note had been made payable for more than 99 cents a series of 4 one-dollar coupons would have remained intact at the left side of the note. The furthest coupon to the left was engraved for $4.00. The next to the right, $3.00 and so on for the $2.00 and $1.00 respectively. (An example of this would be an issued note at $4.15, all 4-dollar coupons would remain intact, also the “1” in the Dimes column and the “5” in the cents column would have been circle punched). The Station A, Rutland Vermont Money Order Form. These Money Order forms were to act as a “Letter of Advice” for a particular serial number, date and sum. The form would be forwarded to the post office designated at the time of issue. This was a safe-guard system implemented by the Government to assure any particular postal note could only be cashed at a predetermined location. If the postal note were to be stolen in route to the recipients post office, the thief would have no way of knowing where the note was to be paid out. As stated on this specific form, the issued amount is10- cents and was only to be payable at the Fair Haven, Vermont office. As anyone can see this form isn’t in the greatest condition but it is still a very rare item of postal history as very few were ever saved. To find any postal money order forms in itself is a challenge. To acquire a form which is numerically tied to one of the few known postal note survivors is an entirely different degree of rarity. The 3 items Rutland #1, Station “A” Rutland #1, and the “Money Order Form” from Station “A,” (serial #1) were originally purchased from Mr. Fred Field, a Rutland Vermont resident. Mr. Field was the grandson of Fred A. Field an early Postmaster of Rutland. Mr. Field became Rutland’s Postmaster on June 25th, 1889 and remained in that position until May 9th, 1893. The postmaster was said to be an avid collector of Stamps, U.S. Coins (including Gold), Encased Postage, Rocks and Minerals, as well as an array of different Medals. Thankfully, due to the passion of early collectors such as Mr. Field, we have links to our past preserved for future generations. As of 2021, only 18 postal notes have come to light from Vermont. The 2 notes in this article represent the only serial #1 notes known from that state. I hope you have enjoyed the article. If anyone has any questions or possibly a particular U.S. Postal Note in your collection you would like to share information on, I can be reached at briveadus2012@yahoo.com . A Ty. I, serial # 1, from Rutland, VT issued for a dime on September 3, 1883, the series official “First Day of Issue” SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 115 A Ty. V, serial # 1, from Station A, (also from Rutland, VT.) Also issued for a dime on June 20, 1892. Stations were created within certain postal areas to alleviate some of the congestion at main post offices, and to make it geographically more conveniently closer to one’s neighborhood. A Money Order receipt from Station A, Rutland, VT, which shows serial #1. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 116 In recent years, the widespread shift towards electronic alternatives has rendered physical coins and currency increasingly marginal in payments systems around the world. The speed and pervasiveness of this change makes pushing back against it seem like a reflex of crank sentimentalism. In theory, I am an unabashed fan of the stuff. But as I considered the issue, I realized that the only cash transaction I had made in recent memory was to scrounge for a quarter to unlock a shopping cart at the local Aldi store. As long as cash is something you have to think about using, then cash use will remain in trouble. Of course, cash still prevails in poorer countries with larger informal economies, but even there the trend is the same. While the shift towards cashless societies is driven by private innovations in electronic payments technologies, it is complemented by public initiatives like the development of central bank digital currencies. Some countries are moving towards integrating electronic payments within broader frameworks of national identification and surveillance, notably India’s Aadhaar and China’s Social Credit systems. Even in more liberal societies, restrictions against cash use have been justified in fighting crime, money laundering, and tax evasion. Nonetheless, amidst this general trend some stirrings of a pushback are evident. After all, there are still entire countries (Japan, Germany, and Switzerland, for example) which, for whatever inertial culture reasons, still prefer to use physical currencies. In 2022, a half million Austrians signed a petition in support of cash, leading the country’s chancellor to call for its constitutional protection. The same year Norway saw the emergence of a “JA Til Kontanter” (YES to Cash) movement. Slovakia amended its constitution in 2023 to enshrine the citizenry’s right to make cash payments. Various American states and municipalities have also mandated cash acceptability. Even Sweden, the very model of a cashless society, has nonetheless taken steps to preserve the infrastructure of cash—ATM networks as well as the deposit-taking and currency-dispensing branches of nationwide banks. This new solicitude for cash reflects three, intertwined, concerns. The first concern relates to the implications for liberty of a cashless world. The transactional anonymity that cash enables has long been a theme of libertarian critiques of overweening state power. As the extent of cash payments dwindles, fewer transactions escape official scrutiny, giving public authorities the power to restrict those transactions or even punish people for their behavior (think Canada’s Justin Trudeau freezing the bank accounts of ornery truck drivers). A more recent variant of this defense of cash focuses on privacy claims asserted against intrusive corporate scrutiny. Particularly when paired with online commerce, electronic payments enhance corporations’ ability to aggregate, and profit from, consumers’ information as revealed by their spending habits. A second concern relates to the resiliency of payments systems. Electronic means of payment may be vastly more scalable and efficient than cash, but when those systems are disrupted (whether by natural or human events), physical cash provides a low-tech backup that doesn’t depend on electricity or connectivity. In an uncertain and dangerous world, keeping cash available simply represents prudent disaster management planning. Yet a third line of defense for cash arises from a social justice critique of electronic payments systems. Even in rich countries, a significant portion of the population continues to rely on cash as its chief means of payment. Whether because of age or poverty, that part of the population which is “unbanked” suffers when the opportunities to use cash diminish. What is interesting about these three arguments for cash is that they are ideologically diverse. The first, centered on transactional freedom and anonymity, resonates among small government conservatives. Those European cash initiatives noted above are favored by right- wing populist parties suspicious of the European Union and its schemes for a digital euro. At the same time, critics of corporate power from the left can embrace the privacy- enhancing aspect of cash. Valuing cash for its transactional resiliency, as commonsense emergency preparedness, should appeal to everyone. Finally, the harm that cashlessness inflicts upon lower income communities creates yet another reason for progressives to defend it. While this suggests a robust coalition in favor of a baseline access to cash, the strength of this coalition may vary. Some pro-cash energy on the right may be drained away by the spread of cryptocurrencies, which also enable anonymous usage. Likewise, progressives may abandon cash if a more inclusive financial system remedied the discrimination currently facing the unbanked. Ultimately, support for a “right to cash” may depend upon the quality of the cash itself. Just as defending the freedom of speech becomes more difficult when that speech contains nothing but obscenities, support for a “right to cash” dwindles when all one has available to spend are hyperinflationary Venezuelan bolivars. Chump Change Loren Gatch Prospects for a “Right to Cash” SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 117 The Obsolete Corner William M. Weed by Robert Gill As you are reading this article, Spring will almost be upon us. Up to the time that I’m writing this the weather has been mild for me. But here in Southern Oklahoma it doesn’t take much of what Winter has to offer for things to go crazy. It seems that people just can’t accept the fact that we cannot stop our vehicles “on a dime”, as the old saying goes, when roads are icy. I guess the best thing to do is just stay home! And now, let’s look at the sheet that I’ve chosen to share with you. In this issue of Paper Money let’s go to the Granite State of Obsolete days and look at William M. Weed. He was a very colorful character who was successful in just about everything that he endeavored to try during his life in New Hampshire. In his excellent book, New Hampshire Merchant Scrip, Kevin LaFond tells us that William McGaffey Weed was born in 1814. In 1836, he joined Jeremiah Furber in opening a general store. Later, in 1845, he built a brick building where he operated his general store for many years. This would have been the typical country store offering everything from groceries to dry goods and hardware. Weed was extremely active in Local and State politics, serving on the Sandwich, New Hampshire, Board of Selectmen from 1846 to 1853. He was moderator at the annual town meeting from 1857 to 1860 and was a Representative in the New Hampshire Legislature in terms of 1854-55, 1867-70, 1872- 73, and 1876-77. He was also Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, and Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court from 1856 till 1874. With all these accomplishments, Weed was also chosen as an overseer of the poor in 1861, and agent to pay aid to the families of volunteers. In this later capacity, he was accused of embezzlement; however, no charges were ever filed. There was an earlier accusation that Weed, and Dr. Andrew McFarland, had operated a rather profitable recruiting scheme. It was suggested that would-be soldiers wanting to avoid service would get legal assistance from Weed, and medical affidavits from the Company Surgeon, Dr. McFarland. In 1874, when he was sixty years old, Weed was admitted to the New Hampshire Bar. He practiced primarily in minor cases throughout the 1880s. Through all his public service, William Weed was referred to as "colorful", "high- spirited", and "subject to sharp criticisms as a lawyer and politician". Along with the political service, Weed also had military service. He served as inspector of the 7th Brigade of New Hampshire Volunteers; however, he was never mustered into service. William Weed's ownership of a general store went well into the 1860s, but there are only six reported notes on this merchant; at least one of these with his signature. And there is also only one known sheet, that being the one in the adjacent scan. Its pedigree is ex-Wayne Rich / Q. David Bowers Collection. It now resides in my collection, The Southern Oklahoma Collection of Obsolete Sheets, where it will be for many years. So, there’s the history on this fabulous scrip sheet. As I always do, I invite any comments to my email address robertdalegill@gmail.com or my cell phone (580) 221-0898. And until next time, I wish you HAPPY COLLECTING. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 118 SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 119 The front of the Type-41 Treasury note endorsed by Maj. A. L. Landis, Quartermaster. Note the absence of serial numbers, a rare error. The signatures correlate to the issue date of Sept. 29th, 1862 in Thian’s Register. Image: Heritage Auctions, HA.com Major A. L. Landis, QM 17th Regiment Tennessee Infantry ilitary endorsements are not always easily deciphered and some have taken years to identify. A new discovery by a talented researcher, Logan Mifflin, exhibits an endorsement which is very clearly executed. Mifflin verified his identification in the National Archives documents available online at Fold3.com. The full endorsement on the back reads: “Issued April 20/ 63 A. L. Landis Maj & QM” Absalom “Abner” Lowe Landis (biography researched by Charles Derby and Logan Mifflin) Absalom Lowe Landis was born on August 31st, 1823, to John and Mary (Lowe) Landis in Bedford County, Tennessee. At the age of nineteen he began teaching at a school, and at twenty-four he became a merchant in Shelbyville. He later became a partner in the pork packing firm of Barrett & Landis, as well as owning the Sylvan Cotton Mills and a large plantation.1 1861 The National Archives contain a typed career summary sheet for Landis which notes that he first enlisted in the 17th Regiment Tennessee Infantry. There are 11 documents for Landis in the file for that regiment, but they contain very little information. His regiment was initially raised by the State of Tennessee on June 11th, but it transferred to the service of the Confederate States on August 15th. A muster roll with that date located Landis at Camp Buckner and noted that he was elected as a Major in the regiment, and a pay voucher confirms his rank from that date. The history of the 17th Tennessee is recounted on the excellent website tngenweb.org, which incorrectly notes Maj. Landis’ first name as “Abraham.”2 In late 1861 the regiment fought in East Tennessee. M The Quartermaster Column No. 41 by Michael McNeil Image: Heritage Auctions, HA.com SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 120 Endorsements of Landis on documents in the files of the National Archives use two forms of the capital letter “A” in his first initial. The form at top appears to be a variation used by a clerk, and it is written in the same hand seen in clerical copies of documents. The form at bottom, which we also see on the Treasury note, appears to be his genuine signature with a script which varies considerably from the hand of the clerk. images: Fold3.com Maj. A. L. Landis, Quartermaster image: see Note 4. 1862 In early 1862 the regiment was located at Iuka and Corinth, Mississippi, but it did not participate in the Battle of Shiloh. The National Archives files for Officers contain 111 documents for Landis. He was appointed as Major and Quartermaster on October 29th, reporting to Gen’l Liddell, taking rank retroactively to October 14th. On October 8th the regiment was a part of Buckner’s Division which participated in Gen’l Bragg’s invasion of Kentucky, but retreated back to Tennessee to participate in the Battle of Murfreesboro in Cleburn’s Division on December 31st.2 Landis served as the Quartermaster to Cleburn’s entire division. 1863 The 17th Tennessee Infantry was heavily engaged in the Battle of Chickamauga on September 19th to 20th. In December it formed a part of Buckner’s Division in Longstreet’s Corps in East Tennessee. 1864 On April 16th Landis was ordered to report for special duty as an “Impressing Officer of Art(iller)y, etc.” On May 15th the 17th Tennessee Infantry was transferred to the Richmond-Petersburg line of the defense of Richmond where the regiment suffered significant losses. On June 11th Landis was appointed as an Inspector of Field Transportation for Hardee’s Corps, and on October 26th he reported to Maj. N. W. Smith in the same role. A document dated November 18th located Landis at Tuscumbia, Alabama. 1865 The 17th Tennessee Infantry fought its last battle on April 2nd at Petersburg and was surrendered by Gen’l Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9th. Landis, however, was surrendered on April 26th by Gen’l Joseph E. Johnston and paroled on May 13th by Gen’l W. T. Sherman. After the war Landis became prominent in banking in Tennessee, and he secured subscriptions to furnish the capital to establish the Nashville and Chattanooga Railway. In 1880 he was elected as a Democrat to the SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 121 A. L. Landis, circa 1890. image: courtesy of L. Meyer, Artist, at Ancestry.com Beech Hall plantation, built for A. L. Landis in 1866. image: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absalom_Lowe_Landis_House Tennessee Senate. In 1886 he organized the Landis Banking Company in Nashville, and he also served as the branch director of a bank in Shelbyville.1 Landis died at the age of 73 on June 5th, 1896, at the residence of his son in West Nashville.3 Reflections from history’s distant mirror Absalom L. Landis was undoubtedly a gifted businessman, and he accomplished much in building the banking and railroad infrastructure of central Tennessee. His eulogies praised his accomplish- ments, his honesty, and described him as a “stanch Democrat” with “liberal views.”1, 3 The great historian Barbara Tuchman noted that history is a distant mirror. The endorsements on Confederate treasury notes are important and very collectable because they illuminate the past and the present, sometimes unpleasantly. In 1880, the year Landis served in the Tennessee Senate, liberal Democrats supported a Jim Crow economy that kept former Black slaves in destitution with sharecropping. Liberal Democrats today support open borders to supply cheap labor to the economy, impoverishing the lower half of Americans. We assuage our consciences by finding racism in nearly all human endeavors, but we legislate virtually nothing to reduce wealth inequality. Our past has returned to haunt us. Carpe diem “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” ― George Santayana, 1906 References: 1. John Trotwood Moore, Austin P. Foster. Tennessee, the Volunteer State, 1769-1923, Volume 4, pages 319 to 320, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Nashville, 1923. 2. tngenweb.org/civilwar/17th-tennessee-infantry-regiment/ 3. The Tennessean, June 6th, 1896, page 3. 4. Frederick A. Virkus. The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy: The Standard Genealogical Encyclopedia of The First Families of America, Volume 2, 1926, page 370. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 122 $MALL NOTE$ By Jamie Yakes A Simple $1 Face Plate, No. 519 Earlier this year, Derek Higgins messaged me through Facebook: “Thought this was pretty cool. Seems way late for a three digit plate to show up.” Attached to his message was a photo of an otherwise ordinary Series of 1935A $1 silver certificate (see fig. 1). What had caught his attention was the low face plate serial 519 with a D-C serial number. The D-C block was printed in November and December of 1942, yet a $1 face plate with serial 519 was of 1938 vintage. The high back plate serial, 2966, supported the idea that face 519 remained in use until 1942, if not later. This, it turned out, was the case. During a trip to Archives II1 at the end of January, I retrieved the plate history for face 519, just for fun. Its life was routine, so there is nothing remarkable to report, but it’s always interesting to track the life of a printing plate, especially to satisfy the request of another collector. Recorded on the first ledger page for face 519 was the following information (see fig. 2).2 Series 1935A $1 face 519 was started and finished in the summer of 1938. It was certified on July 6, and sent to press a few days later on the 12th. It remained in the press room for a few months until it was dropped on October 27. It was then reentered and recertified—basically refurbished and/or repaired—and sent back to press on November 7, before being dropped again on December 16. What caught my eye was the conspicuously missing cancellation date for the plate (see the red box in fig. 2). Most of the other plates listed on the page were canceled in 1938, with a few in 1939. Additionally, nothing like “transferred” or “see new page” had been documented in reference to face 519. Vault operators used codes like those to indicate they’d started a second or third page to continue recording a plate’s history. As I progressed through the ledger, I found additional data for face 519 listed on a page with plates of 1941 vintage that had various serials between 2581 and 3519, inclusive (see fig. 3). After sitting unused for Figure 1. 1935A $1 silver certificate, plates D519/2966 Figure 2. The first part of plate 519’s history. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 123 nearly four years, face 519 was sent to press on October 8, 1942. It was dropped four days later, sent back to press on the 14th, and then dropped again on November 21. It was reentered and recertified for a second time, and then used for a final press run from December 11, 1942, to March 18, 1943. It was canceled on April 5, 1943. As it turned out, face 519 was a normal plate. The sheet with Higgins’s note had been printed just a few weeks or a months prior to serial numbering. The four-year gap between press times is something I don’t observe often with plates for high production types, but it happens. I don’t know why it did for this plate. But it was still in usable condition after its initial service in 1938, and so was set aside in the plate vault. Another few thousand $1 plates were certified, used, and canceled before face 519 saw another press run. Face 519 most likely got swept up when the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (B.E.P.) started overprinting large orders of $1s (and $5s, $10s, and $20s) during the second world war.3 Those notes were used as an economic defense in the event the Japanese military invaded Hawaii, and as invasion currency when U.S. Pacific forces island-hopped westward across the Pacific, and when Allied forces invaded North Africa and Sicily in the Mediterranean. The effort led to a surge in plate production at the B.E.P., and a bump in plate reentries as old plates had their lives extended. The B.E.P. began numbering brown-seal $1s for Hawaii and the Pacific campaign in June 1942, and yellow-seal $1s for the Mediterranean landings the following September. The D-C block was used only for regular blue-seal production, but other C-suffix blocks were used on both types of overprinted notes. I’d bet a 519 note could be found with a brown or yellow-seal. References 1. “Archives II” is the formal name for the National Archives and Records Administration facility located in College Park, Maryland. 2. Record Group 318-Bureau of Engraving and Printing: Entry P1 (450/79/17/01), “Ledgers Pertaining to Plates, Rolls and Dies, 1870s-1960s,” Container 41. National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland. 3. Huntoon, P., J. Downey, et al. “U.S. Hawaii & North Africa/Sicily Military Currency,” Paper Money Whole No. 255 (2008, May/June). Figure 3. The rest of 519’s history. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 124 F.U.N. ’25 Activities Yes, the SPMC once again had a very successful show at the 2025 Florida United Numismatic show in Orlando in January 2025. We had a general business meeting, the yearly Tom Bain raffle (with breakfast), inducted four new member into the Hall of Fame and gave out lots of awards. We had a club table that was very well staffed by Bob Moon, Robert Vandevender, Nancy Purington, Derrick and Jessica Higgins and others who wanted to help. This show will also be our regular yearly gathering in 2026, so make plans now to attend. PHOTOS of our activities (courtesy of John & Nancy Wilson) General Meeting Derek Higgins gave a very interesting and informative talk on “The Joy of Collecting Small Size Silver Certificates, Mules, Experimentals and late Finished Plates. Even those of us who don’t collect those types of notes learned something. Hall of Fame Induction Dinner Members of the board of governors and past HoF members celebrated the induction of John and Nancy Wilson, Albert Grinnell and Bob Medlar to the Hall. SPMC table The SPMC member table was staffed by Bob Moon, Robert Vandevender, Nancy Purington and Derek Jessica Higgins. Our table was a stop on the YN treasure hunt at which we gave youngsters a foreign banknote for answering our question “How many Federal Reserve Banks are there in the U.S. ?” They also received a map of the U.S. with each district outlined, and a card with SPMC information on it along with their foreign banknote. It was very well received. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 125 SPMC breakfast, Awards presentations and Tom Bain Raffle Saturday morning we had our usual breakfast, presented a few awards and then we had the always fun Tom Bain Raffle. Actually, the hotel breakfast fare was good, plenty and enjoyed by all. Abe Lincoln stopped by for a bite to eat. Tom Bain raffle Our Tom Bain raffle is always a very fun experience. Emcee Wendel Wolka keeps things going and his humor really makes for a good time. Wendell examines the prizes he is going to raffle There has to be a winning ticket in there somewhere Two happy winners SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 126 Awards Presentation The SPMC presented service and literary awards at the annual breakfast. Hall of Fame—Albert Grinnell, Robert Medlar, John & Nancy Wilson Nathan Gold Award for long time service to the SPMC and the hobby—Lyn Knight Founders Award for contributions during the past year—Shawn Hewitt & Mark Drengson President’s Award for significant work for the society—Derek Higgins Nathan Goldstein Recruitment Award for recruitment of new members—Robert Calderman Education, Research and Outreach Award—Marshall Mallory Forrest Daniel Award for literary excellence—Lee Lofthus Wismer Award for best new book—tie Mark Coughlan & Dennis Hengeveld—Engravers & Printers of Confederate Paper Money Michael McNeil—Signers and Issuers of Confederate Bonds Runner up—William Pressly—America’s Paper Money; A Canvas for an Emerging Nation Literary Awards—for best articles in Paper Money during the year National Banknotes—Lee Lofthus (1st) & Michael Sahariam (2nd) Federal Currency—Lee Lofthus (1st) & Lee Lofthus with Peter Huntoon (2nd) Obsolete Banknotes—Benny Bolin (1st) & Rick Melamed (2nd) Confederate currency—Mark Coughlan (1st) & Tony Chibbaro (2nd) World currency—Steve Feller (1st) & Roberto Menchaca (2nd) Miscellaneous currency—Rick Melamed (1st) & Steve Feller (2nd) Best Column—Cherry Picker Corner (1st) & Uncoupled (2nd) Best of Show Exhibit—Jaime Halvpa 2025 Hall of Fame inductees John and Nancy Wilson SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 127 Founders Award winners Mark Drengson & Shawn Hewitt President’s Award winner Derek Higgins Literary winners Benny Bolin, Joe Boling, Robert Calderman & Tony Chibbaro SPMC.org * Paper Money * Mar/Apr 2025 * Whole Number 356 128 Breakfast ticket featuring John & Nancy Wilson John & Nancy with Tom Stebbins-ticket designer OUR MEMBERS SPECIALIZE IN LARGE SIZE TYPE NOTES They also specialize in National Currency, Small Size Currency, Obsolete Currency, Colonial and Continental Currency, Fractionals, Error Notes, MPCs, Confederate Currency, Encased Postage, Stocks and Bonds, Autographs and Documents, World Paper Money . . . and numerous other areas. THE PROFESSIONAL CURRENCY DEALERS ASSOCIATION is the leading organization of Dealers in Currency, Stocks and Bonds, Fiscal Documents and related paper items. PCDA To be assured of knowledgeable, professional, and ethical dealings when buying or selling currency, look for dealers who proudly display the PCDA emblem. For further information, please contact: The Professional Currency Dealers Association PCDA • Holds its annual National Currency Convention in conjunction with the Central States Numis- matic Society’s Anniversary Convention. Please visit our Web Site pcda.com for dates and location. • Encourages public awareness and education regarding the hobby of Paper Money Collecting. • Sponsors the John Hickman National Currency Exhibit Award each year, as well as Paper Money classes and scholarships at the A.N.A.’s Summer Seminar series. • Publishes several “How to Collect” booklets regarding currency and related paper items. Availability of these booklets can be found on our Web Site. • Is a proud supporter of the Society of Paper Money Collectors. Or Visit Our Web Site At: www.pcda.com Susan Bremer – Secretary 16 Regents Park • Bedford, TX 76022 (214) 409-1830 • email: susanb@ha.com DALLAS  |  NEW YORK  |  BEVERLY HILLS  |  CHICAGO  |  PALM BEACH LONDON  |  PARIS  |  GENEVA  |  BRUSSELS  |  AMSTERDAM  |  MUNICH  |  HONG KONG  |  TOKYO Always Accepting Quality Consignments in 50+ Categories Immediate Cash Advances Available 1.75 Million+ Online Bidder-Members Highlights From the Charlton Buckley Collection, Part II U.S. CURRENCY SIGNATURE® AUCTION CSNS - Dallas | April 29 – May 2 * Images not actual size Paul R. Minshull #16591. BP 20%; see HA.com 79460 For a free appraisal, or to consign to an upcoming auction, contact a Heritage Expert today. 800.872.6467, Ext. 1001 or Currency@HA.com Consignment Deadline: March 17 Fr. 2220-G $5,000 1928 Federal Reserve Note PCGS Very Choice New 64PPQ Serial Number 2 Fr. 1700 $10 1933 Silver Certificate PMG Choice Uncirculated 63 EPQ Fr. 1133-L $1,000 1918 Federal Reserve Note PMG About Uncirculated 55 Fr. 2408 $1,000 1928 Gold Certificate PCGS Gem New 65 San Francisco, CA 1870 $50 National Gold Bank Note CH# 1741 The First National Gold Bank PMG Fine 12 Serial Number 1 Faribault, MN Fr. 399 Original $5 CH# 1863 The Citizens National Bank PMG Choice Extremely Fine 45 EPQ