official journal of #1 FUN Exhibit & Christmas Postal Note LEGENDARY COLLECTIONS | LEGENDARY RESULTS | A LEGENDARY AUCTION FIRM Contact Our Experts Today! America’s Oldest and Most Accomplished Rare Coin AuctioneerNew York • California • Boston • Miami • Philadelphia • New Hampshire • Oklahoma Hong Kong • Copenhagen • Paris • Vancouver Peter A. Treglia Vice President & Managing Director of Currency PTreglia@ StacksBowers.com Tel: (949) 748-4828 Michael Moczalla Currency Specialist MMoczalla@ StacksBowers.com Tel: (949) 503-6244 1550 Scenic Avenue, Suite. 150, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 949.253.0916 • Info@StacksBowers.com 470 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022 212.582.2580 • NYC@stacksbowers.com Visit Us Online at StacksBowers.com SBG PM Nov25 HLs 251101 Stack’s Bowers Galleries November 2025 Showcase Auction Featured Highlights Auction Dates: November 10-14 & 17-18, 2025 • Costa Mesa, CA The Official Auction of the Whitman Expos Fr. 96. 1869 $10 Legal Tender Note. PCGS Banknote Gem Uncirculated 66 PPQ. Fr. 119. 1901 $10 Legal Tender Note. PCGS Banknote Superb Gem Uncirculated 67 PPQ. Fr. 126b. 1863 $20 Legal Tender Note. PCGS Banknote Choice About Uncirculated 58 PPQ. Fr. 342. 1880 $100 Silver Certificate of Deposit. PCGS Banknote About Uncirculated 50. Fr. 1180. 1905 $20 Gold Certificate. PCGS Banknote About Uncirculated 53 PPQ. Fr. 341. 1880 $100 Silver Certificate of Deposit. PCGS Banknote About Uncirculated 53. Fr. 831. 1918 $50 Federal Reserve Bank Note. St. Louis. PCGS Banknote Choice Uncirculated 63. Fr. 1700. 1933 $10 Silver Certificate. PCGS Banknote Choice Uncirculated 63 PPQ. 333 Christmas Postal Note--Bob Laub 336 Incredible F.U.N. '26 Exhibit 339 National Banks that only Issued Aldrich-Vreeland Currency--Peter Huntoon 347 New Grant-Sherman Specimen Varieties Discovered--R. Melamed & R. Kravitz 354 Cervanteras--Stephen Russell 358 The Georgia Weekly Notes--Charles Derby 375 Alabama Patton Certificates--David Hollander SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 328 345 Good Faith Finance--Peter Longini 379 Excelsior Bank Note Company--Roland Rollins 394 Statement of Ownership 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 Small Notes Chump Change Foreign Affairs Cherry Picker Corner Quartermaster Robert Calderman 330 Benny Bolin 331 Frank Clark 332 Joe Boling & Fred Schwan 369 Jamie Yakes 383 Loren Gatch 384 Dennis Hengeveld 385 Robert Calderman 387 Michael McNeil 390 Stacks Bowers Galleries IFC Pierre Fricke 328 Bob Laub 335 Executive Currency 343 Lyn Knight 344 Higgins Museum 346 FCCB 348 Whitman Publishing 357 Greysheet 368 D. Schafluetzel 368 PCGS-C 374 William Litt 378 G. Anderson 378 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 * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 329 Officers & Appointees ELECTED OFFICERS PRESIDENT Robert Calderman gacoins@earthlink.net VICE-PRES William Litt billitt@aol.com TREASURER Robert Moon robertmoon@aol.com BOARD OF GOVERNORS APPOINTEES PUBLISHER-EDITOR-ADVERTISING MANAGER Benny Bolin smcbb@sbcglobal.net Megan Reginnitter mreginnitter@iowafirm.com LIBRARIAN Jeff Bruggeman jeff@actioncurrency.com MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR Frank Clark IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Robert Vandevendert WISMER BOOK PROJECT COORDINATOR Pierre Fricke From Your President Robert CaldermanFrom Your President Shawn Hewitt We’re excited to announce the details of our second annual Florida United Numismatists (FUN) Speakers Forum. In the fashion of our inaugural seminar last year, we’ll again have a total of five speakers making presentations, and close out the forum with our SPMC membership meeting on Saturday morning. The dates of the FUN convention are January 9-12, 2020 at the Orange County Convention Center, West Building WA1 & WA2, in Orlando, Florida. The first four talks are on Friday, January 10 in Room 304F (same as last year). Here is the lineup… - "The Current Status of the U. S. Small Size Paper Money Market". – Mr. Calderman, a specialist and dealer in U. S. small-size type notes will discuss the current trends in small size notes and the future of this paper money specialty. - "A Behind the Scenes Look at the Paper Money Auction Process"–Mr. Johnston, the Vice- President and Managing Director of the Currency Division at Heritage Auctions will discuss the nuts- and-bolts of conducting a major Paper Money auction. "An Overview of the Confederate Paper Money Market" . Mr. Fricke has been a long-time dealer in Confederate Paper Money and is the author of the standard reference on Confederate Paper Money "Collecting Confederate Paper Money: The Standard Guide to Confederate Money". "The good, the bad, and the ugly of antebellum bank note fraud" – Various types of pre-Civil War bank note fraud will be explored and illustrated. In addition, at the SPMC Membership Meeting (open to all) on Saturday at 8:30am in Room 303B we have: - "Overview of the SPMC Bank Note History Project" - This project is focused on two of the primary historical aspects of the "Hometown" National Bank Notes - the Banks who issued them and the bankers who signed them. I think we’re onto a good thing in making FUN another major venue for the face of SPMC. Our table will be 867 in the club section of the bourse floor, so please stop by. Again, this year, we are participating in the ANA Treasure Trivia Program, which is a great outreach to the youth of our hobby. We have some very nice world notes to hand out (to young numismatists) as souvenirs for visiting our table. Before I go, I should mention that we have a new Membership Secretary. Robert Calderman, one of our board members, has stepped up to fill the position recently vacated by Jeff Brueggeman. If you frequent the major shows, you may have seen Robert at one of our club tables. Robert is great resource for the Society, and we very much appreciate the work he does for us. Paper Money * July/August 2020 6 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 Cody Regennitter billitt@aol.com cody.regenitter@gmail.com rman andrew.timmerman@aol.comAndrew Timme Wendell Wolka purduenut@aol.com frank_clark@yahoo.com Fellow members of our phenomenal Society of Paper Money Collectors, I am overwhelmingly honored and thankful to serve as your newest SPMC Presi ent! At the recent ANA Summer Show i Oklahoma City that took place back in August, we officially voted in our new line up of SPMC Officers during our early morning b ard meeting. Myself as your new President, our new Vice President Bill Litt, new Secretary Derek Higgins, and the illustrious Bob Moon has been retained as your Treasurer. I want to thank our outgoing President Robert Vandevender II for his adept leadership of our society over the past four years. Wildly after nearly six years, the balance of power (For lack of a better phrase) has now finally shifted away from all four of our officer positions being held enti ely by Bob’s! Going forward, we can now comfortably reside at a much less intense 50% Bob rate, ha! For those of you who have not met me in person, I am a dedicated, arguably obsessed, dealer-collector that can be found regularly set up at over fifty numismatic trade shows throughout the year. In fact, for 2025 I somehow have sixty-two shows scheduled for a year that contains only fifty-two weeks on th ca e dar. By s tti g up at sep rate -day Saturday and Sunday shows in ntir ly differ nt states that happen t fall on the same weekend, this seemingly impossible quantity of annual shows can actually be accomplished without the use of Star Trek Transporter technology. However, I do not recommend this level of coin show intensity for everyone. The travel logistics for this volume of shows can very politely be labeled obscene! So what does the future hold for our Society of Paper Money Collectors? Lately, membership has been on a n ticeable up ck, which is very exciting news to report! At nearly every show I have attended this year, I have spoken with someone who was attending their very first show ever. Some of whom also purchased their very first collectible banknote! For the naysayers that claim our hobby is dying out, I see the opposite taking place… you just have to know where to look! While we are setting our sights forward, the 2026 FUN show will soon be here in the blink of an eye and our annual SPMC me ting is most definitely a highlig t and great opportunity for camaraderie a ongst your fellow c llecting brethren. If you have not attended before, I urge you to make plans to make the trip this upcoming January! Our SPMC Breakfast featuring the ever popular Tom Bain Raffle is an absolute blast and you may find yourself winning a handful of great prizes while you rub your eyes and sip your morning coffee. While I often still reminisce on fond memories of past years spent at the Memphis IPMS, the past few Orlando FUN shows have quickly taken shape creating newfound paper money memories! As a dedicated collector, you also deserve to get in on the good times and be there in person with us! derekhiggins219@gmail.com SECRETARY Derek Higgins SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 330 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 She is 14 months and walking actually running and getting into everything! I have had to baby-proof my house with nothing breakable under 3ft. But what a joy she is. Summer is winding down in Texas--at least that is what the weatherman says. It is nice in the morning and night but still in the 90's during the day. Oh well, soon I will be wishing for these warmer days. It also seems the numismatic market is still hot, hot, hot! I fulfilled a life long dream when I not only attended the summer ANA in OKC, but exhibited there as well. I did a one case exhibit on Spencer C. and a 7 caser on Fractional Currency Literature. I took second on both. I have always wanted to exhibit at ANA but it always fell when I was working. Kicked that one off my bucket list. I probably won't do it again unless ANA removed the requirement to be there Tues-Sat. Just too long if you are alone and only exhibiting. I did man the SPMC table quite a bit and delivered the educational session at the SPMC meeting which was surprising well attended. Wendell Wolka developed the program on the "Currency of the Five Civilized Tribes." We also elected new officers at the meeting. Robert Calderman is the new president, William Litt the new VP and Derek Higgins the new secretary. Congrats (or condolences) to these three. I am sure they will do an exceptional job! We also found out that the 2026 FUN show will have the theme "Paper Money-Portraits of History." We need to have a strong showing and some good exhibits showing those FUN people what paper is all about. We have an exception exhibit that I am really looking forward to. Bob Moon is presenting a 28-30 case exhibit showcasing his SN#1 New York nationals (more on this later in the issue.) I am also doing a 4-5 caser that ties well to the theme. I am also doing a single caser on small metal discs. Please don't excommunicate me from the club but I LOVE dragons. Speaking of FUN we will be having our annual membership meeting and Tom Bain auction as well as presenting literary and service awards. Make plans now to attend. January 8-11, 2026. See ya there! Beginning soon (mid-November-December 20th or so) you will be able to go on the website and vote for your favorite articles/columns in 2025. Please vote and award our hard- working authors. They will appreciate it. Till next time! Look out for those school zones and don't drive and text! SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 331 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 09/05/2025 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. 15893 Eugene Rowe, Frank Clark 15894 Robert Abnernathy, Robert Moon 15895J Tim Baker, Frank Clark 15896 Chris Bubash, Frank Clark 15897 Kevin J. Fellner, Robert Calderman 15898 Bill Reass, Pierre Fricke 15899 Phillip Ryman, Robert Moon 15900 Nicole Stroebel, Website 15901 Kelly Kiser, Jon Hanna 15902 Steven Smith, Website 15903 Nick Powell, Website 15904 Steven Jones, Robert Calderman 15905 William Day III, Robert Calderman 15906 Paul Davidson, Robert Calderman 15907 Larry Smulczenski, R. Calderman 15908 John Walters, Robert Calderman 15909 Josh Miller, Website 15910 Steven Steinhaus, R. Calderman 15911 Steve Heriot, W 15912 Paul Staron REINSTATEMENTS--None LIFE MEMBERSHIPS LM474 Robert Tudor, Derek Higgins LM475 formerly 15738 NEW MEMBERS 10/05/2025 15913 Vacant 15914 Keith Morgan, Derek Higgins 15915 William Wilmouth, John Patrick 15916 David Coker, Frank Clark 15917 Vacant 15918 John Snyder, Whitman Pub. 15919 Dale Sponseller, Polar Currency 15920 Benjamin Starr, Website 15921 Robert Olsen, John Patrick 15922 Spencer Fontaine, Website 15923 Keith Nower, Website 15924 Joseph Farina, John Patrick 15925 Jim McNaughton, Website 15926 Aaron Thies, Website 15927 Michael Reddick, Website 15928 Mark Harris, Pierre Fricke 15929 Mark Stevens, Website 15930 Christian Paul, Website 15931 David W. Kahn, Rbt Calderman 15932 Brian Trietley, Rbt Calderman REINSTATEMENTS--None LIFE MEMBERSHIPS--None SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 332 A Christmas Postal Note from North Conway, N.H. “Peace on earth, good will toward men” By Bob Laub / Formatting by Skye Introduction: Thanks to the “Editor Sez” portion of our award-winning journal the power of the press once again reigns true. When I receive my latest edition of “Paper Money” I first turn to the Presidents column, and then onto Benny Bolin’s editorial read on what is happening (especially with his granddaughter). In the Sept./Oct. edition a call out was presented to consider submitting a “Holiday Season” themed article. I am looking forward to that edition as it should prove interesting to see how our members approach that subject request. Postal Note’s in General: As some of you may already realize, postal notes were implemented to the general public through the U.S. Postal Service. The series was in affect from early Sept. 1883 until the end of June, 1894. This issue was initially necessitated by public outcries for an ability to forward small amounts of money less detectably through the mail. Overall there were almost 71-millions of these one-time usage documents placed into service and 126-million dollars forwarded. According to a newly added chapter on Postal Notes, presented in the 23rd edition of Paper Money of the United States, New Hampshire has a state-wide contribution of 670,424 and only 23 recorded survivors listed in the current census (Sept. 2025). New Hampshire Demographics: A state located in the New England region of the North-East U.S. The area was established in 1629 and named after the English County of Hampshire. Known as the Granite state with a motto of “Live Free or Die”, and was the 9th state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. North Conway, N.H. The town is located at the extreme eastern central portion of the state and only 10-miles from the western border of Maine. The area is well known for its numerous outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing, and taking-in some of the breathtaking Fall foliage. The area also encompasses Mount Monadnock which is among one of the most climbed mountains in the world. The population of the town during the 1880 census was 553 residents, and by 1890 had increased by only one to 554. These two decades are often referenced by me as they also encompass the years for this series of postal notes (1883-1894). Postal Facts: North Conway became a Money Order Office on or before July 31, 1871 and therefore was already well prepared for the eventual onslaught of the new postal note series debuting in Sept. 1883. One reference mentions North Conway becoming a Post Office in 1827, but with no exact date. The earliest postmaster appointment located thus far shows Samuel W. Thompson who was appointed April 20, 1839. That does not mean there were no others before him, it more means that research file is not complete at this time. The postmaster in charge at the time this North Conway Postal Note was issued was Eugene Goodwin. Postmaster Goodwin served only a single term which commenced March 28, 1881 until Nov. 12, 1884. An interesting fact which is based on a postmaster’s salary is in direct proportion to the amount of revenue his office generates. These numbers are released in a government report every other year and for 1883 Postmaster Goodwin received $783.75. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 333 Thomas Nast: (Sept.26,1840 – Dec.7,1902) Thomas Nast was a German-born American caricaturist often considered the “Father of the American Cartoon”. This side of Nast’s work is markedly different from the world of political cartoons he is most famous for. This Victorian era image shows Christmas as seen through the eyes of children. Article Title Clarification: What would qualify a postal note to be considered for an article based on a “Christmas” theme. As is often quoted, “the devil is in the details”, an idiom alluding to a catch or mysterious element hidden in the presented details. The postal note in question is a Type I, which is ultimately recognized by its unique yellow paper. The note is represented by the red serial number 77, and is “payable to the bearer” for only one cent. An issued amount from one-cent to five-cents is generally considered by most to fall into a souvenir category. Each issued note carried a three-cent administrative fee, a constant throughout the series. The question now arises why anyone would pay four-cent’s in acquiring a one-cent postal note? This particular note was most assuredly not purchased with commercial intensions. One of the more interesting aspects is the Dec. 25, 1883 cancellation, which of course was Christmas Day. The Dec. 25th date was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church around 336 A.D., during the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine and is the standard worldwide date for Christmas based on the Gregorian Calendar. Christmas became a federal holiday in the U.S. in 1870 by President Grant. An Interesting Question Arises: The number one question which comes to mind for me is why would any post office be open on Christmas day? SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 334 Many of our nations more rural post offices were incorporated into existing establishments such as hardware stores or pharmacies. These early combination businesses were more perfectly suited to efficiently handle the needs of the town folk, and were often considered social gathering places. You are in the village hardware store or pharmacy picking up needed items, why not get the mail at the same time? Residents would often come to these places of business in early evening hours to discuss the weather, politics or the towns daily events. Many times it was the owner of such a store who was the actual postmaster, and with each new postmaster the post office location would usually move to a different storefront. As a matter of convenience and cost efficiency the Postmasters residence was generally part of these spaces, either attached behind the storefront or on an above floor. Being the postmaster was very convenient if you were seeking to obtain a Christmas souvenir, or even a postal note with commercial intensions. I believe the North Conway Postmaster purchased this Victorian era memento as a personal keep-sake. The note is crackling fresh with no signs of folds or hinge remnants which many times are present. This bygone era ephemera was not purchased in recent times, but most obviously 142-years ago, and yet still maintains the original date of purchase integrity. The note is unique from two different perspectives. First it is the only census survivor from the small town of North Conway, New Hampshire. It is also the only Christmas dated postal note I am aware of. A current census shows 2,375 postal notes from an original issue of almost 71-million released between 1883-1894. In Conclusion: Editor Bolin’s gauntlet was thrown down and the challenge was accepted. Until that request was presented I never gave a thought to a Christmas themed article which revolved around series 1883-1894 Postal Notes. At this time, I wish to thank my fellow researcher/writer Kent Halland for his continued wealth of pertinent information. Without Kent’s contribution this article would have been hard pressed to achieve the depth it has. My goal revolves around the entertainment and education of the membership with an additional hope this holiday issue is well received. Any questions or comments should be addressed to briveadus2012@yahoo.com. I would also be interested in hearing about any postal notes you may have as well. “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night” SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 335 Incredible FUN ’26 exhibit!!! Attendees at the January ’26 FUN show are in store for a real treat-an exceptional exhibit that has no match. It comprises 25-30 cases (currently slated for 28) of serial #1 New York State National Bank Notes numbering well over 100 notes. Exhibited by long-time SPMC member and treasurer Bob Moon, this mammoth exhibit will certainly be a sight to see and behold. I interviewed Bob at the SPMC table during the recent Oklahoma City ANA show. Robert (Bob) Moon and his wife Christine of Greenwood, S.C. have been married 51 years. They have two children, a son (Randy) and a daughter (Christy), both of whom are Army careerists. Bob and Chris also have 4 cats, two of which like to help Bob catalog notes for Heritage. They also have one German shepherd. A native of Hudson, NY, Bob is a graduate of Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY. He resided in the Capital District area of New York until he and Chris retired to South Carolina in 2005. He worked for various New York State agencies for over 30 years in the IT field until he retired. One of his jobs, from the mid-80s to the mid- 90s, required him to travel all over New York State and when time permitted, he would prospect for notes by visiting local banks when he was in a town and asked the bank staff who might have something. After he retired and his subsequent move to South Carolina, he was recruited to become a currency cataloger for Heritage, a position he still holds and which he regards “as the perfect retirement job. Not only does it provide more funds to add to my collection, it certainly keeps me active and, hopefully, I can continue to do it for many years to come.” Like many of us who collect numismatic items, Bob began collecting when he started plugging holes in Whitman folders when he was about ten years old. For Christmas in 1964, his mother got him a subscription to Coin World and, aside from his son being born on Christmas Day in 1975, that subscription “was the best Christmas present ever!” He joined the ANA in 1976 but, even then, he was becoming disenchanted with coins because of all the grading controversies. Then, in 1978, while attending the regular monthly coin show at the Polish Community Center in Albany, NY, in a dealer’s case, he spotted a $10 bill on the First National Bank of Hudson. Since Hudson was his hometown, he had to have it and bought it for $55. In that era, access to currency references was very limited but he finally found out about SPMC and joined in January 1980 to get more information on nationals. Shortly thereafter, he subscribed to Bank Note Reporter in June of that year. One of the advertisements in that issue was for a new paper money show to be held in New York City that September called the Greater New York Currency Convention. After a short Amtrak train ride to Manhattan, he made it to the show and was overwhelmed by the number of dealers and the amount of paper money available. It was at that show that he met dealer Allen Mincho, who still resided in New York State at the time, and it began a business and social relationship that continues to this day. Allen understood that most collectors don’t have deep pockets and he went out of his way to accommodate new adherents to the hobby. For instance, in 1981, Allen sold two notes to Bob for $315 and he allowed him to pay for them over three months! Bob started out by collecting notes from his hometown of Hudson which had 3 National Banks. He then expanded his collecting to his home County of Columbia which had a total of eight banks and to Greene County notes, which was right across the Hudson River from Columbia County. Eventually, as finances permitted, he broadened out to all of New York State since his job duties required him to travel all over the state. His first BIG score while “prospecting” in local communities took place in November 1988. He went to the Redwood National Bank, near Watertown in the far northern reaches of the state, and asked if they had any nationals. The Cashier went into the vault and returned SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 336 with a Serial #1 1902 Date Back on the bank. After some negotiations, a deal was struck and Bob had acquired his first trophy note “from out of the woodwork”. Since New York had 900 note issuing banks, 47 of which are still unreported today, he knew he had to collect a subset of nationals as he said “trying to collect all NY banks is like Napolean invading Russia!.” He decided to collect serial #1 notes along with some other “special” examples, such as rare banks or special types. He currently has over 100 serial number 1 notes and is still looking to add more. Case in point--the week before the Oklahoma City ANA, he flew up to New Jersey to meet with a collector and added two more! Bob’s collection is the largest collection of #1 notes from New York, but not the largest collection of NY nationals as one collector has over 3,000 NY nationals! Bob said he prefers Large Size notes but does have about three dozen #1s in Small Size including three uncut sheets. He prefers the large size over the smalls if a bank issued both, but if that bank only issued small size or if there are no large size known on the bank, he will collect the small size. His NY national collection now consists of about 250 total. He also does not collect by plate letter unless that note is an upgrade for one he has. Bob said that while it was somewhat hard to name one note as his favorite, he said it had to be the Serial #1 $10 Brown Back from the Rye National Bank, located in Westchester County. The story behind the note is that he and his wife took a trip in 1990 down the Taconic State Parkway to Westchester County to visit well-known collector Frank Levitan of Larchmont, NY. The purpose of the trip was to interview Frank for an article Bob was going to write about Frank’s Westchester County collection (which appeared in the July/August 1992 issue of Paper Money). Frank showed Bob all his Westchester County notes which included numerous rarities that had taken him over decades to acquire. However, the one note Bob was most taken with was the #1 Brown Back on Rye. Frank explained that he had acquired the note from Texas collector Jack Everson around 1976 in a trade brokered by dealer Lyn Knight. On the way home, Bob told Chris that, someday, he would own that #1 Rye Brown Back. Well, just before Frank passed away in January of 2011, his collection was sold at auction by Lyn Knight in December of 2010. Utilizing the services of dealer Gary Paretti as his representative, he was able to finally acquire the Rye note. I then asked him what his Great White Whale note was. With a smile, he said that has changed over the years as one Whale was “caught” and another one was pursued. Several years ago, the Whale was a Serial #1 Red Seal on the First National Bank of Lake George, located in the premier resort area of Upstate New York. For over 100 years, it had been held in the family of the bank’s President. However, Peter Traglia of Stack’s worked with the family over time and got a price for the note and Bob bought it. At the same time, another Whale that had been a long-standing target was a Serial #1 Red Seal on the Tottenville National Bank, located on the southern tip of New York’s Staten Island. After a protracted negotiation with the owner, Bob made the aforementioned trip up to New Jersey just before the recent ANA show to SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 337 pick up that note. As to his next White Whale, without revealing details, he stated it is an outstanding Upstate NY note that has been held by a collector since he acquired it out of a Hickman-Oakes sale almost 50 years ago. On Bob’s behalf, Dustin Johnson of Heritage has offered the collector a huge amount for it but has not been successful so far. Bob takes it in stride and states “collecting nationals is not for people wanting instant gratification. Sometimes, it has taken me several decades to finally get a note.” Bob also has about 385 postcards of different NY national banks, some of which will also be in the exhibit. I asked Bob what inspired such a large exhibit especially to be placed at FUN and not in New York. He stated that he loved exhibiting as that is the best way to show off his collection. He mentioned that he had exhibited for 30 years at the International Paper Money Shows that were held at Memphis and Kansas City. In fact, in 2019, he received the Best in Show award at the IMPS that year and followed it up with the Runner-Up award for Best in Show at the 2019 ANA in Chicago. As to why at FUN, he stated he would have loved to have done it someplace in New York but, aside from the International Show in January, all of the major shows in the New York area have fallen by the wayside. Also, virtually all of the remaining shows in Upstate New York are just very small one-day affairs leaving no viable options for placing such a large exhibit. He feels that since FUN is such a large and well attended show, with a lot of New York retirees or vacationers down for the winter, it was the next best thing to an exhibit in New York. So plan to attend and see an incredible exhibit that will probably not be replicated again. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 338 National Banks that issued only Aldrich-Vreeland Emergency Currency The purpose of this article is to document that a few national banks issued only Aldrich-Vreeland emergency currency during the note-issuing era and nothing else. The Aldrich-Vreeland Act provided for the issuance of temporary infusions of national bank currency to provide elasticity to the national currency supply when needed. In its original form passed March 30, 1908, the Act reserved the privilege to receive emergency currency only to national banks that had existing circulations of traditional bond-secured currency. A Congressional amendment dated May 4, 1914 extended the privilege to banks that had not taken out circulation. The 1914 amendment opened a window for the possibility that there might have been some bankers who took advantage of May 4, 1914 provision to subscribed only for emergency currency and subsequently never went on to issue traditional bond-secure currency during the remaining existence of their bank. Such circulations would have been short-lived, likely small, and thus create the opportunity for minuscule survival of such notes today. Background The Aldrich-Vreeland Act—often called the Aldrich-Vreeland Emergency Currency Act—was passed March 30, 1908 in direct response to the ruinous Panic of 1907. A burning monetary concern swirling around national currency at the time was that it was flawed because it was inelastic. Inelastic meant that the volume of it in circulation was unable to expand and contract to accommodate seasonal fluctuations in the demand for currency or to adjust to mitigate economic shocks to the economy such as the bursting of the stock market bubble that was the cause of the Panic of 1907. The result was seasonal swings in interest rates that punished borrowers just as they needed loans. Worse, when monetary shocks hit, panicky depositors withdrew currency from banks just at the moment bankers needed increased liquidity to react to the bad news. The Paper Column by Peter Huntoon Figure 1. This note from Lumberton, North Carolina, holds the distinction of being issued from one of the few banks across the country that issued only Aldrich-Vreeland emergency currency during its entire existence. Heritage Auction archives photo. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 339 The problem with national currency was that the quantity of it was tied by law to the capitalization of the banks, a number that was static over the short term and thus unresponsive to the economy. At the time the Panic of 1907 came along, the maximum amount of circulation a national bank could issue was dictated by a provision in the Gold Standard Act of March 14, 1900. Specifically, the circulation could not exceed 100 percent of the paid-in capital stock of a bank. Consequently, the only way a bank’s circulation could be increased was to increase its paid-in capital by raising money from its stockholders just at the time they most likely were trying to increase their personal liquidity to respond to the unfolding economic downturn. The elasticity problem had plagued national currency since its inception so national bank currency was increasingly reviled by economists and Treasury officials alike. What was needed was a mechanism where the money supply could be boosted when needed but contracted as soon as the need passed. The idea taking root in economic circles was to allow for the creation of additional national bank circulation when needed but tax the increase at a higher rate than the traditional bond-secured circulation. Thus, when the need for it came along, the bankers and their borrowers would be willing to pay higher interest rates to obtain it, but as soon as the need for it passed the high interest rates would cause them to liquidate the loans and drive it out of circulation. Such a mechanism was built into the Aldrich-Vreeland Act. The bankers could obligate non- Federal government bonds and short-term commercial loans to the U.S. Treasury as collateral in order to receive so-called emergency infusions of their national bank notes to inflate the money supply. However, the interest rate on the emergency currency was set too high so no one took advantage of the act. When World War I broke out, a liquidity crisis overran the U.S. economy as the Europeans scrambled to liquidate their U.S. investments in order to raise money to fund their war. What ensured was the export of large amounts of our currency. Congress passed in haste an amendment on August 4, 1914— the day Britain declared war on Germany—that liberalized the Aldrich-Vreeland provisions by dropping the interest rates on the emergency infusions, raising the total amount of such money that could be issued from a half billion to one billion dollars, and, central to this article, allowing bankers who had never taken out traditional bond-secured circulation to issue emergency currency. The latter was a minor nod to get even more emergency currency into circulation to help mitigate the liquidity crises that was unfolding. The first emergency currency was issued on August 4, 1914; the last February 12, 1915. The need for it quickly subsided so by the time the Aldrich-Vreeland Act expired on June 30, 1915, all of it was being redeemed from circulation. However, when it was in use, the circulation of national bank notes spiked $386 million to an all-time record high of $1.1 billion, an increase of 50 percent. Figure 2. The bankers at the Enterprise National Bank utilized three plate combinations to issue only Aldrich-Vreeland emergency currency during the short 1914-5 window when such a feat was possible. National Currency Foundation census photo. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 340 Emergency-Currency-Only Issuers In the cases of bankers who used only emergency currency, they had to receive all of it and then provide for its redemption within an 11-month window between August 4, 1914 when the first of it was issued and June 30, 1915 when the Aldrich-Vreeland Act expired. Bankers had to submit statements of condition each year that were published in the Annual Reports of the Comptroller of the Currency. These listed their circulations. Those due for 1914 and 1915 were respectively dated September 12, 1914 and September 2, 1915. If a banker didn’t apply for emergency currency until after September 12, 1914, their entire emergency currency infusion is invisible to us from the annual reports because their circulation for 1914 would show as zero. Thus, the banks of interest to us never reported any circulation. The question is, how could we find them? The following screening procedure did the job. 1. The banks had to be organized after passage of the Federal Reserve Act of December 23, 1913 in which the requirement that national banks purchase bonds to secure circulations was repealed. 2. The banks had to be chartered before the Aldrich-Vreeland Act expired on June 30, 1915 so they would be eligible to obtain emergency issues as provided for in the Act of August 4, 1914. 3. All circulation reports in the annual reports of the Comptroller of the Currency for the lives of the banks had to be zero except for 1914 for those chartered before the September 12, 1914 reporting call date. 4. The banks had to issue only Series of 1902 date back notes according to the Van Belkum issuance data. This screening criteria excluded all pre-1914 banks, which of course eliminated all Series of 1882 issuers. Our list boiled down to the thirteen Series of 1902 date back-only issuers listed on Table 1. The National Currency and Bond Ledgers housed in the National Archives were consulted for two of the banks listed on Table 1 to determine if in fact they issued only Aldrich-Vreeland emergency currency. The two were Laurens, South Carolina, charter 10605, and Clarksville, Texas, charter 10643. The ledger pages have a box where all security deposits and withdrawals are recorded by the dollar amount of currency represented and the type of security. The Aldrich-Vreeland emergency currency entries are labeled “M.S. sec 1” which stands for miscellaneous securities as per Section 1 in the Aldrich-Vreeland Act. Table 1. Banks that issued only Aldrich-Vreeland emergency currency, the plates used with certification dates, sheets received and reported survivors. All are Series of 1902 date backs. Ch No Location Bank Plate Cert Date Issued Reported Survivors 10475 MN St. Paul NB of Commerce in 10-10-10-20 8/29/1914 1-3010 10513 OK Ada Merchants & Planters NB 10-10-10-20 9/30/1914 1-413 10543 SC Charleston Commercial NB 5-5-5-5 9/26/1914 1-1525 10-10-10-20 9/26/1914 1-1233 10549 TX Bynum First NB 5-5-5-5 9/19/1914 1-150 10-10-10-20 9/19/1914 1-135 10593 SC Woodruff First NB 10-10-10-20 9/12/1914 1-580 10605 SC Laurens Enterprise NB 10-10-10-20 9/19/1914 1-896 $20 K263185B-359-A 10610 NC Lumberton NB 5-5-5-5 9/19/1914 1-945 $10 M531888-190-G 10-10-10-10 9/19/1914 1-445 10-10-10-20 9/19/1914 1-349 10617 TX Honey Grove State NB 10-10-10-20 9/30/1914 1-982 $10 K815506B-640-B 10643 TX Clarksville City NB 10-10-10-10 10/26/1914 1-828 $10-M825631-358-B 10646 TX Quitman First NB 10-10-10-10 10/26/1914 1-530 10647 TX Petty Citizens NB 10-10-10-20 11/7/1914 1-392 10651 SC St. Matthews St. Mathews NB 10-10-10-10 11/4/1914 1-2160 $10-M844781-458-A 10652 SC Laurens Laurens NB 10-10-10-20 11/25/1914 1-949 SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 341 There was no ambiguity. The records for both banks reveal that only emergency currency was sent to the two banks. Laurens is the country seat of Laurens County in northwestern South Carolina. The town had a population of 9,139 in 2020. Enterprise National Bank of Laurens was chartered August 31, 1914 and liquidated March 20, 1924 when it was succeeded by Peoples Enterprise Bank of Laurens. The bankers there made three deposits inclusive of October 5 and November 6, 1914 labeled M.S. sec 1 in order to draw a total of $41,000 worth of emergency currency, Deposits by them of lawful money to redeem the emergency currency and release the lien of the United States against their securities were received inclusive of February 20 and April 30, 1915. Series of 1902 10-10-10-20 sheets 1 through 820 were sent to them to cover their requisitions. They also received sheets 821 through 896 to replace worn notes redeemed from circulation before the liability for the redemption of their emergency currency was assumed by the U. S. Treasurer once their liens had been released. Clarksville is the county seat of Red River County in the northeastern corner of Texas below the eastern Oklahoma line. The town had a population of 1,857 in 2020. The City National Bank of Clarksville was chartered October 17, 1914 and placed in receivership March 9, 1925. The bankers made one deposit of $30,000 labeled M.S. sec 1 on November 6, 1914 and withdrew it April 30, 1915. Series of 1902 date back 10-10-10-10 sheets 1 through 750 were shipped to them on November 10, 1914 to cover their deposit. Between February 2 and April 29, 1915, sheet serials 751 through 828 were sent as replacements for worn notes redeemed from circulation before their liens had been released. Quite obviously, the chain of circumstances that transpired to land a bank on Table 1 proved to be a curious freak of economics. It would be interesting to understand what motivated the bankers to get involved and how they profited from such a short-term enterprise. It is not lost that the majority of players were in the Carolinas and Texas. Undoubtedly there is a backstory there that hints at some guiding external influence by a correspondent bank or syndicate of investors. The banks survived the play and continued in business so availing themselves of the Aldrich-Vreeland opportunity did not turn out to be the sole reason for organizing them. I simply haven’t found documentation that answers these questions. Implications for Survival of Notes The number of notes issued by a bank and the antiquity of those releases are the primary factors that dictate survival. Obviously, survival decreases the smaller the issue and the older. The issuances by the banks on Table 1 were small and their 1914-5 release dates early enough to seriously negatively impact survival. The brevity of the releases; specifically, some fraction of the few months bridging 1914-5, were very short, which also is a negative. Figure 3. A proof of a note issued by a small-town bank in Texas that issued only Aldrich- Vreeland emergency currency. This bank is not known to be repressed by a surviving specimen. Survivors from such banks are uniformly rare. National Numismatic Collection photo. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 342 The available census data bears out this state of affairs. The serial numbers of all the notes reported in the National Currency Foundation census for these banks appear on Table 1. A paltry one note is reported from each of only five banks of the thirteen on the list. Sources of Data Bureau of Engraving and Printing, 1875-1929, Certified proofs lifted from National Bank Note printing plates: National Numismatic Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Comptroller of the Currency, 1863-1935, Annual Reports of the Comptroller’s of the Currency: U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC. Comptroller of the Currency, 1863-1935, National Currency and Bond Ledgers: Record Group 101. U.S. National Archives, College Park, MD. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 343 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. Call today to order your catalog 913-338-3779 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. 913-338-3779 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. 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 Good Faith Finance by Peter Longini I hate to brag, but I am a trillionaire. Not just once, but ten times over. And I have the document to prove it. In 2008, the government of Zimbabwe – formerly known as Rhodesia – issued paper currency with face values in the trillions of Zimbabwe dollars. My own note, which I bought on eBay for USD $8.50, is made out in the amount of 10 trillion dollars. But there is also a 100 trillion Zimbabwe dollar note for which the eBay seller was asking something closer to USD $12.00. However, I declined his offer since my acquiring it might be seen as too ostentatious a show of wealth. Of course, if you tried to use any of that Zimbabwe currency to purchase goods or services, it wouldn’t have passed the laugh test. Your offer would immediately be dismissed as worthless, even in Zimbabwe. And the seller would have been right in doing so. So what happened? Why is paper currency subject to catastrophic failures? Good question. And it goes to the heart of why paper currency enjoys widespread acceptance – until it doesn’t. That wasn’t always the case. A few centuries ago, what we now think of as paper money, began as receipts from businesses and institutions for gold and other precious metals that people had deposited with them for safekeeping. But depositors soon learned that it was easier to exchange the receipts, and their associated rights to withdraw the gold, than it was to physically reclaim the metal from the depository for transacting business. In effect, it was an early form of what we would now consider to be a gold standard. Over time, however, and with evolving bank practices, the supply of paper money was allowed to exceed the gold or silver deposits that those receipts represented. Throughout the middle of the 20th century, American paper currency said right on the front “This certifies that there is on deposit in the Treasury of the United States…” whatever dollar amount appears on the note. Below that it read “In silver payable to the bearer on demand.” However, by 1971, the connection between paper money and any underlying precious metals was officially severed. Instead, today’s paper money reads on the front: “This note is legal tender for all debt, public and private.” Period. But if paper currency is legal for all sorts of debts, what gives it value? Is it like Wile E. Coyote who has just run off the edge of a cliff and remains suspended in mid-air, at least until he looks down? Or is there something more to it? The answer, for the most part, is in the way the nation’s central bank manages its money supply and the interest rates it charges for loans to financial institutions. That can work reasonably well if the central bank – in the United States it’s the U.S. Treasury – is seen as acting responsibly. But what if it’s seen as acting recklessly? What if its money supply seems disconnected from the real economy? What if the creditworthiness of the nation becomes widely mistrusted? What happens to a currency when its citizens lose faith? Its economy reverts to barter, black markets, foreign currencies, tax evasion, and hyperinflation, along with massively disruptive financial consequences. Although the United States has thus far managed to avoid the catastrophe of hyperinflation, many other countries have not. My own rather modest collection of paper money bears witness to the collapse of national currencies. In 1923, Germany’s flailing Reichsbank issued notes for ten, twenty, and one hundred million marks. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 345 In 1993, Yugoslavia circulated a note for 500 billion dinars. In 2003, the Bank of Ghana began circulating notes of 10 thousand cedis. In 2016, Venezuela issued notes for 20 thousand Bolivars. In 2008, Zimbabwe began circulating its multi-trillion-dollar notes. And today, Argentina is at risk with inflation of more than 200% a year. In every case, their notes were barely worth the paper they were printed on because their people had lost faith in the integrity of the government issuing them. And the contagion of collapse can spread quickly, as panicked currency holders stampede toward the exits, rushing banks, and intensifying the problem. For most U.S. residents – and many overseas for whom the U.S. dollar is either the primary or backup currency – the idea that America and its money could go the way of these other countries is almost unthinkable. But it’s not. There are radical members of Congress today for whom defaulting on bond and debt payments is an acceptable price to pay for an assortment of political goals they’re seeking. An American default would have immediate and potentially disastrous ripple effects on capital markets and economies throughout the world. Holding the faith of Americans in their currency hostage is precisely the sort of recklessness that has led to economic collapse in nations around the world. Moody’s has already lowered the credit rating it assigns to U.S. Treasury bonds once. That could easily happen again. I collect samples of collapsed currencies to remind myself that prosperity – whether personal or national – is a fragile condition. It can be shattered quickly. Like Wile E. Coyote, wealth is a condition primarily held aloft by faith. Ignoring the unwritten social contract that gives money its value – or even worse, threatening to shoot that hostage unless certain demands are met – is a form of extortion that risks catastrophe. The brinksmanship of threatening financial ruin, which is played out in Washington every few months, is more than a legislative ritual. It is an exceedingly dangerous game, and it needs to stop. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 346 NEW GRANT SHERMAN FRACTIONAL SPECIMEN VARIETIES DISCOVERED IN THE BEP ARCHIVES AT THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION By Rick Melamed and Rob Kravitz One of the most fascinating issues in the Fractional Currency series is the Grant Sherman third issue 15¢ Specimen. They were originally intended for regular circulation but on April 7, 1866, Congress enacted legislation prohibiting the portrayal of living people on currency, bonds, and securities. This was a direct result of Spencer M. Clark putting his own image on the Third Issue 5¢ Fractional (Fr. 1236-1239). Clark was the First Superintendent of the U.S. National Currency Bureau – the forerunner to the BEP…so he had the means, but not the authority. Congress was mortified by his actions motivating them to enact the law1. The Treasury also wanted to honor two living Civil War heroes, Generals Ulysses Simpson Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. Grant was then the commander of the U.S. Army; Sherman was his top general, successfully winning battles in the western theatre while Grant was back East in an extended faceoff with Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Grant and Sherman were closely aligned and when Grant became the 18th U.S. President in 1869, he selected Sherman to be the army’s commander in chief. The new engraved plates, featuring images of Grant and Sherman, were already made when the 1866 law was passed. While the plates could not be legally used to print circulating money, the Treasury was able to issue them as Specimen notes which carried no monetary value. The Treasury marketed and sold them to the collecting community as souvenirs. In the nearly 160 years since the law was enacted, no living person has graced our circulating money. In this article we will showcase all known Grant Sherman notes and include some varieties that have never been printed in any numismatic publication. These varieties are only available for viewing through the Bureau of Engraving and Printing/Smithsonian Institution (BEP/SI) digital archives. The archives are vast but not categorized or indexed. Thanks to Jerry Fochtman for his exhaustive efforts in organizing all the BEP Fractional plate currency images into a comprehensive accounting. Because of his efforts, for the first time we can show images of full uncut Grant Sherman sheets (wide and narrow margin, front and back). Even more remarkable was the discovery of Grant Sherman Specimens with a sheet plate position designator “1” & “a”. Something never seen by current collectors and is so important that they have earned their own unique Friedberg numbers (as confirmed by Art Friedberg). Making this more momentous, the new Grant Sherman Fr#’s will be the first new Fractional numbers added to Friedberg’s Paper Money of the United States since the Fr. 1373a Justice Fractional was added to the 4th edition in 1962. Originally 9,016 Grant Sherman Specimens were issued and as of June 30, 1884, only 3,513 were carried on the U.S. Treasury books as outstanding. Speculation is that half that amount exists today. All examples are uniface (front or back only), and they are printed on white bond paper. The paper does not have the CSA watermark commonly found on other Fractional Specimens, and no examples are known to have the bronze “SPECIMEN” surcharge (Valentine showed Grant Sherman backs in his reference with a bronze “SPECIMEN” surcharge. Milton Friedberg believed that Valentine listed it in error – but Milton still gave it a number: 3S15R.1a for the red back; 3S15R.2a for the green back). 1 List of living people portraits that were used on 3rd issue Fractionals before the April 1866 law was enacted: 1. Spinner 50¢ Type 1 back – Jan.1, 1866. Spinner with Type 2 back was released May 27, 1868 – which snuck through after law was passed. 2. 25¢ red back Fessenden – Feb. 21, 1865; green back Fessenden – April 1, 1865. 3. Green back 5¢ Spencer M. Clark Green back was released Feb. 1865. There is no date on the release of the Clark red back. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 347 Grant Sherman Uncut Proof Sheets From the BEP/SI archives the following are images of uncut proof sheets. For those with the idea that the narrow margin notes were trimmed from the wide margin, that is not the case. Left: Shown is a sheet of twelve narrow margin notes in a 3x4 layout. Plate #16 is in the intersection of the lower left quadrant. While plate numbers show up occasionally on the wide margin Grant Sherman, we have not witnessed any narrow margin specimens with a plate number. Left: Shown is an uncut sheet of twelve green Grant Sherman narrow margin backs. Note plate #13 in the intersection of the lower left quadrant. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 348 Left: An incredible uncut sheet of eight wide margin Grant Sherman faces with the engraved signatures of U.S. Treasurer Francis Spinner and U.S. Register Stoddard Colby. To accommodate eight notes on the sheet, they had to be positioned with 5 horizontally and 3 vertically (flipped 90 degrees). Note plate #3 in the upper corner of the lower left note. This layout was also used for the wide margin Fessenden Specimen sheet. This sheet survives and is safely ensconced at the Smithsonian…away from collector’s hands forever. Right: An uncut sheet of eight wide margin Grant Sherman green backs. Note plate #1 in the bottom. No red back examples have been found in the BEP/SI Archives. We believe no red back proof sheets were created. To the left is a list of the plate numbers used for the Grant Sherman Specimen proofs. Thanks to Martin Gengerke for finding a journal in the 1970s at the BEP listing all the plate numbers used for the 2nd and 3rd issues. For a full list of all Fractional plate numbers, please see the Rob Kravitz book, “A Collector’s Guide to Postage & Fractional Currency (2012)”. The BEP/SI archive does not have the plate #2 sheet, which is the plate without engraved signatures. Plate #2 would have been used for the autographed notes. Plate numbers 1-3 were used for the wide margin; plate numbers 4-19 were used for the narrow margin. Out of the 19 plates used for the Grant Sherman, only 15 proof sheets survive in the archive. Plates bearing the following numbers are not found in the BEP/SI archive: 2, 7, 12 and 18. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 349 Grant Sherman Notes Left: Milt# 3DP15F.2 (Fr. 1272SP) with Colby/Spinner engraved signatures. Right: Milt# 3DP15F.1 (Fr. 1275SP) with Allison/Spinner autographed signatures. The above pair of notes appear to be regular Grant Sherman wide margin autographed Specimens. However, upon closer examination, this pair of notes were made from a single die and not cut from a sheet of 8 as evidenced by the extra wide margins on the top and bottom. Milton Friedberg postulated this in his Fractional encyclopedia. When lining up the notes against the uncut sheet as shown above, we can see that this is true. These single die proofs have extra wide top and bottom margins, something not found on regular wide margin examples which only have an extra wide top or bottom margin (but never both). After the design was approved, the Treasury then duplicated the engravings (x8) onto a single sheet. These examples were some of the earliest Grant Sherman Specimens ever produced. Left: Shown is a major Grant Sherman discovery only found on the BEP/SI archival sheets. These were not listed in the Milton Friedberg Encyclopedia. We digitally extracted the upper left note from the sheet to feature plate position “1” & “a”. See the red circled designators. Left: The plate designator layout is the same as the third issue 50¢ Justice and Spinner sheets. The BEP/SI archive sheet image is not optimal, so we created a layout grid to better display the positioning of the “1” & “a” sheet location designator. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 350 Left: Narrow margin Grant Sherman with the “1” sheet location designator. Right: With the “a” sheet location designator. Both the “1” and “a” note were digitally extracted from a BEP/SI archival sheet. Looking through about 800 examples in the Heritage archive, we could not locate a single example of a Grant Sherman with a “1” and/or “a” in collector’s hands; they apparently only exist in the BEP/SI archives. Six narrow margin obverse sheets can be viewed in the archive. Five of those sheets contain the”1”, “a” and “1-a” plate position indicators. The sixth plate (plate #6) has no “1” or “a” indicator. We are of the opinion that the Treasury only sold Specimen notes from plate #6, which contained no “1” or “a” indicator. Left: Milton 3E15F.1. This example only has the Spinner autograph and is missing the Register signature (Colby, Jeffries, or Allison). Milton considered it unique and Stack’s shared that opinion when this note sold in the Stacks/Ford May 2005 sale for $6,325. One major difference is this note was printed on bristol board and not the usual thin white bond paper. It is believed that the very first printing would likely have been done on bristol board since it would be more porous than bond paper and would absorb the ink better. Another major difference is Milton 3E15F.1 lacks the ornamental wavy lines surrounding the portraits of Grant and Sherman. Right: Narrow Margin Fr. 1272 Specimen. Note the ornamental lines inside the red ovals. All these points indicate that Milton 3E15F.1 is probably the first Grant Sherman note printed. Left: Fr. 1272SP-REV - Milton 3P15R.2. Common Grant Sherman green back. Right: Fr. 1276-REV – Milton 3P15R.1. Common Grant Sherman red back. Both these wide margin examples are also found as narrow margins. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 351 Left: Fr. 1272 – Milton 2S15F.1. Wide margin example with engraved signatures of Colby and Spinner. This was also issued as a narrow margin. This is the most common example of the series. Note plate #3 in the upper right corner. Left: Fr. 1273SP – Milton 3S15F.2. This narrow margin note is autographed by Register Stoddard Colby and U.S. Treasurer Francis Spinner. It is quite rare (Kravitz estimated about 60 known, though Heritage states maybe 35-40 exist). They are not known in a wide margin format since they were only found on the rare pink and green Fractional shields. All examples have tightly trimmed margins and many display damage from being removed from the shield. Right: Fr. 1274SP – Milton 3S15F.3. As with all wide margin autographed notes, this example was printed from plate #2 (no signature design). It was signed by Noah Jeffries (Register from 1867-69) and U.S. Treasurer Francis Spinner. This note is also found as a narrow margin. Left: Fr. 1275SP - Milton 3S15F.4. Wide margin Specimen featuring the autographs of John Allison (Register from 1869–1878) and Treasurer Francis Spinner. Note plate #2 in the upper right. Right: Fr. 1276SP – Milton 3S15F.5. This wide margin Specimen is unsigned and also from plate #2. We are of the opinion that this is an error note and was left accidentally unsigned. Hence, it should not have a Friedberg number (but yes to a Milton number). These are prohibitively rare with only 3 known to exist. The example shown is the most valuable Grant Sherman Specimen known. It sold for $27,600 at a January 2008 Heritage auction. Fr.1273-1275SP – Milton 3P15F.6. An unusual signature combination. The Register was James Napier who served from 1911-1913. This should be classified as a single signature Spinner with a courtesy autograph in the Register's position. Considered unique, it first showed up in the Stacks 2004 Ford sale and resurfaced in a September 2009 Stack auction. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 352 Below left: Uncut Fr. 1272 pair from Stacks Ford III sale in 2004. Stacks indicated that there may be several pairs, but we think it could be unique as no others have shown up in auction. Unlisted in Milton’s reference. Right: Uncut strip of three Fr. 1272 (Milton 3P15F.1a). This unique strip pedigrees to the Milton Friedberg CAA auction in January 1997 and reappeared in the Tom O’Mara Heritage sale in April 2005. Both notes have plate #3 in the right margin. There are several Grant Sherman examples with Milton numbers bearing courtesy signatures from post Fractional era U.S. Treasurers: Lee McClung (Milt #3P15F.1b); John Burke (Milt #3S15F.3b); A.U. Wyman (Milt #3P15R.2a); and James Gilfillan (Milt #3S15R.1b). One more thing to ponder. With the addition of three new Friedberg numbers for the Grant Shermans notes (only found at the Smithsonian), this means there never was and there will never be a full type set of Fractionals by Fr# in collector’s hands since the aforementioned notes will forever be ensconced at the Smithsonian Institution. In the next edition of the Friedberg reference, the newly discovered Grant Sherman Specimens with be designated with the following Fr#’s: Fr. 1272a-SP (Grant Sherman specimen with engraved signatures with plate position ‘a’) Fr. 1272b-SP (Grant Sherman specimen with engraved signatures with plate position ‘1’) Fr. 1272c-SP (Grant Sherman specimen with engraved signatures with plate position ‘1 & a’) This concludes what should be the most comprehensive overview of the Grant Sherman Specimen. For the uncut sheets, the “1/a”, “1”, and “a” notes, we used Adobe Photoshop to sharpen the image to highlight the tiny sheet location designators. Many thanks to the Stacks/Bowers and Heritage auction archives for the images contained in this article. Also, to the Smithsonian Institution for the sheet images. Thank you to Steve Shupe (FCCB President) and Bob Laub for their editorial input. And finally, a big thanks to Art Friedberg for his support and recognition of the major Grant Sherman Specimen discovery. References: Milton Friedberg - The Encyclopedia of United States Postage & Fractional Currency (6th Ed. 2000) Rob Kravitz - A Collector’s Guide to Postage & Fractional Currency (2nd Ed. 2012) Arthur and Ira Friedberg - Paper Money of the United States (22nd Ed. 2021) Currency Auctions of America - Milton Friedberg Fractional Auction (January 1997) SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 353 “Cervanteros” Banknotes of the Short‐Lived Federal Republic of Loreto By Stephen D. Russell In the early 1900s, Peru and in particular the district of Loreto became wealthy with the harvesting of rubber for the emerging automobile industry (Figure 1). But, rubber trees were smuggled out of the country to Malaysia and in 1921 the Peruvian economy fell into a recession when the rubber boom had ended. The government of President Augusto Leguía (Figure 2) stopped sending funds from the rubber tax to pay the military and civil servants in the rural Loreto region and instead directed that funding to enrich the politicians and military in the cities. Under a treaty with neighboring Colombia, with whom they had been at war with in 1911, President Leguía was also planning to cede part of the Loreto district to Colombia. The people in the Loreto community were starving, and also felt that giving the land to Colombia was an act of treason, so in response they formed the civilian Loreto Defense Committee, and the local infantry Captain Guillermo Cervantes (Figure 3) took command of the regiment that was stationed in Iquitos and declared himself leader on the Federal Republic of Loreto (Figure 4) on 5 August 1921. He issued a manifesto signed by 19 junior officers and 7 Loretan citizens denouncing the fraud by government authorities who embezzled funding which had been allocated for the troops, police, teachers and other civil servants. This is known as the Iquitos Revolution, or by the locals as the Cervantine Revolution. The provisional government, headed in Iquitos, soon expanded its control to the adjacent Peruvian departments of Amazonas and San Martin. On its second day of existence, the rebel authorities authorized the distribution of provisional banknotes used by locals as currency. Martial law and a curfew were declared, and local ports were ordered shut, with local trade and navigation being tightly controlled. The revolution was quickly accepted by the local population, but was met negatively by Peru's President Leguía, who sent troops to the area, and shut down all trade to the region. After armed confrontations with the forces of the central government, the revolutionaries were facing lack of resources and food, which created growing discontent of the population. Faced with these events, Cervantes met with his officers and abandoned the revolutionary cause on 9 January 1922. Cervantes then escaped and sought refuge in the Ecuadorian jungle and his army soon became little more than an insurgency ending on 13 January 1922 when Iquitos was occupied by the Peruvian military. Today, Iquitos is the capital city of Peru's Maynas Province and Loreto Region. It is the largest metropolis in the Peruvian Amazon, east of the Andes. The unrecognized, self‐proclaimed Federal Republic of Loreto lasted from 5 August 1921 to 13 January 1922, just over 5 months. During the revolt, Captain Cervantes and his forces seized 13,306 gold sterling pounds owned by the Bank of Peru and London and that allowed them to issue the provisional checks and mandate their use Figure 1. Man Harvesting Rubber Tree Depicted on Peru 100 Soles de Oro Banknote (P#69Aa, author photo). Figure 2. Augusto Bernardino Leguía y Salcedo, 36th & 40th President of Perú (Wikimedia archives photo). Figure 3. Guillermo Cervantes Vásquez, Leader of the Federal State of Loreto (Wikimedia archives photo) Figure 4. Map and Flag of the Federal Republic of Loreto (Wikimedia archives photo). SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 354 within the city of Iquitos and throughout Loreto. The provisional checks became known as “Cervanteros” or “Cervantinos” after fusing the names of Captain Cervantes with the surname of a member of the Loreto Defense Committee, Don Octavio de los Heros. All of the bills were dated 1 Oct 1921 and were issued on 7 Oct 1921 and primarily used to pay the public servants. They have signatures of Captain Cervantes and Don Octavio de los Heros. The revolutionary movement issued provisional notes in an amount of 50,000 Libras de Oro, in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 Centavos, 1 Sol, and one‐half, 1 and 5 Libras. Later another 100,000 Libras were issued. The monetary system used 100 Centavos equal to 1 Sol, and 10 Soles equal to 1 Libra de Oro. The notes were printed locally by “El Oriente” and they used different types of paper. The half libra, 1 libra and 5 libra notes were printed on high quality white paper. The 1 Sol note was printed on orange paper. While the 10, 20 and 50 centavo notes were printed on poor quality tan or brownish-white paper using the design of the 1 Sol note for their face with an overprint of the value. The highest denomination “Cervanteros” issued by the revolutionary government was the 5 Libra de Oro (Figure 5) which used a substrate of white paper, 160 mm x 83 mm in size. The front depicts a soldier on horseback in the middle, printed in blue with a yellow underprint and red overprint of the serial number and the printer’s name. The back depicts a soldier playing a bugle at the center and is printed in yellow. The note is dated 1 Oct 1921 and has printed signatures of Cervantes and de los Heros. Notes are found with an embossed seal on the front and there are varieties with and without a purple hand-stamp of the seal on the back. The Standard Catalog of World Paper Money (SCWPM) by Krause Publications records this in Vol. 3, Specialized Issues under Peru as P#S607. There are no hand-stamp varieties recorded in the SCWPM, and as of this date, the Banknote Book by Greysheet omits all of the Loreto notes from their catalog. The SCWPM notes two different varieties for the 1 Libra de Oro. Both varieties are printed by El Oriente on white paper, 145 mm x 75 mm in size, and dated 1 Oct 1921. Both varieties have the same basic design with an angel depicted on the front left in black ink on a red underprint. The back is the coat of arms at the center, printed in red. The first variety, without a series and embossed seal, is designated as P#S606a (Figure 6) while the second variety with Series B and embossed seal is designated as P#S606b. Both varieties have serial numbers printed in black ink, and found with a purple hand-stamp of the seal on the back. It is presumed, but not confirmed, that series B was from the second issuance of the notes. The ½ Libra de Oro, designated as P#S605 (Figure 7) was also printed 1 Oct 1921 by El Oriente on white paper, but smaller in size only 139 mm x 67 mm in size. The front of this note depicts an effigy of an Inca Man at the center printed in black with a gray underprint. The printer name and serial number are in red ink. The back depicts the coat of arms at the center, and has a purple hand-stamp of the seal. Varieties are found without a series, and those with series B, the latter presumably from the second issuance. The SCWPM does not differentiate these varieties. Figure 5. 5 Libras de Oro P#S607 (Heritage Auctions archives photo). Figure 6. 1 Libra de Oro P#S606a (author photo). Figure 7. ½ Libra de Oro P#S605 (author photo). SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 355 The most common “Cervanteros” note found in this series is the 1 Sol, designated as P#S604 (Figure 8). This note was printed by El Oriente on orange paper, 107 mm x 61 mm. This can be found with series A, B, C and D and all dated 1 Oct 1921. The front depicts a native warrior at the center, and the back depicts a seated allegory of Justice at the center. The front is printed in black ink for the design with red for the serial number and printer. The back is printed in black ink. These notes have embossed seals and purple hand-stamps of the seal on the back. The SCWPM does not differentiate among the different series. The lowest denomination Centavos notes of this series all use the 1 Sol design on the front and are the same size, but are printed on poor-quality tan or off-white paper that seem to have not survived as well as the other notes since they are less often found for sale. The front of the notes are over-printed with the printer name, series, serial number and the correct denomination in different colors. The 10 Centavos note uses brown ink with “VALE 10 CTVS”, the 20 Centavos note uses red ink with “VALE 20 CTVS” and the 50 Centavo note uses green ink with “VALE 50 CTVS”. The back designs differ from the 1 Sol note and show “Vale 10 Ctvs”, “Vale 20 Ctvs” and “Vale 50 Ctvs” across the center of the note with large numerals, and corresponding text at the top and bottom spelling out “VALE 10 CENTAVOS”, “VALE 20 CENTAVOS” and “VALE 50 CENTAVOS” for the three denominations along with the usual purple hand-stamp of the seal. The SCWPM designates these as P#S601, P#S602 and P#S603 respectively (Figure 9). These small denomination notes also have series, embossed seal and hand-stamp variations, none of which have been distinguished in the SCWPM. The 10 and 20 Centavos notes can be found with either series A or series B varieties, while the 50 Centavos note is only found without a series printed on the note. The issuance of these revolutionary banknotes was unique in the history of Peru. While the Federal Republic of Loreto was short-lived, it has provided collectors with a small set of interesting “Cervanteros” banknotes that reflects its culture and interesting history. REFERENCES “Augusto B. Leguía”, Internet Source, Wikipedia, dated 10 Sept 2024, accessed 2025 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusto_B._Legua. César Corrales López, Colección Billetes del Perú, Fascículo 21: Cheques Provisionales del Perú (Billetes Los Cervanteros) 1921 (Lima, Peru: Peruvian Banknote Service, 2012). Grández Vásquez, Carlomagno, "Las Revoluciones en Loreto", Internet Source, La Región, dated 31 Aug 2013, accessed 2025 from https://diariolaregion.com/las-revoluciones-en-loreto/. “Guillermo Cervantes”, Internet Source, Wikipedia, dated 2 May 2024, accessed 2025 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_Cervantes. Humala Tasso, Antauro. "El Nacionalismo de Iquitos Jamás fue Separatismo", Internet Source, Historia Ollanta, dated 27 Jan 2016, accessed 2025 from https://archive.ph/VIssN. “Peru, Iquitos Revolution”, George S. Cuhaj, editor, Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, Vol. 3 Specialized Issues, 12th Edition (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2013), pp. 913-914. “Peru, Iquitas Revolution”, Internet Source, Heritage Auctions, accessed 2023 from https://www.ha.com/. “Third Federal State of Loreto”, Internet Source, Wikipedia, dated 1 Apr 2025, accessed from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Federal_State_of_Loreto. Figure 8. 1 Sol P#S604 (author photo). Figure 9. 10, 20 and 50 Centavos P#S601, P#S602 and P#S603 (Colección Billetes del Perú photo). SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 356 If you enjoy paper money, visit greysheet.com for up-to-date news, pricing, and research on U.S. and world-wide bank notes. The Georgia Weekly Notes for the County of Merriwether in May 1862: Worth Their Weight in False Teeth By Charles Derby In 1862, the County of Merriwether 1 was like many other counties in Georgia and the rest of the South. The War was in its second year, lasting longer than many had imagined. Specie was nonexistent and even paper money was scarce. So, Merriwether County did what others did: they printed their own money. Inferior courts were the major organ of county government in Georgia at that time, and among their responsibilities were assessing and collecting taxes, supervising the treasurer, and printing money. The Inferior Court of Merriwether County authorized the printing of notes, and the county treasurer signed them. Like other Georgia counties, Merriwether, with its government seat in Greenville, looked to the proprietors of newspapers to print their notes, since they used their presses not only for printing newspapers but as job offices for the printing needs of the townspeople. The best known 1862 notes issued by Merriwether County were printed by “H. P. Hill & Co., Printers, Griffin, Ga.” These colorful notes of denominations $10, $5, $2, $1, 50¢, and 25¢ were printed by Henry Hill 2 who operated one of the largest and more established printing establishment in Georgia and even beyond. For example, in 1863, he published a national publication, The Confederate States Railroad and Steamboat Guide, with schedules in the Confederate States. Being located in Griffin only 35 miles from Greenville, he was an obvious choice to print notes for the County of Merriwether. Hill’s Merriwether notes were issued in July- October of 1862. During this same time, Hill also printed paper money for the counties of Butts, Harris, Jasper, and Spalding, as well as private scrip for Augustus Merritt of Griffin and B. A. Wright, the sutler of the 30th Regiment of Georgia volunteers. An example of Hill’s notes for the County of Merriwether, a $5 note issued September 6, 1862, is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Note printed by H. P. Hill & Co. for the County of Merriwether. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions. But before Merriwether County had contracted with Hill to produce its notes, it had turned to a hometown printer at the local Greenville newspaper, The Georgia Weekly. These notes had the imprint “Georgia Weekly Print.” and, with one exception, were hand signed and issued May 12 and 15, 1862 – two months before the first of Hill’s notes. Compared to Hill’s notes, these Georgia Weekly Print notes were colorless, simple in design, and crude in production. An example is shown in Figure 2. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 358 This article is about these Georgia Weekly Print notes: how they came to be, the men who made them, why their run was quickly supplanted by Hill’s notes, and why except for false teeth, they might not have been printed. Notes from The Georgia Weekly Print Nine types of Georgia Weekly Print notes are illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. Six of these are listed in Georgia Obsolete Currency 3 , and the others are listed in Heritage Auctions. Figure 3 shows denominations of $10, $5, $3, $2, $1, and 5¢. Figure 2 shows a “hybrid” error note: it is $2 note with “2” on the right end and “TWO DOLLARS” in the center but with “1” to the left. All of these notes are hand signed “D. Ellis Tr.” and hand dated between May 12 th and 15 th , with one exception – the 5¢ note was dated Sept. 26. These nine notes can be classified into four varieties. One variety is shown by the top three notes on the left – $10, $2, and $1 denominations – which have the following features: “THE COUNTY OF MERRIWETHER” in large font across the top; a vignette of the classical figure of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture and harvest, holding the wheat harvest, on the left end; the denomination in large font to the right and small font to the left; the plate letter “A” in bold font at the left and right above “THE COUNTY OF MERRIWETHER”; the “Georgia Weekly Print.” imprint at the bottom left; and “Receivable for County Dues” vertically to the right of Ceres. Figure 2. Note printed by Georgia Weekly Print for the County of Merriwether. Courtesy of Gary Doster. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 359 A second variety is shown by the top three notes on the right – $5, $3, and $2 notes – with the following features: “THE COUNTY OF MERRIWETHER” in smaller font across the top; a railroad engine vignette on the left end; the denomination in same-sized font on the right and left; the plate letter “A” in flowery font immediately to the left and right of “THE COUNTY OF MERRIWETHER”; the “Georgia Weekly Print.” imprint vertically at the right end (sometimes trimmed off); “Receivable for County Dues” at the top above “THE COUNTY OF MERRIWETHER” (notice that the $2 example in this variety is missing “Receivable for County Dues,” probably representing an error); and a sack of produce to the right below the denomination. The third variety is represented by the $1 denomination at the bottom right, and it differs from the second variety in two ways: it has a barrel rather than a sack below the right denomination; and it has a Greek mythological image of Hope (Elphis, personified as a young lady bearing flowers, according to Heritage Auctions 4 rather than the railroad engine as the vignette to the left). The fourth variety is the 5¢ fractional note which is smaller and, though missing the left end, clearly differs in many features from the others. The Georgia Weekly Print notes from Merriwether are primitive, unoriginal, and poorly produced. The vignettes used in these notes are symbolic of qualities important to Southerners: agriculture, commerce, transportation, and hope. The vignettes were not original designs but were copies of vignettes designed before the Civil War. This was typical of notes produced in the South, especially in small communities, during the war 5,6 . Figure 4 illustrates this point. The left pair of images is of Hope, and the right a railroad train, and the left image in each pair is from a Merriwether note. Figure 3. Georgia Weekly Print. issues for the County of Merriwether. Courtesy of Gary Doster and Heritage Auctions. Figure 4. Two pairs of vignettes. In each pair, the left example is from a Georgia Weekly Print Merriwether note: the $1 note in Figure 3 for Hope, and the $5 note for the train. The other Hope is from Bank of St. Mary’s, Georgia, $10 note from 1846, and the right train is from Alabama & Tennessee River Rail Road Company, Selma, Alabama, 50 cent, January 1862, R-290-4. Courtesy of Gary Doster and Heritage Auctions. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 360 The Georgia Weekly Newspaper and the Printing of these Notes The four men associated with the May 1862 Merriwether notes – three with The Georgia Weekly and one representing Merriwether County – came to Greenville in 1861 from very different backgrounds and experiences. The founder, proprietor, editor, and co-publisher of The Georgia Weekly was William Henry Peck, age 30. The co-publisher and founding printer for The Georgia Weekly was Sylvanus De Forrest Lines, 31 years old. Charles Wells was the 16- y e a r - o l d assistant printer working with Lines. Finally, there was David Wells, age 45, Treasurer and Inferior Court representative for the County of Merriwether, the only long-term resident of Greenville. The Road of Four Men to Greenville and The Georgia Weekly Notes William Henry Peck. William Henry Peck was by far the most accomplished of the group, already with a national reputation when he came to Greenville, and eventually achieving fame and wealth as a Southern novelist, professor of literature, college president, and, of course of central importance in our story, newspaper proprietor, editor, and creator of obsolete currency from the County of Merriwether 7, 8 . Peck was born on Dec 30, 1830, in Augusta, Georgia, where his father was a prosperous merchant. Peck did not live there long. By the age of 7, he was sent to New Haven, Connecticut, to boarding school, under the care of his grandparents. Five years later, at the age of 12, he moved with his father and family to the Florida wilderness. The U.S. Congress passed the Armed Occupation Act, which encouraged settlement in central Florida, and Peck’s father took advantage of it to buy land. The two years that young William lived there had a great impact on his life, helping to shape stories he would later write and even drew him back there in the last years of his life. By the time he was 15, it was time for William to have a proper education, so in 1845, he became a student in Georgetown, Kentucky, first at Georgetown College and then as a cadet at the Western Military Institute. From 1848 to 1849, he made a series of moves: from Kentucky to Alabama, then New Orleans, Washington DC, Cincinnati, back to Washington DC, and finally to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he attended Harvard University and graduated with undergraduate and master’s degrees. In 1854, he married Monica Blake (with whom he eventually had 7 children) and became 1 st Assistant at the New Orleans public school. Two years later, he became the school’s principal, but by the end of that year, he was appointed Professor of Oratory, Elocution, and Belles-lettres at the University of Louisiana (now Tulane University) in New Orleans. In 1857, he published his first major work, Antoinette de Bordelaire, A Tale, followed in 1859 by The Brother’s Vengeance. With his writing career beginning to surge, he moved to New York to concentrate on his craft of writing. In 1860, with secession and war in the air, Peck decided to move to the South that he loved and supported, and he landed in Atlanta. There, he started the literary magazine, The Georgia Weekly. Figure 5. Georgia Weekly Publishers William Peck, left and Sylvanus Lines, center). Newspaper masthead, right. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 361   Sylvanus De Forrest Lines. A treasure trove of information about Sylvanus Lines comes from the diaries and letters of his wife, Amelia Jane (Jennie) Akehurst9, 10. From Jennie’s courtship with Sylvanus beginning in 1857, through their marriage in 1860 till her death in 1886, her writings provide unique insight about their activities and lives, including during the period of most interest for this paper – the printing of the Merriwether County notes in 1862. Sylvanus was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1829. He trained as a printer there but relocated to Atlanta for job opportunities. Dyer 9 calls Sylvanus “amiable” and from Jennie’s writings he certainly seems so, as well as hard-working, adaptable, and committed to his family and career. Jennie was born in England in 1827, and two years later moved to Clinton, New York, where she was educated to be a teacher. She moved to Georgia in February, 1857, also inspired by job opportunities and encouraged by Anna Maria Lines Akehurst, Jennie’s sister-in-law and Sylvanus’ cousin. Maria, serving as the matchmaker, soon introduced Jennie to Sylvanus. Jennie wrote, “I like Mr. L. very much and hope he formed as good an opinion of me as I did of him.” They did get along well, despite Jennie’s concern that “Mr. L. asked my age, and when told appeared surprised as is always the case when I tell my age; for people always take me to be four and even six years younger than I am. Expect Mr. L. will cut my acquaintance now he knows how aged I am.” Jennie was two years older than Sylvanus, but despite her fears and Sylvanus’ living in New Haven from November 1857 to November 1858, they continued to court through letters. In late 1858, Sylvanus returned to Georgia – the town of Fayetteville – where he worked for the Fayetteville Academy (later Seminary), while Jennie taught in nearby Covington. They married on August 11, 1859, in Oxford, and lived in Fayetteville till January 1860. They made a series of moves: Newnan till May 1860 (where Sylvanus worked for the Southern Literary Companion), then Atlanta, then a one-month stay in Marietta (working at the Marietta Advocate, published by William Henry Hunt Jr.), then back to Atlanta, till they moved to Greenville. In November 1860, William Peck offered employment in Greenville to both Sylvanus and Jennie. The offer looked good, both in job potential and salary: Sylvanus would be newspaper and job office printer at The Georgia Weekly, and Jennie would teach at the Female Masonic Institute. Jennie was reluctant to leave Atlanta (“Atlanta is the only place I want to live in Ga. A country town has no attraction whatever for me”), but Sylvanus thought it a good business decision, so on December 29 th, they decided to move to Greenville. Charles W. Wells. Charles Wells was born ca. 1844 in Jasper, Georgia11. In 1850, at age 5, he was in Pike County. By 1860, he was living in Atlanta with his family. His father John operated a family grocery, and Charley was already working as “office printer.” Sylvanus apparently recruited Charley for the move to Greenville. David Ellis. Of the four men associated with the May 1862 Merriwether notes, only one lived in Greenville for more than three years. David Ellis was born May 2, 1817, in Iredell County, North Carolina 12 . He moved to Greenville in 1841 at the age of 24 and remained there for the rest of his life. Ellis worked as bookkeeper and general manager of the Howard Hotel, located in the store of Judge Myron Ellis. In 1850 at the age of 32, he was well established in Greenville: he was partner in the merchant business of Robinson, Ellis & Co., owned $1800 in real estate, had a 20-year-old wife, Martha, and purchased a home for his family (Figure 7). Business only got better. In 1858, he became sole proprietor of his dry good store after his partner James L. Robinson died and partner Judge John Robinson moved to Montgomery, Alabama. By the time Peck and his team were Figure 6. Jennie Lines. From Dyer 9. Figure 7. David Ellis house, purchased by him in 1850. From Pinkston 13 SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 362 preparing to print Merriwether notes, Ellis was not only a successful businessman but a civic leader who served on the Inferior Court and was Treasurer of the County of Merriwether. The Making of The Georgia Weekly and the Merriwether Notes Sylvanus and Jennie arrived in Greenville on January 11, 1861, after Peck and his family. Peck had rented a hotel for housing the Lines – a “dreary dilapidated old building” according to Jennie. The print office consisted of two rooms joining the hotel. Sylvanus and Jennie immediately began respective jobs, and by early February The Georgia Weekly was almost out. On February 5th, Jennie wrote, “Pour Sylvanus sat up all night, also Mr. Peck and Mr. Wells. They all looked weary and sleepy this morning. They accomplished their task: The Georgia Weekly is issued at last. Success to it and its faithful, energetic enterprising and able Editor and publisher.” Sylvanus and his team continued to toil; two weeks later, Jennie wrote: “Sylvanus is hard at work in the office. Poor man he is having a hard time to get The Georgia Weekly started. Charley [Wells] is better to-day, but not able to work.” Peck’s vision for his newspaper was, as stated on the masthead of each issue, “Devoted to Southern Literature, News, and General Information.” Peck described the origin of The Georgia Weekly in a column in its first issue, on Wednesday February 6, 1861. Peck started The Georgia Weekly in September, 1860, not in Greenville but in Atlanta, and not as a newspaper but as a literary magazine for Southern writers. But the U.S. presidential election in November disrupted Peck’s plans, since “the political excitement became so intense as to seriously injure every kind of business, and especially that of periodical literature.” Peck decided to move to Greenville to become President of the Female Masonic College and there he found that Greenville lacked a newspaper. So he decided to “re-animate the drooping gazette; and once again, though somewhat changed in style and character, The Georgia Weekly is launched upon the perilous sea of newspaperdom – devoted now, as then, to the advancement of Southern interest and Southern Literature.” Peck asked Merriwether residents for their patronage and subscription of his newspaper, by offering it as “a welcome friend in every Southern home” and also by soliciting “literary contributions from our readers.” He later used another tactic to appeal to people to buy the newspaper – the war and patriotism: “THE GEORGIA WEEKLY will contain the latest reliable news from all parts of the country and as each of the Companies of Volunteers from Merriwether County will contain a Reporter to this paper, thereby furnishing an excellent medium of correspondence between the SOLDIER AND HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS, it should be in the hands of every man in the County.” The newspaper also solicited readers to use the service of The Georgia Weekly’s Job Office, run by Sylvanus Lines: “All those who desire excellent Job Printing, such as pamphlets, books, bill-heads, placards, cards and posters, should call upon the services of The Georgia Weekly Job Office – where every kind of Job Printing will be executed with neatness and excellence, cheapness and dispatch. This department of The Georgia Weekly office is conducted by Mr. S. DeF. Lines, one of the best, if not the best, Job Printers in the South. Figure 8. Advertisement in The Georgia Weekly for Sylvanus Lines’ Job Office SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 363 Heretofore the citizens of Merriwether have been compelled to send all such work to the presses of other counties, but now Mr. Lines is ready and willing to prove his hand. Give him a call and we warrant more than satisfaction.” The newspaper also printed graphic advertisements for the Job Office, as shown in Figure 8. The newspaper also solicited for Peck’s main business venture, The Greenville Female Masonic College. One advertisement even put in a plug for Jennie Lines: “The Preparatory and Primary Department of the Greenville Masonic Female College is conducted by Mrs. Jennie Lines; a lady unusually qualified for her responsible position, and formerly Principal of the same Department in the Southern Female Masonic College at Covington, Ga., and late Editress of the [Southern] Literary Companion.” Despite their hard work, The Georgia Weekly proved difficult to become a financial success. Peck urged citizens of Greenville to support the newspaper, but times were hard. By August 1861, Sylvanus and Jennie were “feeling very unhappy & discouraged. Indeed we have reason, situated as we are. Never did we strive more earnestly to avoid everyt hing in word or action that might cause hard feelings & disturbance, and yet we fail; we cannot do right; we are not appreciated or understood.” Jennie felt shunned by Mrs. Peck and others in Greenville, and by September, halfway through her first pregnancy, she resigned her position at the College, writing: “I think Mr. Peck was quite willing to release me, for the school is too small for two teachers, either to employ all their time or pay them for it.” By February, 1862, Sylvanus was looking for new employment in Atlanta. Things had gotten so bad in Greenville that Sylvanus was being paid solely through room, board, washing…and a set of false teeth! Jennie noted that “a set of teeth on Mr. Peck’s account…is [Sylvanus’] only chance of getting paid. Now this is certainly an accommodation to Mr. Peck…A lady told me that Mrs. P. said she thought it would be better for Mr. P. to have Mr. Lines leave: then he could get someone cheaper. Now how could it be better, when he pays S. no cash and would have to pay a cheaper hand all cash, unless like S. he was unfortunate enough to need a new set of teeth. Perhaps she would make him advertise for a young man who had decayed teeth…We cannot stay after S. gets his teeth paid for.” And leave they did, for Atlanta, in March 1862, after only 14 months in Greenville. Charley Wells replaced Sylvanus as printer of The Georgia Weekly. Returning to The Georgia Weekly Merriwether notes, we are left with a question of who at the job office printed them, since they are hand dated May 1862, two months after Sylvanus left Greenville and when Charley Wells had assumed the role of The Georgia Weekly’s job office printer. A reasonable hypothesis is that Sylvanus principally produced the notes: he was an experienced job printer who was highly motivated to make money and must surely have pursued every possible print job opportunity including printing notes for the County. Furthermore, production of notes from negotiating with the County, designing the notes to meet the County’s requirements, producing the plates, and printing must have taken time, more than the two month between when Sylvanus left the job office in March Figure 9. Advertisement in The Georgia Weekly for Peck’s Female Masonic College. Figure 10. Advertisement in The Georgia Weekly for David Ellis’ dry good store. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 364 and the notes were signed in May. At the very least, Sylvanus must have had a major hand in the production of the notes, even if they were printed by Charley Wells after Sylvanus left Greenville. David Ellis’ signature “D. Ellis, Tr.” is on each note. As a member of the Merriwether County Inferior Court and as County Treasurer from 1862-1868, Ellis signed the notes, but he may well have had a hand in their production as an intermediary between the government and The Georgia Weekly job office. Ellis placed his own advertisements in the newspaper (Figure 10). The Road After Merriwether William Peck. By 1863, Peck realized that staying at The Female Masonic College was not financially feasible. Even by February of 1862, Jennie’s diary records that Peck’s wife “wants him to give up the office; he told her he would keep it up this year at any cost; she replied if he did, she would make it pretty hot for him but she seems to be venting her spite on us [Sylvanus and Jennie].” So, in 1863, when Peck was offered the Professorship of Natural Science and Modern Languages at LeVert Female College in nearby Talbotton, Georgia (Figure 11), he took the opportunity 7, 8 . He also moved The Georgia Weekly there and continued its run, despite its lack of financial success, because it was so important to him. In 1864, while still at LeVert Female College, Peck also took charge of the Collinsworth Institute in Talbotton, until the end of the War. “[Peck] continued to publish during the whole of the War, getting it out without fail once a week. It was changed to a folia when paper became scarce, and was presented sometimes on wallpaper and sometimes on brown wrapping paper. It was perforce remarkably strong in its secession proclivities, else its owners, as he [Peck] said, ‘would have walked, not in sackcloth and ashes, but in tar and feathers; for the country was insane in those days.’” 7 After the War, Peck moved back to New Orleans but lived part-time in New York City, where he was a regular contributor to the New York Ledger. During his career, Peck published nearly 90 historical novels in the Romance style that was so popular at the time, especially in the South. But the Romance style of writing fell out of favor by the late 19 th century, and so Peck and other Romance writers of the South are rarely read today. Of Peck’s style, James Wood Davidson 14 wrote in 1869, “Prof. Peck writes with great ease, and great rapidity; and for the millions – the blood-and-thunder-loving millions – he gives us strong preparations of mingled dangers, dungeons, and daggers; assassination and assignations; lawsuits, suicides, and seductions; graves, greed, ghosts, and guilt; skeletons, corpses, and capsules; gorgons, spectres, and chimeras dire.” Woods also wrote of Peck that he “is powerfully build, being five feet ten in height and weighing 180-190 pounds; is active and lively; speaks much, well, and readily; has black hair, beard, and eyes, and dark complexion; wears full beard and moustache in the style known as American; and has small extremities.…His chirograph [handwriting] is mercantile, practical, fluent, rapid, legible, not precise at all, persistent, eager, restless, ready.” Peck’s success at the time is undeniable. At one time, the New York Ledger paid Peck $5,000 per story, and he published several stories there per year. In fact, one of Peck’s prized possessions, which he displayed in his house, was a gold pen that he said earned him $13,000 in one year. 15 Two of Peck’s most famous novels were “The Figure 11. Building at LeVert Female College in Talbotton, where Peck was on the faculty in 1863-1865. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 365 M'Donalds; or, The Ashes of Southern Homes. A Tale of Sherman's March (1867), and The Confederate Flag on the Ocean. A Tale of the Cruises of the Sumter and Alabama (1868). The M’Donalds (Fig. 12) may have been inspired not just by an obvious market of post-War Southerners but by his own experiences when he was teaching in Talbotton while Sherman was burning nearby Georgia and by Peck’s sister's family who lived in Augusta. His late popular works were Wild Redburn, an Indian Tale (1877) and The Stone-Cutter of Lisbon (1889). Another novel was Red Butler, or the Warrior of Lake Champlain (1870), and one might reasonably wonder whether Margaret Mitchell was an avid reader of Peck’s novels and was inspired by Peck’s Red Butler when she named her own lead character Rhett Butler. Late in his life, Peck and his wife, who was ailing and yearned for a warmer climate, moved to Florida – Courtney, on Merritt Island, near the Indian River. His wife died in September 1891 during a visit to Atlanta. William died five month later on February 4, 1892, in Jacksonville, Florida, and they are both buried in Westview Cemetery in Atlanta. Charles Wells. When Lines left The Georgia Weekly and Greenville for Atlanta in March 1862, Wells stayed behind to continue printing The Georgia Weekly and to run the Job Print office. In this capacity, in 1863, he co-published Peck’s only novel released during the war, The Conspirators of New Orleans, or The Night of Battle, about intrigue in New Orleans during the War of 1812 (Figure 12). By the end of the Civil War, Wells was back in Atlanta, where he worked as a printer for the rest of his life. He married Matilda M. Thrash: their marriage date is uncertain, but she was born in 1847 in Monroe County, Georgia, lived in Atlanta by 1859, had four children with Charley, and died in 1909 11 Charley died on February 13, 1900, and is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta next to Matilda. 11 David Ellis. Ellis lived in Greenville from 1850 until his death in 1891. If the war hurt Ellis financially, he quickly recovered, because by 1870 he reported $2,000 in real estate and $1,500 personal estate. He was a pillar in the Greenville community: he had a prosperous business, had two wives and several children, and continued to serve as county treasurer for several years after the war. Sylvanus Lines. Sylvanus and Jennie moved back to Atlanta in March 1862. Sylvanus continued as a newspaper and job office printer in Atlanta during the war. Jennie wrote on February 22, 1864, that “Sylvanus is now foreman of a newspaper.” He was elected president of the Atlanta Typographical Union in 1864, and he led a work strike calling for higher wages from Atlanta newspapers 16 . As a newspaperman, Lines was exempt for serving in the regular army. But after he moved to Atlanta and the fighting came closer to home, Lines served in the local forces, as did all able men. In August 1863, he mustered into the Confederate 3rd Battalion State Guard under Capt. S. P. Bassett’s Company, Atlanta Press Guards, “for local defence, to serve within the limits of Fulton County, Ga…for six months August 3, 1863.” 17 Then, in June 1864, when Sherman was knocking on Atlanta’s door, he served in the Company of Confederate Capt. Albert Roberts. But the Battle of Atlanta drove Jennie and Sylvanus from Atlanta in July 1864, and they lived with Maria Lines in her home in Columbus, Georgia, for the remainder of the war. Figure 12. Two of Peck’s novels: The M’Donalds (published in 1867) and The Conspirators of New Orleans (printed in 1863 in Greenville with Charles Wells as co-publisher). SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 366 In September 1865, Sylvanus and Jennie left Georgia and the South, and moved back to Sylvanus’ hometown of New Haven, Connecticut. But work was elusive for Sylvanus in Connecticut, and the opportunities for him in the South seemed brighter, so he returned to Georgia while Jennie and their two children stayed in New Haven. Sylvanus was in Macon, Georgia, by 1868, printing for J. W. Burke & Co., a major printer of all materials including books, pamphlets, and even post-war paper money, and lived there for the remainder of their lives. Figure 13 shows a five-cent note printed by J. W. Burke & Co. for the County of Monroe in 1869, while Sylvanus was working for the company, and we can imagine that he had a hand in its production given his past experiences. Jennie and Daisy left New Haven in 1869 to join Sylvanus in Macon, and they remained in Macon for the rest of their lives. Sylvanus, ever trying to improve his financial situation, succeeded in establishing his own printing office, together with Bridges W. Smith as editor and another partner named Wing, by August 1871. For two years, they published two newspapers in Macon: the Enterprise, printed every evening except Sundays; and Our Saturday Night, published of course only on Saturdays 18 . But the two-year run of these papers ended in 1873, and by 1874 the team of Lines, Smith, and Wing were publishing a new newspaper, the Middle Georgia Argus, 18 in Indian Springs, Butts County, Georgia, 35 miles from Macon. This paper was a success, as it was printed for 20 years, but Sylvanus never realized such a long run – he died after its first year, in 1875. Jennie and Daisy, who never married, remained in Macon. Jennie died in May 1886, destitute, and is buried in an unmarked grave in Macon. Sylvanus is buried in Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery with his three children: Herbert and Lillie were buried there first, Sylvanus joined them upon his death, and Daisy in 1912, with the site marked only by Daisy’s name. References and Footnotes 1) Meriwether County, established on December 14, 1827, was named after David Meriwether, a Georgian, Revolutionary War general, and U.S. congressman. In its early days, the county was usually spelled “Merriwether,” as was the case for these County of Merriwether notes. Since that time, the citizens have settled on “Meriwether.” 2) Cobb, KyL T. Jr. 2016, Griffin, Georgia: We Could Have Been Famous. Volume 2: Heroes, 1890-1949. Lulu Press, Inc. 3) Anderson, Carl A., and Marsh, David. Georgia Obsolete Currency. www.davidmarsh.com. 4) https://currency.ha.com/itm/obsolete-banknotes/st-mary-s-ga-bank-of-st-mary-s-10-nov-16-1846-ga-265-g4b-pcgs-fine-12- apparent/a/241622- 90538.s?ic4=GalleryView-Thumbnail-071515) 5) Bowers, Q. David. 2006. Obsolete Paper Money: Issued by Banks in the United States 1782-1866: A Study and Appreciation for the Numismatist and Historian. Whitman Publishing, LLC: Atlanta, Georgia. 6) Doty, Richard. 2013. Pictures From a Distant Country. Seeing America Through Old Paper Money. Whitman Publishing,: Atlanta, GA 7) Harvard University, Class of 1853. Report, 1849-1913, Issued on the 60th Anniversary for the Use of the Class and Its Friends. Commencement 1913. 8) White, James T. 1916. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Volume 15. James T. White & Co., New York. 9) Dyer, Thomas, ed. 1982. To Raise Myself a Little. The Diaries and Letters of Jennie, a Georgia Teacher, 1851-1886. Amelia Akehurst Lines. The University of Georgia Press, Athens. Figure 13. Note printed in 1869 by J. W. Burke & Co. of Macon, Georgia, when Lines was a printer for that company. From Heritage Auctions. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 367 10) Akehurst/Lines family papers, 1850-1914. University of Georgia. Special Collections Libraries. 11) Files accessed through Ancestry.com 12) Meriwether County, Georgia – Newspaper Obituaries: December 9, 1887 - December 16, 1892. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm 13) Pinkston, Regina P. 1974. Historical Account of Meriwether County 1827-1974. Meriwether Historical Society, Inc., Meriwether County. 14) Davidson, James Wood. 1869. The Living Writers of the South. Carleton Publisher, New York. 15) Avery, Isaac Wheeler. 1881. The History of the State of Georgia from 1850 to 1881. Brown & Derby, Publishers, New York. 16) Venet, Wendy Hamand. 2014. A Changing Wind. Commerce & Conflict in Civil War Atlanta. Yale University Press, New Haven. 17) U.S. Government Civil War files accessed through www.fold3.com 18) Chronicling America. Historic American Newspapers. chroniclingamerica.loc.gov SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 368 U N C O U P L E D : PAPER MONEY’S ODD COUPLE Joseph E. Boling Fred Schwan Conspiracy in Guernsey Germany occupied the Channel Islands (Guernsey, Jersey, and several smaller ones) on 30 June and 1 July 1940, a week after the fall of France. The islands are much closer to France than to Britain, and were not defensible by British forces. Immediately upon occupation the Germans circulated their notes, the Reichskreditkassenscheine that were used in most occupied regions. These circulated alongside the local currencies (each of Guernsey and Jersey had their own fiscal issues—British sterling was not in general use). As in any turbulent period, the cash that the citizens most trusted (their own) went underground, and commerce became difficult because of a lack of small change. By early 1941 the States’ governments requested permission to print small-change notes (denominated in pence and shillings). Permission was granted provided that £5000 of higher denomination notes be withdrawn and the new issue restricted to that amount. The withdrawn notes would be the issues of the local banks that had circulated prior to the war. Worn and soiled notes that had already been withdrawn due to wear and tear were pulled from the banks’ vaults and overprinted as having been withdrawn from circulation. The first of the small change notes for Guernsey are dated 25 March 1941; Jersey notes are not dated. That first lot of £5000 did not solve the problem. By Fall, authority to print another £5000 was requested. This time the Germans demanded that the equivalent in British sterling be handed over. Those notes had to be rustled from the local banks. We have no record of what kind of collateral was provided, but the notes were found and again overprinted. See Boling page 371 Multinational matches Steve Feller and I were chatting on the phone recently. Actually, it was more like we were talking over each other. He about Confederate treasury notes; I about military payment certificates. I nearly dropped the phone when he mentioned that he had a Confederate note with serial number two. TWO! wow. What is so special about a Confederate, or any, note with that number? Well, we all know that collectors pay attention to serial numbers and like to collect the low numbers. Obviously number one is the most popular— we have discussed that here in the past. While number one is the most popular, it is not the scarcest. Indeed compared to the other numbers in the first ten, number one is actually the most common in collections because that number was often collected from the moment of issue, but these facts are not why I was so excited about the number two. The reason that I was so excited is that one of my favorite military payment certificates is a Series 651 $10 with serial number two! I like matched numbers. I think that most collectors do, but I think that I am one of the few who appreciate what I call multinational matches. These are notes from distinctly different issues with matching numbers. I was so excited about this multinational pair that I forgot that I had a pair of twos before the call from Steve! Yes, in addition to the number two MPC, I have a national bank note from my home county with that number. Specifically, it is a National Bank of Elmore, Ohio Series 1902 red seal.   SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 369 I love it. Actually, I love both of my twos. Heck, I also love Steve’s number two too. Too bad that it is not mine (I also collect homophones). Steve is full of surprises. When he sent the images of the number two Confederate note, he included three more low-numbered Confederate notes: 5, 6, 8! You certainly remember that Joe collects notes with serial number eight. I have found a few eights for him over the years (decades), I hope that he will share some of his eye candy eights here. I do not have any fives or sixes. Neither do I have an eight to share with you, but I did find an image of a 500 pesos VICTORY note serial number eight. Sadly, the image is black and white, but the note is important--and cool--enough to include in spite of that.   The king of matched serial numbers must be Larry Smulczenski. He has at least a hundred serial number 39 notes. It all started with the HAWAII note shown here. Like me he likes his 39s to be on military notes that he would otherwise collect, but he takes a wider view than I do and will take any 39.   Logan Talks is serial number royalty. He has the only regular issue MPC serial number one (Series 471 five cents.) He has found many low and interesting (make that fascinating) notes. In addition to low, matching and other fancy numbers. I called Logan to discuss some aspects of this column. Specifically, I expected that he had a serial number two note that we might be able to use for this column. Logan was excited to learn about   the twos held by Steve and me, but he does not have a two. We had a nice chat about low and other fancy SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 370 numbers. We agreed that we would collaborate on an additional story on the subject soon. We will conclude with a multinational serial number one set. To do justice to the special nature of number one serials, the others need to be suitably special. What is special enough? First of course is Logan’s serial number one MPC. Next we have an astonishing note. The serial number one Guadeloupe 1000 franc (printed by the E. A. Wright Bank Note Company). Because this note has conventional and “French system” serials, one appear to have been sprinkled haphazardly over the note. As with the VICTORY note above, I am sorry that I have only a black and white image of this note. In this case though, I own the note, but cannot find it! When I find that note, I will tell you the long story of obtaining this great note. Finally, we will include a pieces from far out on the multinational scale. It is a Series E war bond. More specifically it is a $10 bond. These were called “soldiers’ bonds.” This is the very first “soldiers’ bond”! The bond was (and is) accompanied by a 1944 letter to Colonel R.K LeBrou who was chief of the Finance Department, United States Army. I hope that you like this set of multinationals! I would be happy to see any additional matched sets that you have or comments on the subject: fredschwan@yahoo.com. Boling cont. This stymied any German plans to use the notes for their own purposes (though obviously £5000 was not going to buy much in armaments or chemicals). Now things get really murky. There is a report that the sterling was to have been sent to a German office in Paris. Maybe the obvious cancellation overprints made that a non-starter. Whatever happened, the cancelled notes stayed in the islands until after the war. After liberation, £2000 were found in Jersey and returned to the Bank of England for credit. About 1980 most of the remaining £3000 were reportedly found in an antiquarian’s shop, also on Jersey. A few dozen pieces had apparently migrated into local pockets. Reporting at the time was that David Keable and his business partner Enid Salter made the notes available to collectors—after they had recorded every serial number in the hoard (to prevent later opportunists from duplicating the cancellation markings and selling notes that had not come from the Channel Islands). Today those serial numbers are available online on Pam West’s site www.britishnotes.co.uk under the “News & Info” drop-down, then second line. Curiously, recent publications do not mention the foresight of Salter and Keable in their day. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 371 The notes that have come down to us were cancelled in two tranches, dated September 18th and November 10th, 1941. The text of the overprint is the same face and back, with minor varieties in its punctuation (a period at the end on the face, or the back, or both). The font and color (deep violet) of the overprint are identical for both dates. The overprint is letterpress, not rubber stamped (and certainly not digital). In each case the overprint is turned 90 degrees counterclockwise (some crooked ones exist). See figures 1 and 2. The notes used span three cashiers of the Bank of England—Mahon, Catterns, and Peppiatt. Those all are the green £1 note as used pre-war (no metallic security thread), and extending into the term of the same design in blue used during the war (Peppiatt only, with a thread). Of course there have been fakes made for collectors. I am using the backs to show the overprints, because the detail shows up better on the less-dense back designs. Figure 3 is in the proper color and a fairly good duplication of the font (but with noticeably thinner letters), and at magnification it is revealed to be a rubber stamp. Figure 4 is black, not violet, and not the same font at all (look at the letters “c” in “Circulation”). But the single best way to quickly check these with the naked eye is the numeral “9” in the date. See figures 5-7. Figure 5 above left & figure 6 above right. Figure 7 below. The genuine overprint has a 9 that points out to the left, rising from the baseline at a 45-degree angle. Both the others have a flat end on the 9, either almost parallel with the baseline, or resting flat on the baseline. Most eBay lots have enough magnification to be able to see this diagnostic. Figure 1 above and figure 2 below. Figure 3 above & figure 4 below. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 372 Going back to figures 5-7, figure 5 shows the diagnostic ridges that identify a letterpress impression; figure 6 shows very little of that (but remember that rubber stamping is a variety of letterpress, so there are tiny bits of ridges along parts of the impression); and figure 7 shows the typical flyers on the edges of an inkjet image, and severe stair-stepping along all the angles of the character. Figure 7 is a product of the Warrington faker—the printer he uses now does a better job with those angles, but he is still using black ink and it is still inkjet. Further evidence of Warrington’s MO is seen in figures 8 and 9. These are the same note. Figure 8 is the way he sold it on 10 June 2018, for the bargain price of £24. Evidently the buyer did not like the overprint and returned it. The faker then added the FALSIFICAT banner and sold it again on 14 October 2018, this time for £57. The second buyer would have no recourse. Adding one of these false overprints to a common note adds a few hundred dollars to the asking price. But remember that every serial number of a genuine piece is available online. Check out the tables there and familiarize yourself with the nomenclature used to create them. There are different tables for each signer and for differences in the serial blocks (using the catalog numbers of West’s book English Paper Money). Be vigilant. Fred wanted to see some of my serial number 8 notes. Here are some examples. Figure 8 above & figure 9 below. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 Whole Number 360 373 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 The Alabama Patton Certificates (or a State’s Solution to Being Broke) By David Hollander What Are Patton Certificatesi? Following the Civil War the Alabama economy was in financial and agriculturalii shambles. Consequently, the Governor’s highest priorities were the rehabilitation of the state, as well as the welfare of its citizensiii , and re- admission of the State to the Union. Governor Robert Miller Patton (Figure 1), a Whig, was popularly elected eight months after the end of the Civil War as the successor to Governor Lewis Eliphalet Parsons, a Republican, who had been appointed the provisional Governor of the state by President Andrew Johnson. On February 19, 1867, the Alabama Legislature enacted Act Number 615 (Figure 2) authorizing Governor Patton to prepare, sign certificates (also called receipts), and distribute them in lieu of moneys that had not yet been collected by the state. The Act stated that the certificates would be valued at no less than $5 and no more than $500, and that the total amount would not exceed $400,000. The certificates were printed by the National Banknote Company and are dated “May 1st, 1867.” Figure 1. The Official Portrait of Governor Robert Miller Patton Portrays a Dignified, Kindly Person. Figure 2: Alabama Act 615 Authorized the Issuance of Refunding Certificates and Required the Governor to Sign Them and the Comptroller of Public Accounts to Countersign Them. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 375 The surviving certificates are exceedingly rare because almost all were redeemed.iv They are the only post-war issues of the State of Alabama. Figure 3: This $5 Certificate Was Sold at a Heritage Auction Sale January 10, 2024 for $2,100,00.1 Figure 5: This Unique $20 Certificate Was Unknown to the Collecting Community Until Circa 2020. It Was Sold at a Heritage Auction Sale January 10, 2024 for $4,500.00.1and 1 Figure 4: This Presumably Unique $10 Certificate and Was Sold at a Heritage Auction Sale January 7, 2010 for $12,650.001 and Once Again on October 6, 2021 for $3,840.00.1 SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 376 Who Was Governor Patton? Robert Miller Patton (July 10, 1809-February 28, 1885) was Alabama’s 20th Governor (December 18, 1865v- July 14, 1868). (See Figure 1.) He was born July 10, 1809 in either Russell County, Virginia or Monroe County, Virginia (both counties are now in West Virginia).vi In 1818 he moved with his family to Huntsville, Alabama. There he attended Green Academy. Later, he apprenticed in the family cotton mill founded by his father, William. In 1829 he moved to Florence, Alabama, and began a mercantile business that his sons assumed in the late 1850’s. He married Jane Locke Braham of Huntsville on January 31, 1832. They had nine children, seven of which lived to adulthood. Two of his sons, both Confederate soldiers, perished during the Civil War. Patton's political career began in 1832 when he was elected to the state legislature. He was elected to the special legislature that convened in 1837 in response to the financial panic and depression of that year. Although he was a Whig, Patton continued to serve in one branch or the other of the state legislature until the outbreak of war. He represented the state at the national convention in Charleston, SC, in 1860 and was present at the secession convention in Montgomery. Patton opposed secession but supported the state's efforts through time and money and as a commissioner for the Confederacy. By the war's end, he suffered not only the loss of his sons but the destruction of his estate in Lauderdale County. Patton represented his county at the constitutional convention in September 1865. He was elected governor in November and inaugurated on December 13. Patton worked closely with the assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, General Wager Swayne. He helped General Swayne procure rations for the thousands of indigent families in the state. His greatest contribution was his success in reducing the state debt. He issued "Patton certificates" in 1867 to offset state expenses in anticipation of the collection in taxes. Despite Patton's efforts, he was largely stripped of his authority in March 1867 when presidential reconstruction ended with the passage of the Reconstruction Acts by Congress. Major General John Pope was placed in charge of the Third Military District which included Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. General Swayne continued as the commanding officer of Alabama. Governor Patton was allowed to remain in office and draw his salary, but he was mainly a figurehead, who could do no more than make recommendations to General Swayne. Governor Patton remained officially the head of the state until William Hugh Smith became governor in July, 1868. After his political career ended, Governor Patton became involved in several commercial ventures to establish and build railroads in the state. He also served as a trustee of several schools and colleges, including the University of Alabama. He was instrumental in rebuilding the university after it was burned by Federal troops during the war. Governor Patton died February 28, 1885 at his Sweet Water Home, Figure 7 (also called Sweet Water Mansion), near Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama, and is buried in Huntsville’s Maple Hill Cemetery, Figure 8.vii Figure 7: Sweet Water Home Is in Florence, Alabama. Figure 6: In His Later Years, Governor Patton Appeared Somewhat Gaunt Figure 8: Governor Patton Is Buried in Huntsville, Alabama SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 377 Footnotes i DuBose, Joel Campbell, SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY, (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Eldredge & Brother, Number 17 North  Seventh Street, Copyright 1901), Page 157.  ii Brown, William GarroƩ, A HISTORY OF ALABAMA FOR USE IN SCHOOLS BASED AS TO ITS EARLIER PARTS ON THE WORK OF  ALBERT J. PICKET, (New York and New Orleans: University Publishing Company, Copyright 1900), Page 259.  iii Ibid, Page 259. Governor PaƩon told the legislature that only about one‐fiŌh the usual grain had been raised, and it was  esƟmated that 250,000 people were in need of food.  iv Only four issued PaƩon CerƟficates are known currently…two $5’s, one $10, and one $20. Several proofs exist.  v Berney, Safford, Hand Book OF ALABAMA: A COMPLETE INDEX TO THE STATE; WITH A GEOLOGICAL MAP, AND AN APPENDIX  OF USEFUL TABLES, (Mobile, Alabama: Mobile Register Print, Copyright 1878), Page 10. The source indicates that Governor  PaƩon was inaugurated December 18, 1865, but that Governor Parsons turned over State Government to him on December  20, 1865.  vi Webb, Samuel L. and Margaret E. Armbrester, ALABAMA GOVERNORS, A POLITICAL HISTORY OF THE STATE, (Tuscaloosa,  Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, Copyright 2001), Page 80.  vii Various references call his residence “Sweetwater Home,” “Sweetwater Mansion,” and “Sweetwater Place.” Governor  PaƩon’s Last Will and Testament, dated July 18, 1883, calls it “Sweet Water Home.”  SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 378 Excelsior Bank Note Company By Roland Rollins There is much yet to be learned about this little-known firm. Some of what is known includes the founder (John G. Wellstood). In New York in the 1840s his first firm was his name. Wellstood joined forces with other engravers to form Wellstood, Benson & Hanks (1848-1852), Wellstood, Hanks, Hay, and Whiting (1852-1855), and Wellstood, Hay, and Whiting (1855-1858). Of course in 1858 this trio was one of seven firms forming the American Bank Note Company, with 8.2% assigned participation. Wellstood later formed the banknote firm the Columbian Bank Note Company of Washington D.C. sometime in the 1860s. The firm was apparently dissolved by the 1870s. The next firm Wellstood formed was the Excelsior Bank Note Company; probably in 1875. The firm was formed “sometime prior to 1 January 18761”. The firm was assumed dissolved by 1880. If you’re noticing a reoccurring theme so far, it would be vagueness of information! Excelsior also was in Washington D.C. (1425 New York Ave.), but with an office in New York City at 258 Broadway as well. A 5-story building at this address was replaced with an 8 story neo-Renaissance style building in 1875 (the TriBeCa). The firm paid $255 on $10,000 accessed real estate to the city of New York in 1879. This would equal to over $297,000 real estate value in today’s value. New York's official state motto is "Excelsior" (ever upward). The motto appears on the state coat of arms, which is featured on New York's state seal and state flag. Since the firm produced a vignette of the New York state coat of arms, a ready name was available. One of the reasons so little is known about the Excelsior firm is the complete lack of monetary paper available or even known to exist. Security Printers Guide published by the now defunct The American Society of Check Collectors has an extensive list of printers with notations for the type of financial material each firm produced, including:  c - checks, drafts, bills of exchange, certificates of deposit, promissory notes, etc.  d - bank notes, obsoletes continentals, colonials, fractionals, scrip, etc.  s - stock certificates and bonds  o - State and Federal bonds, revenue stamps, stamps, warrants, ration books, etc. Excelsior is shown with the date 1877 and both “c” and “d” fiscal products produced. The only known bank notes produced were “at least 8” essays similar to the silver certificates of the time. Hessler lists 6 of these, while I have all 8 attributed in my test note catalogs. The BEP did examine these and visit the firm, but chose not to utilize their services. This probably had more to do with the BEPs efforts to do all printing “in house” than any perceived shortcomings of Excelsior. The essays are considered unique by Stack’s and command a good value when they eventually show up in the market. The 90 x 216 mm example shown below has changed hands only five times:  Harry E. Jones Collection  Dr. Glenn Jackson Collection, Nasca’s (a division of R.M. Smythe), June 16, 1990, lot 3251  Lyn Knight, August 21-23, 2003, lot 2211 (unsold)  Stack's Bowers, Baltimore, 2018, lot 4078, sold to Joel Anderson  Stack's Bowers, The Caine Collection Federal Proofs and Essays, Part II, Baltimore, 2019, lot 5053  Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn. Donated by Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Class of 1913 The Harry E. Jones to Dr. Glenn Jackson was a private sale. The first public sale from Dr. Glenn Jackson’s collection by Nasca netted $500. That would be about $1,140 in today’s cheap dollars. By the Stack’s Bowers auction of 2019 the price had jumped to $6,600 without fees. EXC-1152 SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 379 An Excelsior essay donated to Yale University Art Gallery is this 90 x216 mm note from the same donor with the same provenance: EXC-1172 Here’s another example, 1 of 6 Excelsior essays sold by Stack’s at the famed 52 Collection in 2010 for $3,000. EXC-1122 While Dr. Glenn Jackson owned these notes, he exhibited them at the ANA 1976 convention held in New York City. The listing cites “nine John G. Wellstood essays of Excelsior Bank Note Co., circa 1877”. No known checks, drafts, bills of exchange, certificates of deposit, and promissory notes have been attributed. What were NOT listed on the ASCC list were stocks or bonds, but one such a bond is shown here (next page) with the vignette “Gleaner No. 3”. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 380 Since another vignette, Wisdom #7 (an owl) was later used on a stock certificate produced by Western Bank Note Company, it is assumed Western acquired Excelsior’s printing plates. Excelsior also printed a grey, black, and green First Mortgage Bond with a train flanked by allegorical female and cherub. What were also NOT listed on the ASCC list were stamps, but 3¢ Envelope for 1876, all (Scott U218E), Centennial Issue essays exist in green on white, brown on white, red on white, and blue on white; all model, lithographed, complete envelopes. The green, red and blue are 87x149mm while the brown is 94x145mm dimensions. These all last sold for $1,000 to $1,600. Here is the most expensive of the group. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 381 Excelsior did produce one large advertising sheet (356 x 445 mm) – that’s 14” x 17.5”. Robert Swartz, the seller in 2020, noted it had multiple vignettes, counters and cycloid engravings glued to a thin card. Possibly it was meant to be used in a presentation or was framed in their office. The sheet sold for $700 plus fees. It came from the Walter Allan collection. EXC-1012 It would appear all examples available from Excelsior share two things in common – all are essays and all are scarce and thus pricy! One is left wondering what revenue the firm did incur and what the type of products were involved, since it could afford the TriBeCa building! Should a reader have more information on the firm or samples please email me at currencyden@yahoo.com. 1 – The Engraver’s Line, Gene Hessler, 1993 2 - Catalog of Printers Promotional Sheets & Test Notes- 19th Edition, Roland Rollins, 2025 SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 382 $MALL NOTE$ The Unique 307 Blue Seal Star By Jamie Yakes ’ve been fortunate to make discoveries in my numismatic career, many in my focused areas of research. When I actively collected small-size fives, I had a few finds with those too. The best was a Series of 1934A $5 blue-seal 307 star.* It was unique then, and is still now. I’ll recant that story here. I had success cherrypicking notes off eBay to add to my collection. The persona you read about in Cal- derman’s column, “Cherry Pickers Corner”—I once fit that mold. It was in 2007, around the time of the now- defunct Chicago Paper Money Exposition that used to be held in Rosemont, Illinois. In fact, I think I was at the show when I purchased the note. Anyways, I had the note on my watch list and knew what it was. The seller didn’t, and neither did anyone else. I agonized over the days the auction counted down to zero, and when it ended, the note was mine. It cost me $125, a pittance for such a popular rarity. It was a wonderful very fine, with even wear and that attractive “dirty” paper mid-circulated notes often exhibit. I held onto the note as the crown jewel of my set for a few years. By then I’d befriended the late Gerry Glasser through our mutual connection, Scott Lindquist. Gerry and I each lived in New Jersey, and he gra- ciously offered me many opportunities to view his magnificent small-size collection in the comfort of his home. His stuff was all fives, and he desired completeness in all his sets. Well, I had one of the notes he need- ed. Fortunately for him, the timing was good for both of us. Around this time I became acquainted with Neil Shafer (may he also R.I.P.), and we began having regular discussions about various numismatic esoterica. Depression scrip was one of those topics. I’d just started col- lecting scrip from New Jersey, and Neil just happened to have a large collection of scarce and rare Jersey stuff he could sell to me. But how to get the funds? Well, I contacted Scott, he contacted Gerry, Scott and I did the exchange (at a hefty profit for me!), then I turned around and made the deal with Neil. The 307 went to a bet- ter home, and I ended up with a bunch of great scrip that are still the foundation of my collection. I sold most of my small-size notes about the time I made the deal with Neil. After Gerry passed, Heritage Auctions sold some of his collection in September 2020 (in Auction 3579), including the 307 star. Graded Very-Fine 25 by PMG, it hammered for $4,080. I’m unsure who owns it now, or whether it’s been sold again since the Heritage sale. But it’s still unique, even though hardcore five-dollar collectors are surely perusing every blue seal with a similar serial number. Someday, possibly, someone will find another one. (*Want to know the significance of 307 notes? See “The Mystery of Face Plate 307 Solved,” in Paper Money Whole No. 308.) I The unique  307 blue seal  star, as it was  when this  author  owned it.  SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 383 While they can’t be collected in a tangible way, the growing array of digital currencies and other “tokenized” artefacts that populate our online world are still relevant for the appreciation of physical paper money. From time to time in this column I have considered the growth and significance of cryptocurrencies, not because I have some special insight that isn’t available elsewhere (the expert literature is enormous) but for a gut feeling that, if you collect paper money then you must have some interest in the directions that the form and nature of money are taking. Most recently, public focus has turned to digital products called “stablecoins”, thanks to Congress’s recent passage of the GENIUS Act, which creates a regulatory basis for their use. Stablecoins comprise a class of digital assets which, unlike cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum) are designed to maintain a fixed value relative to some other asset, typically a government-issued currency like the U.S. dollar. As with any digital innovation, it’s always useful to ask, what problems do stablecoins solve that weren’t being adequately addressed? Part of the answer involves the shortcomings of cryptocurrencies themselves. Assuming that private alternatives for government-issued money are desirable at all, Bitcoin and its ilk fall short. Their volatility impedes their use as means of payment (if financing crime, money laundering, or extortion is your thing, then Bitcoin works perfectly fine). What stablecoins promise to provide is a stable unit of value that can be transferred, peer-to- peer, outside of existing payments circuits dominated by banks, credit card issuers, and the like—all of whom take their fat cut. Another promise of stablecoins is that their presence would make cryptocurrencies themselves more liquid. Instead of cashing out Bitcoin balances into non- digital dollars, transactors could seamlessly shift from one digital asset in their wallets to another, completely independent of the existing financial system. Stablecoins would work like digital versions of money-market mutual funds. Those plain vanilla investment vehicles allow an investor (me) to park funds in a portfolio of short-term securities which is designed to keep the value of each share at $1. Within limits, I can then write checks against my holdings, treating them like cash. Stablecoins would provide me the same service with the difference that, instead of cashing out mutual fund shares each time I made a payment, the use of stablecoins would “tokenize” such transactions, meaning that I would simply transmit my shares directly to someone else without affecting the underlying portfolio that backed the shares’ par value. Stablecoins promise to be more than just digitized mutual funds, though. Both their supporters and detractors make the same historical comparison between stablecoins and the monetary practices of 19th century United States. As all collectors know, antebellum banknotes (“obsoletes”) were issued by private banks and lacked legal tender status. Regulated by individual states, which typically required some kind of bond backing to be deposited as collateral, paper money of the “free banking” era was as good or bad as the banks that issued it. The currency of New York banks was valued at par with metallic specie money, whereas the issues of sketchier banks (in Wisconsin, say) traded at a discount. While there was much hyperventilating about “wildcat banking”, the main cause of variation in banknote values was the quality of states’ regulatory frameworks, especially with respect to what bonds were eligible collateral. The currency of the national banking era (1863-1935) retained the bond-backing arrangement but standardized it. Nationally chartered banks with circulation privileges issued banknotes against federal debt which, thanks to the full faith and credit of the United States, rendered the currency emissions of the thousands of national banks virtually interchangeable. Bank-issued money was thus turned into a riskless asset; though many national banks did fail over the years, none of their banknotes ever lost value. As envisioned, stablecoins would establish a 21st century, digital version of those older bond-backed currencies. Collateralized by approved portfolios, stablecoins would trade on blockchain networks outside of the banking system. Beyond the cost and efficiency gains, stablecoins if done right would represent an entirely new category of low-risk, liquid financial assets. Used at sufficient scale they would have implications for the conduct of monetary policy itself. Stablecoins would make the biggest difference in those parts of the world where money’s value is doubtful, financial institutions unreliable, and governments rapacious. Stablecoin skeptics point to the antebellum experience as a cautionary tale. Invariably, they warn, a digital space already rife with scammers will generate its own version of wildcat banking. Supporters prefer an alternative narrative more along the lines of the national banking experience. For libertarians, stablecoins represent a decisive step towards their ideal of competing private currencies. For better or worse, the stablecoin era is at hand. It will be a big deal. Chump Change Loren Gatch Stablecoins: What’s to Know? SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 384 In my last column, I gave a brief introduction to world paper money, including my own journey into this fascinating collecting field. This time, we will take a further look at what makes world paper money so interesting. You will be surprised not only by how colorful modern world paper money can be, but also by what new security features have been implemented recently, and the stark contrast with United States paper money. As most readers will know, after small- size currency was introduced in the United States in 1929, the designs remained pretty much the same for the next six decades. Even today, despite the introduction of new designs, the same presidents who appeared on paper money in 1929 are still found on the currency in our wallets. We don’t have to look far to see that this is unusual. In Canada, for example, the Bank of Canada has been responsible for that nation’s currency since 1935. Over the last 90 years, there have been seven distinct designs of the Canadian currency. There are several reasons why Canada, and most of the world, frequently changes its currency. Let’s take a look at the different iterations of the Canadian $5 note. The 1935 series of the Bank of Canada was a bilingual series, with notes issued in English and French, both with identical designs (the $5 shows the portrait of Edward, Prince of Wales). Then, in 1937, it was decided to issue a single bilingual series, with all denominations showing the portrait of King George VI. When he passed his daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, replaced him on Canada’s notes. In 1972, a new series was introduced, with Canadian themes, as the country sought to introduce more local scenes on its currency. Six of the seven different Canadian $5s issued since 1935. All images courtesy of Stack's Bowers Galleries SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 385 In 1986, this series was replaced with the "Bird Series", featuring native Canadian birds on the back. A new currency series came in the early 2000s, with the backs now showing different scenes from across Canada. The $5 of that series is perhaps the most Canadian note ever printed, as it shows various winter sports, including hockey. Each of these new banknote series introduced new security features, which is typically the primary reason new notes were released. As technology advanced and home copiers became more capable, new security features, such as microprinting, complex color patterns, and other secret elements, were introduced to prevent counterfeiting. Perhaps the most significant change in Canadian paper money came in 2011, when the country switched from (cotton-based) paper to polymer plastics. Polymer banknotes are made from a thin, durable plastic film rather than traditional cotton-based paper, offering greater resistance to wear, moisture, and tearing. On average, a polymer banknote lasts two to four times longer in circulation, resulting in cost savings and less waste. First adopted elsewhere in the late 20th century (the earliest experiments with ‘plastic’ currency took place in the 1970s, although the first true polymer note wasn’t issued until 1988 in Australia), they also enable advanced security features, such as transparent windows and holographic elements, which significantly increase the difficulty of counterfeiting. Polymer banknotes have often been called ‘the future’ of paper money, although it is up to debate whether a polymer note can even be classified as paper money (but that is perhaps a subject for a future column). However, new features are also used on more traditional paper money. At the same time, some countries have used hidden design elements to showcase the new notes. For example, Switzerland created an augmented reality app for its latest series of banknotes (which are hybrid notes, printed on traditional paper but with a see-through polymer window in the shape of a Swiss cross). Anyone who has one of the notes in the series and the app installed on their phone can make them come to life. It also informs you about various security features found on the notes (although some have undoubtedly never been made public). If you have one of these Swiss notes, try it for yourself…it is really neat! These current Swiss notes come to life when scanned with a special mobile application. Of course, updated security features and new designs are not the only reasons that a country changes its currency. In some regions of the world, governments frequently withdraw old notes, often with a limited window to exchange them. Those that are not exchanged lose all their spending power, resulting in a handsome profit for the government. In fact, the validity of virtually all paper money issued in the United States since 1862 is highly unusual. All of this has led to a fascinating array of world paper money. As I mentioned in the last column, I hope this blog will entice you to take a look, as you might be surprised by what is out there. About the Author: Dennis Hengeveld is Director of Consignments & Senior Numismatist at Stack’s Bowers Galleries. He can be reached at dennis@stacksbowers.com. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 386 Metals have gone to the moon and are now quickly moving on their way towards Mars! At the time of this writing, silver has surpassed $50 and gold is approaching $4200 wow!!! While this fever may be short-lived, only time will tell and this column is not the place to give you advice on shiny clunky bars that can be used as makeshift doorstops! They say Bitcoin has made a plunging correction which is hilarious since it remains above $100K per magical digital widget and at this same time just five short years ago, they were barely fetching $10K each. So, what does the future hold, are we now destined for an upcoming crash of some sort, the likes of which have not been seen since the 1980’s??? …remember, this is not the place for us to forecast these volatile market sectors! Instead, here in this venue we talk about fabulous collectible paper money currency! Were you active in the recent Heritage Fall Auction? What was once the epic annual Long Beach Expo Fall Auction, has now been reimagined into the GACC sale. Yes, the Long Beach Expo is still just a myth, a fallen by Robert Calderman Awakening Sleeping Giants SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 387 by the wayside memory of what once was. Will it ever become a reality again? There have not been many rumors lately, in fact even the murmurs along bourse floors over the past few months have barely been audible! Regardless, the sale must go on and this recent auction was full of exciting action. Results were definitely mixed depending on what you may have set your sights on. The Nationals category had deals a plenty and large size seemed rather robust overall. While the deals that seemingly fell through the cracks were definitely present in quantity, we only have so much real estate here to highlight a paltry few. One standout for my eyes was an incredibly gorgeous rarity, a 1934 North Africa $10 B-A block Silver Certificate graded 65EPQ by PMG. This lot featuring serial number B07560554A brought what at first glance might appear to be an impressive $10,800. Sure, this is a large sum of money for the casual collector, but is this a new record price realization, or is it instead the absolute deal of the decade? Looking backwards in our crystal ball we can peek back to the year 2016 and we find this exact same note that sold then for the impressive sum of $25,850 at the January Heritage FUN sale. Then if we peer through the fog and continue our journey even further into the past, all the way back to the year 2002, we once again find this same beautiful Gem note, now selling raw in all its glory without third part certification. This time bringing an absolutely astounding amount of $41,400!!! So, what is the moral of this short story? The recent 2025 buyer saved a massive $30,600 vs. the 2002 auction winner. Even with today’s overwhelming inflation, $30K is enough to purchase a brand new 2026 model Toyota Corolla!!! So are we teaching a lesson here today, to avoid purchasing high end North Africa emergency currency issue notes for your long term holdings as they may very well become detrimental to your wallet? No of course this is not at all the intention here! The joy of collecting can easily veer into the past with little effort, and yet the future will forever remain an unknown mystery. We can only guess at which categories within our hobby will take off and become outrageously popular and what others will instead flop into the financial crash and burn, fall of the cliff downward chart. So, was this recent acquisition for one lucky collector a poor purchase? Let’s take a look at this variety in more detail. 1934 North Africa $10’s make up an absolutely minuscule portion of the population vs. their 1934A counterparts. Incredibly PMG alone has graded only 63 examples in all grades for the 1934 Fr.2308 variety vs. nearly 3,600 of the 1934A Fr.2309 notes! This makes the first series survivors tally in at less that 2% of the overall population! That is an absolutely incredible disparity between the two catalog numbers! What is even more notable is the fact that these 1934 Fr.2308 rarities are actually broken up into two separate blocks, A-A and B-A. The A-A block is the most available with forty-seven examples graded by PMG and the much tougher B-A block is found with only nineteen notes holdered in all grades combined. In uncirculated grades there is a flip flop occurrence where the A-A block is actually much scarcer to find in uncirculated condition. PMG has observed a total of only three examples across their desk: (1) 63 noQ, (1) 63EPQ, and (1) 64 noQ. For the B-A block, a small handful of Gems were unearthed many years ago that fall into the same serial number range. They grade at PMG as follows: (1) 64 noQ, (3) 64EPQ, (3) 65EPQ, (3) 66EPQ. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 388 Overtime, as population numbers increase and the frequency of examples come to market, often conditions can become ripe for rare opportunities! This is one reason to speculate as to why the recent offering at the October Heritage auction fell flat and gave a massive gift to one lucky collector. Will prices stay soft for this variety in the future? Will the next offering of a Gem Fr.2308 note bring significantly less than this most recent example? It is hard to predict what the future holds, but I would say as a savvy collector you should keep your eyes peeled for a similar opportunity to appear sooner than later! While the next deal may not be for this same Fr.#, careful study may land you a similar steal of a deal! Just because an incredible bargain is had by a lucky buyer, does not mean the treasured collectible note is less desirable and coveted by our specialized fraternity. In contrast, the bragging rights for such a massive victory can be wholeheartedly celebrated, especially once the time finally comes for a future auction example to again reach stratospheric record heights! However, for now at least, this giant small size rarity can rest easy as it clearly appears to be sleeping… 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 SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 389 The front of the Type-39 Treasury note endorsed by Capt. T. A. Burke, AQM. Image: Michael McDonald Capt. Thomas A. Burke, AQM 54th Georgia Infantry n this edition of the Quartermaster Column we will explore some of the issues we face when we explore National Archives files on the website Fold3.com. This website is owned by Ancestry.com and it has made the positive identification of hundreds of endorsements possible. Without the access this website provides, we would still be making educated guesses when we try to decipher the endorsements of military officers and government agents on Confederate interest-bearing treasury notes. When we find the correct file for a military officer, agent, or a civilian, we can compare the endorsement on a treasury note to the signatures on original documents. But it is not uncommon to find that the wonderful souls in the National Archives in the very early 20th century made mistakes in the interpretations of the spelling of names, and they sometimes placed documents in files with erroneously spelled titles. The illustrated treasury note was very clearly endorsed by Capt. T. A. Burke, AQM, and he is easily found as “Burke” with the Fold3.com search engine, but his endorsement provides a wonderful example of the confusion that can be observed. His first initial “T” is very often misinterpreted as a “J,” both by modern collectors and by those who created the file names in the National Archives. In Fold3.com we can search on the surname “Burke” to see all of the files with that surname, it will show a file for James A. Burke. This file has a document which correctly directs the researcher to Thomas A. Burke. We sometimes see only initials which are accompanied with a rank and title, e.g., “Capt. & AQM,” and we know we have an officer. We can use Arthur Wyllie’s monumental List of Confederate Officers to find the alphabetical section with names of officers which match the last initial, and then look for matches of the first and middle initials within that section.1 This is tedious, but it has successfully identified the officers who signed only with their initials. We can also enter the initials in the Fold3 search engine, and it occasionally finds the officer. The endorsement on the back of the illustrated note features a “BID” or “Black Issue Date” stamp. Dr. Enrico Aidala, a past commander of the Trainmen and a practicing physician in Italy, researched this date stamp and found that it was used by many officers stationed in the region of Savannah, Georgia. His meticulous research was published in this journal in the July/August 2020 edition.2 The date stamp apparently made it more efficient to issue these notes, obviating the need to write out the date. Astute collectors will notice that early examples of I The Quartermaster Column No. 45 by Michael McNeil SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 390 We see the signature of Capt. & AQM “T. A. Burke” at top, signed at Beaulieu, Georgia on March 31st, 1863. At bottom we see the signature of Lt. and Ordnance Officer “Thos. A. Burke,” a different officer with the same name. images: Fold3.com Endorsement of T. A Burke in blue ink on serial 25423, plen Ae. The date of issue of August 8th, 1862 precedes the “BID” stamp. The issue date and Burke’s rank and title of “Capt & A.Q.M.” are written in the very different hand of a clerk in brown ink in a likely effort to save time for the Quartermaster. Note the Interest Paid stamp at Savannah. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions, HA.com. Burke’s endorsements have hand-written dates of issue, and most of these appear in the different hand of a clerk, evidence that the issuing officer was trying to save time. We see examples of both styles in the following images: Not only do we find two files for Burke, one with a misinterpretation of his first name, there is also confusion in the correct file for T. A. Burke, where we find 133 documents for two different officers with the same name of Thomas A. Burke, one of them a Captain & Quartermaster and the other a 1st Lieutenant & Ordnance Officer. These very different officers served in different units and places. Their signatures are, at first glance, similar and both appear to be left-handed, but on closer inspection we see important differences. In the image above, we see the signature at top of “T. A. Burke/ Captain & AQM,” and at the bottom we see the signature of “Thos. A. Burke/ Lt. and Ordnance Officer.” Stylistic differences will be obvious on close examination, e.g., in the capital letters of “T” and “B.” The ordnance officer consistently used the form of “Thos.” while the quartermaster consistently used the single initial “T.” Hand-written career summaries are found for both officers in this file.3 Thomas A. Burke (data researched with assistance from Charles Derby) Thomas A. Burke was born on October 1st, 1828 in Macon, Georgia, to Richard E. Burke and Mary Rowan (Elliot) Burke. The Southern Literary Gazette (Athens, Georgia) of February 24th, 1849 noted that Burke was one of their traveling agents. The January 6th, 1849 issue of the Southern Litrerary Gazette noted that Thomas A. Burke and his brother, John W. Burke, were editors of a new monthly, The Mistletoe, “devoted to the advocacy of the Order of the Sons of Temperance.” Burke married Eliza Battey Falligant on December 3rd, 1861, and they had a son and a daughter.4 The Georgia Journal and Messenger of September 25th, 1861, noted that Burke was an associate editor of the Savannah Morning Note the “BID” or “Black Issue Date” stamp used by Quartermasters in the region of Savannah, Georgia. Blue ink is common for Burke. This is the endorsement on the back of the imaged T-39 note. Image: Michael McDonald SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 391 Area of Savannah, Georgia, showing the location of Beaulieu (pronounced “Bewly,” a corruption of the original French). Image courtesy of Dr. Enrico Aidala, from the U. S. War Department, Map of Portions of Georgia and South Carolina, 1865. News and that he had been assigned as Quartermaster of the new brigade raised by the State of Georgia. 1862 There are 17 documents for T. A. Burke in the files for the state of Georgia, 54th Infantry. Burke was appointed as a Captain & AQM on July 16th, taking rank from April 30th, and reporting to the 54th Georgia Infantry. This unit was initially involved in the Charleston, South Carolina, area in late 1862, and; the research by Aidala provides more detail. The unit became a part of the Army of Tennessee, first participating in the Atlanta campaign and later participating in Gen’l Hood’s Tennessee operations. Unit returns note that Burke was stationed in Savannah, Georgia on July 2nd and stationed in Beaulieu, Georgia in August through December (this is the timeframe when the illustrated endorsement was dated). To get some idea of his duties, we see orders on October 31st to proceed to Atlanta, Georgia, to procure 150 tents for the troops and 30 tents for the officers of the 54th Georgia Infantry. On November 8th Burke received $58.00 at Savannah for the mileage on this trip at ten cents per mile. 1863 Burke appears on a list of “Quartermasters and Acting Assistant Quartermasters on duty in Military District of Georgia, having field transportation in charge,” and he still appears in the rolls of the 54th Georgia Infantry. Burke was promoted to Major & QM on August 19th, taking rank from August 1st, and reporting to Gen’l Tagliaferro (pronounced “Tolliver”). His promotion was confirmed by Congress on February 17th, 1864. 1864 A return of the Seventh Military District of South Carolina noted that Burke was assigned as a Quartermaster stationed at Crofts House, St. Andrews, South Carolina (north and adjacent to Columbia). On September 1st Burke was reported absent and sick in Savannah, Georgia. After six weeks of illness, Burke requested an assignment to a post at Quitman, Georgia, explaining that he was no longer fit for field service. The 54th Georgia Infantry was involved in the Battle of Atlanta, and Atlanta fell on September 2nd. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Nov/Dec 2025 * Whole Number 360 392 1865 A letter from Burke dated January 12th shows that he was stationed at Charleston, South Carolina, and this is the last military record of him. In this letter Burke explains that he had contracted typhoid fever which kept him “confined to his bed from September 5th.” He was fortunate to have survived. After the war In 1865 Burke made his home in Macon, Georgia, where, as a partner in the firm of Messrs. J. W. Burke & Co., and one of the editors of the Weekly, he continued the business for about six years, and afterwards returned to Athens, Georgia. Burke was a vestryman of Christ Church in Athens and a superintendent of its Sunday schools. The January 23rd, 1880 issue of The Weekly Sumter Republican in Americus, Georgia, noted that he was the Grand Treasurer of the Order of Odd Fellows and a member of the Masonic Fraternity. Burke died on January 16th, 1880, in Athens, Georgia, and was buried in Oconee Hill Cemetery. Burke’s last illness was a severe recurrence of typhoid fever, the illness he contracted during the Civil War. Reflections from history’s distant mirror We have Raphael Thian to thank for the preservation of the Confederate documents we see today in the National Archives. Thian was the founder of the AGO, Adjutant General’s Office, in Washington, D.C., and with a staff funded by Congress he transcribed the correspondence of the Confederate Treasury Department. The appendix to this 5,000-page labor is a transcription of the original Registers of the Confederate Debt, a listing of all of the serial number blocks of treasury notes and their signers, which were hand-signed on nearly all of the issued notes. This appendix was reprinted in 1972 by Dr. Douglas Ball, and it is a bible for collectors of these notes.5 Mark Coughlan, a researcher in London, has entered all of the information in this appendix into a database (the 1880 typeface is not readable by Optical Character Recognition, and Coughlan laboriously entered all of this by hand into his database). Using online images of notes he has reconstructed about 70% of the data missing in the Seventh Issue from late 1864 to the end of operations in February 1865. The Third Issue is a nightmare of complexity, and Coughlan has sorted this out. Thian’s transcriptions of the original hand-written Registers are known to contain many errors, and Coughlan is using images of notes to correct the entire data set. In the process, he has made some surprising discoveries, some of which we have already seen Paper Money articles. I used this edition of the Quartermaster Column to show some of the issues we face when using online sources of original documents to identify the authors of Confederate treasury note endorsements. With time and collaboration we eventually get most of this right. Carpe diem “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” ― George Santayana, 1906 References: 1. Arthur Wyllie, Confederate Officers, self-published, 2007, 580 pages. Out of print. 2. Dr. Enrico Aidala, A Black Issued Date Stamp on Confederate Currency, Paper Money, July/August 2020, pages 274 to 293. 3. Michael McNeil, Confederate Quartermasters, Commissaries, and Agents, published by Pierre Fricke, 2016, 908 pages, see pages 147 to 149 for more examples of Burke’s signature and an image of Maj. Thomas A. Burke’s hand-written career summary in the National Archives files for Confederate Officers. 4. ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KC6V-TSB/maj.-thomas-a-burke-1828-1880. 5. 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