official journal of The Society of Paper Money Collectors Ketchum Idaho Territory $5 Brown Back LEGENDARY COLLECTIONS | LEGENDARY RESULTS | A LEGENDARY AUCTION FIRM Exceptional Prices Realized from Stack’s Bowers Galleries Consign Your U.S. Currency to Our November 2024 Showcase Auction The Official Auctioneer of the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Expo Auction: November 18-22, 2024 • Consignment Deadline: September 23, 2024 CC-34. Continental Currency. May 9, 1776. $4. PCGS Banknote Superb Gem Uncirculated 68 PPQ. Realized: $18,000 T-45. Confederate Currency. 1862 $1. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ. Realized: $14,400 Fr. 1700. 1933 $10 Silver Certificate. PCGS Banknote Superb Gem Uncirculated 67 PPQ. Low Serial Number. Realized: $99,000 Fr. 2210-Hlgs. 1928 Light Green Seal $1000 Federal Reserve Note. St. Louis. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ. Realized: $43,200 Fr. 2402H. 1928 $20 Gold Certificate Star Note. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ. Realized: $38,400 Fr. 2405. 1928 $100 Gold Certificate. PMG Gem Uncirculated 66 EPQ. Realized: $192,000 Fr. 2407. 1928 $500 Gold Certificate. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ. Realized: $216,000 Fr. 2221-K. 1934 $5000 Federal Reserve Note. Dallas. PCGS Banknote Choice Very Fine 35. Realized: $174,000 Fr. 2301mH. 1934 $5 Hawaii Emergency Star Mule Note. San Francisco. PMG Gem Uncirculated 66 EPQ. Realized: $52,800 Fr. 2200-Jdgs. 1928 Dark Green Seal $500 Federal Reserve Note. Kansas City. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ. Realized: $43,200 Fr. 2201-A. 1934 Dark Green Seal $500 Federal Reserve Note. Boston. PCGS Banknote Superb Gem Uncirculated 68 PPQ. Realized: $48,000 Fr. 2. 1861 $5 Demand Note. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ. Realized: $408,000 Contact Our Experts for More Information Today! Peter Treglia: 949.748.4828 • Michael Moczalla: 949.503.6244 • Consign@StacksBowers.com America’s Oldest and Most Accomplished Rare Coin Auctioneer 1550 Scenic Ave., Ste. 150, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 • 949.253.0916 • Info@StacksBowers.com 470 Park Ave., New York, NY 10022 • 212.582.2580 • NYC@stacksbowers.com 84 State St. (at 22 Merchants Row), Boston, MA 02109 • 617.843.8343 • Boston@StacksBowers.com 1735 Market St. (18th & JFK Blvd.), Philadelphia, PA 19103 • 267.609.1804 • Philly@StacksBowers.com Info@StacksBowers.com • StacksBowers.com California • New York • Boston • New Hampshire • Oklahoma • Philadelphia Sacramento • Virginia • Hong Kong • Copenhagen • Paris • Vancouver SBG PM Nov2024 Consign 240901 317 #1 5$ Brown Back-Ketchum, Idaho Territory--Peter Huntoon 324 John Doughlas-New Orleans Engraver--Mark Coughlan 332 National Bank Note Circulation Decline--Peter Huntoon 342 Miss Blackey-The Most Beautiful Woman in Virginia--Tony CHibbaro 344 CIA Counterfeit Cuban Banknotes of 1961--Roberto Menchaca 349 Hastings Nebraska National Bank Robbery 352 WWII Japanese-American Internment Camp Money-Pt. 2--Steve Feller, et al 359 The Tishomingo Hotel--James Ehrhardt 369 "Eighteen Ninety-Four"--Bob Laub 376 Hand-Signed History-A Book Review--Michael McNeil SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 312 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 James Haxby John Herzog Gene Hessler John Hickman William Higgins Ruth Hill Peter Huntoon Brent Hughes Glenn Jackson Don Kelly Lyn Knight Chet Krause Allen Mincho Clifford Mishler Barbara Mueller Judith Murphy Dean Oakes Chuck O'Donnell Roy Pennell Albert Pick Fred Reed Matt Rothert John Rowe III From Your President Editor Sez New Members Uncoupled Cherry Picker Corner Obsolete Corner Quartermaster Small Notes Chump Change Robert Vandevender 314 Benny Bolin 315 Frank Clark 316 Joe Boling & Fred Schwan 362 Robert Calderman 366 Robert Gill 371 Michael McNeil 373 Jamie Yakes 378 Loren Gatch 379 Stacks Bowers Galleries IFC Pierre Fricke 312 Bob Laub 322 Lyn Knight 323 PCGS-C 331 Higgins Museum 340 World BankNote Auctions 341 Fred Bart 346 FCCB 346 Whatnot 351 PM of the U.S. 358 Greysheet 361 Bill Litt 361 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 D.C. Wismer SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 313 Officers & Appointees ELECTED OFFICERS PRESIDENT Robert Vandevender II rvpaperman@aol.com VICE-PRES/SEC'Y Robert Calderman gacoins@earthlink.net TREASURER Robert Moon robertmoon@aol.com BOARD OF GOVERNORS APPOINTEES PUBLISHER-EDITOR Benny Bolin smcbb@sbcglobal.net ADVERTISING MANAGER Wendell Wolka purduenut@aol.com Megan Reginnitter mreginnitter@iowafirm.com LIBRARIAN Jeff Brueggeman MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR Frank Clark frank_clark@yahoo.com IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Shawn Hewitt WISMER BOOk PROJECT COORDINATOR Pierre Fricke From Your President Robert Vandevender IIFrom Your President Shawn Hewitt Paper Money * July/August 2020 6 jeff@actioncurrency.com LEGAL COUNSEL Robert Calderman gacoins@earthlink.com Matt Drais stockpicker12@aol.com Mark Drengson markd@step1software.com Jerry Fochtman jerry@fochtman.us Pierre Fricke pierrefricke@buyvingagecurrency.com Loren Gatch lgatch@uco.edu Derek Higgins derekhiggins219@gmail.com Raiden Honaker raidenhonaker8@gmail.com William Litt billitt@aol.com Cody Regennitter cody.regennitter@gmail.com Andy Timmerm Wendell Wolka purduenut@aol.com an andrew.timmerman@aol.com During our last Long Beach Expo show in June, I learned something new. Don Kagin stopped by our SPMC table and we had a very nice discussion. Don mentioned that he was preparing to write a new article or book about Canadian Card Money. I have never heard of it before and was intrigued. From what I understand, due to an actual shortage of real currency in “New France,” playing cards that were available were cut up and marked with an official stamp on them and they were used to pay the troops. Evidently there were several series of the money issued but only a few examples survive from the last issue. I am looking forward to Don’s article to come out to learn more and do hope he chooses Paper Money Magazine for publication. My friend Alan Bailey responded to my last President’s column with an email titled “some lawyer out there” to explain why it is ok for businesses to not accept legal tender cash for transactions. I asked him to write an article for Paper Money Magazine and he is working on getting permission from his employer to write that article. I hope he is able to write it, and I am looking forward to reading about it in a future issue of PM. The ANA show in Chicago went very well and I, once again, purchased a bronze bar for my “railroad track” ANA medal. I have seen many tracks that are a couple of feet long but mine is not so impressive. My first ANA show was in 1991, so my tracks aren’t that long. Several of our members were in attendance. On Thursday evening, August 8th, several of us walked down to the Capital Grille for a nice dinner. Those in attendance were Vice President Calderman, Member Lauren Calderman, Past President Shawn Hewitt, Member Nancy Purington, Member Billy Baeder and me. We all seemed to have a good time right up until the impressive check arrived for payment! Once again, we participated in the ANA’s Treasure Trivia Game (scavenger hunt) for children. We used the same question we used at FUN last time where we asked on what currency does the portrait of Abraham Lincoln appear, with three correct choices and an all of the above answer. After each child answered the question, we rewarded them with the choice of either a note from Nepal featuring a yak, or a note from Mongolia featuring horses. It was funny, but most of the boys wanted the yak note, and the girls selected the horses. We will come up with a new question for the upcoming FUN show next January. We added six new members to our society this week including the new President of the ANA, Thomas Uram. Mr. Uram is interested in increasing the exposure of paper money within the ANA and asked me to see if I could locate a member willing to write a nice article on a paper money subject for publication in the Numismatist. If any of our members are interested, please send me an email. At our last governors meeting we voted to give a $1,000 contribution check to the Higgins Museum seminar and presented the check at the ANA show to curator George Cuhaj. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 314 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 Welcome to the family--OLIVIA JO BOLIN!! August 2, 2024. 7# and 20 inches. Here is grandpa (goompa) and Olivia. Now, on to paper money stuff. Boy, is it HOT! Reminds me of a summer we had in the 70's when it got to 110 here. I don't expect to hear much complaining when it gets wintry and cold! I hope you are staying safe and out of the heat. Remember--drink lots of fluid (not the beer kind). The hobby seems to be hot also. I have attended a few local shows and they have been busy and bustling. Reports from the recent ANA show were also very encouraging and it seems that we are doing fine as a hobby. How about doing a newly imprinted "goompa" a favor? While you are sitting in the A/C biding your time to winter, write me an article. I am running kind of low on 3-5 page articles. It is really a charge getting to see your name in print! Can't write you say? Send me facts and I will turn it into an article and put your name on the byline. Recently, Robert Calderman, Cody Regenniter and Wendell Wolka all stood unopposed for re-election to the board. However, we still have one spot open so if you are interested, direct your inquiry to one of the officers. I want to send a BIG shout-out to Jim Fitzgerald, the bourse chairman of the Texas Numismatic Association show that was held in late June in Conroe Texas. It was a great show and I was there with two exhibits and Robert Calderman was there as a dealer. Well, it seems there were a couple of empty tables, so Robert inquired with Jim about the SPMC using one and he gave the club a table for free! Thank you Jim!! We recruited two new members at the show and made a lot of other promising contacts. Speaking of shows--winter FUN is just around the corner. I know it is hard to think of a winter show, but January will be here soon. Make plans to attend. The SPMC will have their yearly meetings at the show, including the awards breakfast and Tom Bain Raffle (mix 'em up)! Also, plan on placing an exhibit. The more exhibits we can have there, the more exposure we can have for paper money. We will soon be announcing our meeting times and activities as well as starting our annual on-line article awards competition. Be looking for that and vote, vote, vote (only once per member though)! Due to my work (high school RN) and other commitments, I am unable to attend many non-local shows. This is a bummer for me, so I have been somewhat satisfying my paper money desires by going to some of the social media groups (I only do facebook). There is a national bank note group, the FCCB has a fractional group, there is an obsolete currency group and I would imagine others if you just investigate. These are fun and have some very insightful information in them. Till next time! Stay safe and enjoy summer! SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 315 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 7/05/2024 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. 15726 Fred Barton III, Paper Money Forum 15727 Zachary Wilson-Fetrow, Frank Clark 15728 Douglas Adams, Website 15729 Caleb Audette, Susan Bremer 15730 Sam Holder, Website 15731 Gary Hannig, Robert Calderman 15732 Shimon Nussbaum, Frank Clark 15733 Brian Morrow, Robert Calderman 15734 Klaus Andreas Riegler, Website 15735 Mark Pogue, Robert Calderman 15736 Spencer Morgan, Website 15737 Ryan Guderian, Cody Regenniter REINSTATEMENTS None LIFE MEMBERSHIPS None Note--new addressNote--new address NEW MEMBERS 8/05/2024 15714 Fred Pasternak, Bob Kvederas 15715 Michael Guzzi, Website 15716 Scott Allinson, Website 15717 Michael Ettner, Rbt Vandevender 15718 Kelly Burgess, Robert Calderman 15719 Jose Roman, Website 15720 Teresa Prewitt, Gary Dobbins 15721 David Stevenson, Frank Clark 15722 Steven Tormollan, Rbt Calderman 15723 Christine Faecke, Frank Clark 15724 Neil Musante, Website 15725 Ralph Stenzel, Nationals REINSTATEMENTS None LIFE MEMBERSHIPS None SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 316 Uncirculated $5 #1 Brown Back Ketchum, Idaho Territory Bank owner and president Isaac Ives Lewis was one of those quintessential entrepreneurs of western lore who through personal tenacity clawed his way from abject poverty to riches in the western territories as they opened. Everything pertaining to Lewis’ life presented here is from Lewis (1892) unless a particular fact is explicitly credited to another source. Isaac Lewis was born February 7, 1825 in Wallingsford Hill, Litchfield County, Connecticut. In 1831, his family, which at the time included his mother, sister, older brother Eli and an uncle, immigrated to southwestern Illinois to join his father and three uncles who left a year earlier. Their route was via Hartford, New York City, the Erie Canal to Buffalo, across Lake Erie to Sandusky, overland through Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Often, they provisioned themselves by hunting small game along the way. Figure 1. Note acquired by Jess Lipka in 2024 from the first sheet of 1,469 5-5-5-5 Series of 1882 brown back sheets sent to The First National Bank of Ketchum, Idaho Territory to support a circulation of $11,500 during its life. It is the highest grade note of nine currently reported from the territory. Signers are Isaac Ives Lewis, president; George W. Griffin, cashier. The Paper Column Peter Huntoon SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 317 The family rented a farm in Marine Settlement for two years. The settlement, 25 miles northeast of St. Louis and now named Marine, had been founded in 1819 by a group of sea captains from Connecticut. Isaac’s mother died in 1831. Schooling was minimal and intermittent. He had attended grammar school in Connecticut during 1828- 1831 where he learned to read as well as stints in 1832 and the summer of 1834 in Illinois. In time, he developed into a voracious reader consuming anything in print that he could get his hands on. In the spring of 1834, his father left for Galena, Mineral Point and Dubuque where he hired on as a miner. Issac and his sister were fobbed off on his uncle Jo who had a farm out on the prairie. At eight years old, Isaac found himself serving as a full-time farm laborer. He recalled “I was always hungry when I lived with him and many times, he would eat about all there was on the table and I would have to leave it hungry—yes, hungry as a wolf. * * * Well, Uncle Jo at that time was a hard master. Aunt Anna was kind to us children and often screened us from Uncle and fed us when he was absent.” In 1834, he and his sister moved on to live with his Uncle Will and Aunt Eunice until 1836. They operated an inn on the stage route between St. Louis and Vandalia, the then capital of Illinois. Issac attended school during January and February 1836 where he learned to write at age 11. His Uncle Will hired him out for the summer of 1836 as a full-time laborer on a farm owned by a man named William Gerkie. His work plowing with teams of horses or oxen was the equal of any man. His father and uncle returned in 1836 from a profitable mining venture and their extended family gathered around them including a grandmother, Isaac, his brother Eli and his sister. They returned to Marine Settlement in 1839, where they rented a productive farm for the next three years. The boys attended school for three months during the winters. Isaac proved to be exceptionally entrepreneurial during these formative years trapping, shooting and dressing game, tanning leather, growing produce, etc. At 24, he ventured up the Mississippi River to join his brother Eli in surveying the St. Anthony Falls townsite for a developer named William Marshall. Isaac moved on to plat the first lots in adjacent Minneapolis where he lived on that piece of ground in a log cabin during the summer of 1849, yielding for him the distinction of being the first settler to live in Minneapolis. He returned to St. Anthony where at age 25 he managed a mercantile store, was appointed Assessor of Ramsey County in 1850, and married Georgiana Christmas. He was elected justice of the Peace in 1852. His first formal business venture came in 1854 when he partnered with another man to purchase a grocery store in St. Anthony Falls that was renamed I. I. Lewis & Co. This business was soon moved across the river to Minneapolis. The capital that he possessed was his acumen, skill at business, self-confidence and tireless work ethic. He had the ability to recognize potential business opportunities and tenacity to organize the assets necessary to pursue them. He was learning the power of money and how to manage credit. The pattern that followed was to buy and sell a succession of businesses, increasingly focus on land deals and pursue mining opportunities. A speculative fever grew during the winter of 1855-6 for developing townsites west of the Mississippi River. To this end, Lewis and nine others organized a company that claimed, plated and established Rapid City, Union City and Watertown. By then, he had sufficient wealth and property to Figure 2. Isaac Ives Lewis, 1825-1903, founder of The First National Bank of Ketchum, Idaho Territory. Ketchum Community Library photo. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 318 weather the Panic of 1857-8. He moved his family to his Watertown hotel in late 1858 where he stayed during the Civil War, which he avoided by paying the required bounty. Not all his business pursuits went well. In 1865, the state geologist of Minnesota released a report advising that gold-bearing quartz veins existed in the vicinity of Lake Vermillion, 100 miles north of St. Paul. Lewis joined this gold rush as part of a company of 70 men that had been organized in St. Paul, which involved transporting expensive provisions and equipment through the wilderness. They left St. Paul November 1865 and by summer of 1866 had established 10 claims. The company suffered near famine conditions in the process and their reward was to find that the ore was uneconomic. Lewis lost $4,000 in the venture, a considerable sum in 1866, As a resident of Watertown, he served in the 1868-1869 Minnesota House of Representatives representing Carver County. His appetite for gold was not quenched, however. He was ripe for a scam that came in the form of a man named Robinson, who came to Minnesota in the winter of 1870-1 with specimens of rich gold and silver ores from what he claimed were his prospects in the mountains near Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. His pitch was that he was terminally ill with consumption and needed just enough money to see him through the rest of his days in exchange for his claims. He would be glad to organize a party of men to funds his needs and take them there at $200 apiece. Lewis joined some 40 or so others in the quest. As the party moved through Montana, suspicions began to grow. A party of three men accompanied Robinson to Helena where he was to make arrangements for the party to continue to Missoula. He gave his escorts the slip at Helena by exiting their hotel by a side door where he hoofed it to the nearest stage station on the road to Corinne, Utah. He caught the stage the next day at noon. As fate would have it, the stage stopped at Captain Cook’s roadhouse in Boulder Valley for dinner. A patron there recognized Robinson as the man who fleeced his party, which had originated in Montana, using the same gambit two years previously. With the help of Cook, Robinson was relieved of all his money except $100 and advised to leave the country. This act of partial restitution for the benefit of the Montana victims did little good for the Minnesota folks. They disbanded and disbursed from Helena. Lewis stayed on in Montana and tried his hand at placer mining. Lewis was hooked on mining and the Rocky Mountain west. He circulated between Idaho and Montana for some years setting up several mercantile and drug stores as well as investing in mines. One of the first that he bought into was the Legal Tender Mine (silver) in the Argenta mining district of southwestern Montana (Minneapolis Star Tribune, Oct 16, 1872). He served in the Montana Territorial Legislature in 1875 where he introduced bills to promote the construction of railroads in Montana. Lewis perceived great opportunity in the mining district at Butte and spent much time there tending to claims. C. D. Corbin of the First National Bank of Butte hired Lewis to take over as superintendent of the Rumley and Hope mines there and Lewis came on board March 1, 1876. He was 51 at the time. It was a major operation so to be selected to run it recognized the esteem Lewis had earned and the distance he had come with minimal schooling. However, he held the position for only about a year, being tempted away by a prospector named Levi Allen working out of Helena. Allan was offering to sell a silver lode called the Peacock Mine that he had claimed in 1862 in the Figure 3. Isaac Ives Lewis as a young man. Ancestry.com photo. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 319 mountains in the remote northwest corner of what is now Adams County in southwestern Idaho. Ore samples that he had assayed at 50 percent copper with some gold and silver. Samuel T. Hauser, owner of The First National Bank of Helena and future governor of Montana Territory, also was interested in the play and commissioned Lewis as his agent to look at the property (Mitchell, 1997, p. 9). Allan, Lewis and a small party of men including Lewis’ son John departed Helena at the end of July, 1877 with a wagon filled with provisions and tools for the arduous 600-mile, 65-day journey to the prospect. They passed through Boise City September 7th where they replenished their provisions. Upon arriving at the prospect, they spent 10 or 12 days staking the claim, staking additional claims in the vicinity and collecting samples for assaying. Both Hauser and Lewis acquired an interest in the Peacock Mine. Upon returning to Helena, Hauser hired Lewis to return to Butte to buy ore for his S. T. Hauser & Co. Bank at Butte. The assistant cashier of the bank pulled Lewis aside with the proposition that he would teach him how to run the bank. Thereupon he immediately showed Lewis how to make up the day’s work. This was the first time Lewis had ever been on that side of a bank counter. The cashier told him to come back the next day at 4 pm to do the same saying he probably could get him posted to run the bank. Lewis thereupon found himself hired as bookkeeper and assistant to Hauser in addition to buying ore and handling the silver and gold bullion for a few silver mills. As at the Ramsey Mine, Lewis became restless by late 1879 claiming attention to the business of the bank was taking a toll on his health. Meanwhile, he was hearing glowing reports from returning prospectors about their finds in the Wood River country of Idaho. That area was not overrun by prospectors yet. The urge was overwhelming so he took a 60-day leave of absence on the pretense of his health from Hauser’s operation. On April 5, 1880, Lewis, his son John and Charles Swan set off for the Wood River Valley. In business, Lewis served as the point of the spear, not the handle. He was the risktaker who excelled at spotting opportunities, launching new ventures and then moving on. In mining he relished the rough and tumble of buying claims, even staking claims, and pulling together the capital, men and equipment to exploit them. It appears from his tracks that when he found himself a cog in an established corporation where his job was simply to keep the operation humming or in a bank largely pushing paper, it wasn’t a good fit. Besides, Lewis was used to being the principal in his ventures. Here he was at age 55 on the make again, this time embarked on a life-changing oddesy that would enshrine him in western lore. All his ambitions, talents and tenacity converged to bring this to fruition. The expedition consisted of Isaac Lewis, his son John Lewis and Charles Awan. Their wagon held their provisions, tents, mining tools and Lewis’ assay and surveying equipment. Lewis was jumping the gun because spring rain and snow storms lay ahead and plenty of accumulated winter snow became especially troublesome on passes they had to navigate. On May 3rd they pitched their tents on the site that would become Ketchum, probably the first tents ever on the place. They had traveled some 400 miles from Helena. A party of six or so had passed through the day before without staying the night and laid claim to the townsite that they called Leadville. They left a piece of brown paper with a sketch of the townsite with numbered blocks and lots as well as placing a few stakes in the snow to mark Main Street. Lewis’ party occupied four lots paying someone $8 before setting up their tents. William Greenhow arrived the next day, chose a lot and set up a saloon. Lewis surveyed-in the streets and lots and set up a tent for the first assay office in the Wood River country. John Lewis and Charles Awan collected logs for the first house. People began to arrive by the hundreds to look the place over. Those who bought lots had to shovel the snow off well into May to start building. In nearby Elkhorn Gulch where John Keeler had staked a viable claim, Lewis in due course purchased it for $12,000. Ultimately Hauser financed the purchase. The ore from that mine was the first shipped from the region for smelting, an event that took place in July 1880 via wagon to Kelton, Utah and on to Salt Lake City by rail. Lewis was elected Justice of the Peace in August 1880. The town name Leadville was changed to Ketchum, after David Ketchum, a trapper and guide in the area. Lewis arranged for a man to go 4 miles up Trail Creek in April 1881 to lay claim to a water right SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 320 for the town. At the same time, Lewis also laid claim to and fenced about 700 acres of tillable land up Trail Creek that was then used for hay and grain. In the summer of 1881, Lewis opened a drug store, eventually expanded it with groceries, and later bought half interest in a mercantile store. Ketchum was taking shape, all the while with Lewis trading in mines and prospects. Lewis emerged as Ketchum’s leading citizen. It was only a matter of time before he opted to open a bank. To this end he went to New York during December 1883 to organize a national bank. He met George W. Griffin, a charmer who squired him around town. However, it was Hauser in Helena who advised him how to get the job done through a correspondent bank there. The organization certificate with shareholder signatures was dated February 16, 1884 as submitted to the Comptroller of the Currency’s office in Washington, DC. The First National Bank of Ketchum, Idaho Territory received its charter allowing it to open once Lewis’ bond deposit of $12,500 to secure a circulation of $11,500 was received by the U.S. Treasurer on March 21st. The bank received charter number 3142, being the fourth national bank chartered in Idaho Territory after one in Boise City and two in Lewiston. Lewis had a 22-foot by 54-foot brick building erected for the bank. He hired George Griffin from New York City to serve as cashier, who moved his family to Ketchum. Two private banks already were operating in town. Lewis bought out an operation owned by Judge T. J. Morgan. along with its furnishings, safe and two lots. T. E. Clohecy & Co. remained a competitor through 1888. Lewis served as president for the life of his bank. George Griffin served as cashier from 1884 into 1886 and in that position was the operating officer. Griffin proved to be inept. He gave himself 1-1/2 percent loans in 1865 and 1866 valued at $2,871.83, absconded to New York and never returned (Ketchum Keystone, Jul 31, 1885). His 50 shares of stock in the bank were auctioned to partially recover the loss (Ketchum Keystone, Jun 22, 1889). Lewis then installed his eldest son Horace Caleb Lewis as cashier and brought in George M. Snow, Judge Morgan’s son-in-law, as bookkeeper. This combination served through 1889. However, it was discovered that Snow had been embezzling from the outset bringing the bank to the brink of receivership. Isaac Lewis made good on the stolen funds thus protecting the depositors In early 1890, Lewis’ son Horace stepped down as cashier in order to devote more attention to his Ketchum Fast Freight Line. His younger brother George John—called John—filled the position. Shortly Figure 4. Horace C. Lewis, Isaac’s eldest son and second cashier of The First National Bank of Ketchum, preferred mules to banking so established the Ketchum Fast Freight Line in 1884, famous for its 20-mule teams hauling ore wagons throughout the Wood River region and beyond. Sun Valley Mag.com photo. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 321 thereafter, Lewis liquidated the bank on April 28, 1890, and it was reorganized as First Bank of Ketchum under a territorial charter with George J, [John] Lewis & Co. listed as owner (Rand McNally, 1891, p. 148). Often the incentive for such a reorganization was to allow the bank to make loans on real estate, which was not allowed under national banking law at the time. This probably applied here because land was central to the Lewis’ wealth. First Bank of Ketchum was liquidated in 1897 having paid all its depositors. Isaac Lewis died May 8, 1903 in Pasadena, California at 78 years, presumably while on vacation there. He is interred in the family plot in Watertown, Minnesota, he established while living there. Acknowledgment Mark Drengson, curator of the Society of Paper Money Collectors Bank and Bankers Data Base, conducted a genealogical, newspaper and bank directory search that recovered the newspaper articles and bank directory cited. Sources Ketchum Keystone, Jul 31, 1886, Summons (George W. Griffin), p. 3. Ketchum Keystone, Jun 22, 1889, Bids solicited: p. 3. Lewis, Isaac Ives, ca 1892, unpublished typescript autobiography: Idaho State Historical Society, Boise, Idaho, MF 0110. Minneapolis Star Tribune, Oct 16, 1872, Have struck it rich, p. 4. Mitchell, Victoria E., 1997, History of the Peacock Mine, Adams County, Idaho: Idaho Geological Survey, Staff Report 97-14, 23 p. Rand McNally & Co’s, Jul 1891, Banker’s Directory and list of bank attorneys: Chicago, IL., 534 p. Figure 5. The First National Bank of Ketchum, Idaho Territory. Ketchum Community Library photo. ( SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 322 Lyn Knight Currency Auct ions If you are buying notes... You’ll find a spectacular selection of rare and unusual currency offered for sale in each and every auction presented by Lyn Knight Currency Auctions. Our auctions are conducted throughout the year on a quarterly basis and each auction is supported by a beautiful “grand format” catalog, featuring lavish descriptions and high quality photography of the lots. Annual Catalog Subscription (4 catalogs) $50 Call today to order your subscription! 800-243-5211 If you are selling notes... Lyn Knight Currency Auctions has handled virtually every great United States currency rarity. We can sell all of your notes! Colonial Currency... Obsolete Currency... Fractional Currency... Encased Postage... Confederate Currency... United States Large and Small Size Currency... National Bank Notes... Error Notes... Military Payment Certificates (MPC)... as well as Canadian Bank Notes and scarce Foreign Bank Notes. We offer: Great Commission Rates Cash Advances Expert Cataloging Beautiful Catalogs Call or send your notes today! If your collection warrants, we will be happy to travel to your location and review your notes. 800-243-5211 Mail notes to: Lyn Knight Currency Auctions P.O. Box 7364, Overland Park, KS 66207-0364 We strongly recommend that you send your material via USPS Registered Mail insured for its full value. Prior to mailing material, please make a complete listing, including photocopies of the note(s), for your records. We will acknowledge receipt of your material upon its arrival. If you have a question about currency, call Lyn Knight. He looks forward to assisting you. 800-243-5211 - 913-338-3779 - Fax 913-338-4754 Email: lyn@lynknight.com - support@lynknight.c om Whether you’re buying or selling, visit our website: www.lynknight.com Fr. 379a $1,000 1890 T.N. Grand Watermelon Sold for $1,092,500 Fr. 183c $500 1863 L.T. Sold for $621,000 Fr. 328 $50 1880 S.C. Sold for $287,500 Lyn Knight Currency Auctions Deal with the Leading Auction Company in United States Currency John Douglas, New Orleans Engraver by Mark Coughlan Introduction John Douglas may not be known to those who collect Confederate Treasury notes, but his name might ring a bell with scripophilists who are collectors of Confederate Treasury bonds. Douglas, who ran a small engraving business in New Orleans, Louisiana, produced some of the first ever Treasury bonds to be issued by the newly-formed Confederate States Treasury department. Secession, and the outbreak of War in April 1861, had created a sudden business opportunity for Douglas, but the good times would be short-lived - in late April 1862, New Orleans was captured by Federal forces after a surprise and daring naval attack. So, who was John Douglas, and how did he go from being a simple high street engraver, making a living from selling wedding invitations and visiting cards, to someone who manufactured important Treasury bonds for the Confederate Government, and later, Treasury notes for several Southern States? Ireland John Douglas was born and baptised on February 10th, 1822, in Rathfarnham, County Dublin, Ireland; he was the fifth of six children, born to George Douglas and Rose Kilbride. Rathfarnham, some five miles to the south of Dublin city, was at that time an area of beautiful countryside, large Georgian homes, and a small castle. The area had been settled since Norman times by wealthy landowners from across the Irish Sea, and indeed, the Douglas family was of Scottish descent. Unfortunately, few vital records from the nineteenth century have survived In Ireland - most being destroyed in 1922 during the Irish Civil War; only limited church records are now available, making research into Douglas’ early life difficult. Dublin boasted a small, but well-respected engraving community, and after leaving school, this is most likely where John Douglas undertook an apprenticeship (typically lasting seven years), and later began work. The Great Famine of (1845-1852) was Ireland’s darkest time, with more than one million poor souls dying from starvation and disease due to repeated failures of the potato crop due to the blight (fungus). The British Government was heavily criticised for its ineffective response to the disaster, leading to increased calls for Irish independence, a collapse of the Irish economy, and mass emigration. Almost one million Irish men, women, and children fled Ireland during this tragedy, mainly emigrating to the United States; John Douglas was amongst them. America Douglas arrived in the United States during the summer of 1848, aged twenty-seven, and settled in New Orleans, Louisiana; the city was predominantly Catholic, and was quickly becoming one of the largest and wealthiest in the country. By 1851 Douglas had established his own engraving business, located at 17 Charles Street, in the commercial area of the city, and built up an appreciative clientele. The first concrete reference to his business activities appeared in the New Orleans Crescent newspaper, dated June 19th, 1852. The newspaper included the minutes from a meeting of the “Board of Aldermen” wherein a payment of $16 to John Douglas was approved for “engraving die and printing” services. Douglas had engraved a new seal for the city of New Orleans to commemorate the reunion of the three municipalities; this was a prestigious assignment and indicates that he was well respected for the quality of his engraving work. Advertisements for Douglas’ business appeared regularly from the mid-1850s, indicating that he was focused on providing general engraving and printing services. Figure 1. April 28th, 1857 - Times Picayune. In 1859, approaching forty years old, Douglas married Mary Agnes Purcell, aged twenty-four; Mary had emigrated from County Offaly in Ireland with her family in 1849. The 1860 U.S. census recorded that Douglas and his wife had recently been blessed with their first child, John Jr.; it also revealed that Douglas was relatively affluent, with real estate valued at $20,000 and other assets worth some $3,000. Douglas had acquired several properties in the city as investments, and this would suggest that he was already a man of means – with capital - when he had arrived in America. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 324 Secession and War Between December 20th, 1860, and February 1st, 1861, seven Southern states seceded from the Union, and this quickly led to the formation of the Confederate States of America, with Jefferson Davis being inaugurated as President on February 18th, 1861. Within days Davis had formed his cabinet, and the difficult business of running the new country began in earnest. The most important challenge was to establish the military capabilities necessary to protect the South’s new independence, but this required money. Thus, the newly-formed Confederate States Treasury department, led by Christopher G. Memminger, immediately found itself under intense pressure. The Confederate Congress, which at that time was based in Montgomery, Alabama, approved the Act of February 28th, 1861, providing for a loan of $15 million to finance the immediate priorities of the government. The loan would be effected through the issue of Confederate Treasury bonds. Unfortunately for Secretary Memminger, this was easier said than done, the problem being that the agricultural Southern states had always relied on engraving and printing establishments located in the more industrialised North for this specialised service. Not surprisingly, the United States Government, and the citizens of the Northern states in general, felt considerable frustration and resentment towards the secessionist Confederate States, and this impacted trade. Consequently, Secretary Memminger did not believe it would be feasible to have his Treasury bonds produced anywhere in the North. Instead, in a state of near panic, Secretary Memminger sent agents to scour the South’s major cities in search of solutions; the city of New Orleans soon came to his attention, given its position as the South’s most important financial centre. On March 1st, 1861, Secretary Memminger received a response from one of his agents in New Orleans – Richard Jones, a partner in a Cotton trading company – stating that he had attached bids from two local companies for the engraving and printing of the required Treasury bonds. One of these bids was from the New Orleans branch of the American Bank Note Company, which was headquartered in New York, and was one of the largest and most respected such companies in the world. In his cover letter, Jones specifically cautioned that under this bid, the required Treasury bonds would be manufactured in New York City; however, the attached proposal and quotation provided by the branch manager – Solomon Schmidt – certainly implied that the work would be executed locally in New Orleans. This undoubtedly misled Secretary Memminger who duly awarded the American Bank Note Company with a contract to produce a quantity of Registered Bonds (also known as Stock Certificates). The work was undertaken in New York. The second bid was provided by John Douglas, who ran a small engraving concern in New Orleans. Whilst Jones had been somewhat dismissive of the American Bank Note Company’s bid, he was openly complimentary about Douglas’ capability and his patriotism, clearly recommending him: “There have gone forward to you, by Adams Express, specimens of the engravings of Mr. Douglass, who is a southern institution and has a high reputation for ability and faithfulness and executes nearly all the orders for engraving for the city of New Orleans.” Jones went on to stress the advantage that Douglas was located in the South, and also insinuated that, given New Orleans importance to the Confederacy, it would be appropriate if he was awarded a contract. “From inquiries made, Mr. Douglass may be relied on, and as we have him, identified with the South, on the spot, and as New Orleans deserves well of the Confederation, we hope that he will get the order.” It is quite likely that Jones did not appreciate the complexities of engraving bank notes and bonds in relation to other more general forms of engraving, and as such, was perhaps guilty of over-stating the capabilities of Douglas’ small business. The Gardener’s New Orleans business directory for that year (1861) provided a helpful overview of the type of engraving services offered by Douglas, and it can be seen that these did not seem to include engraving bank notes or bonds: Figure 2. Gardener’s New Orleans Directory of 1861. Regardless of whether he had any concerns or not, Secretary Memminger proceeded to award Douglas a contract to produce some 10-year bearer bonds (known as coupon bonds) which offered 8% SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 325 interest, maturing on September 1st, 1871. These $50 and $100 bonds – classified as Type 1 and Type 2 respectively in Ball and Simmons 2nd Edition Catalog of Confederate Bonds – were initially issued from Montgomery, Alabama, but later from Richmond, Virginia, after this had become the seat of the Confederate Government on May 8th, 1861. The reference to Montgomery on the bonds produced by Douglas was simply crossed out and overwritten with “Richmond” by Treasury clerks. Figure 3. 1861 $50 8% Coupon bond. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions. Figure 4. 1861 $100 8% Coupon bond. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions. Douglas produced these bonds in the typical format of the day, featuring a single vignette, a central body of text defining the terms of the bond, and rows of interest coupons which enabled the holder to collect the interest due at six-monthly intervals until maturity. A letter from Secretary Memminger, dated July 24th, 1861, confirmed that Douglas had successfully completed the order, delivering a total of 8,346 of the $50 bonds, and 8,016 of the $100 bonds. Between April and October of 1861, a total of 7,835 of the $50 bonds and 7,950 of the $100 bonds were issued by Treasury officials across the South. These bonds proudly bore the imprint: “Douglas. Engr. N. Orleans”. Keep the bonds coming! Secretary Memminger was clearly satisfied with the quality of bonds being produced by Douglas, and before work had even been completed on the initial contract, a second order was placed with him. The Confederate Congress approved the Act of May 16th, 1861, which authorised a more substantial amount of $50 million in 8% Treasury bonds, with a twenty-year maturity date of November 1st, 1881. Treasury records confirm that Douglas had been instructed to produce the first $10 million-worth of bonds under this Act, in denominations of $1000, $500, and $100. In a letter, dated July 21st, 1861, Secretary Memminger specified the quantities of each denomination required: “… let the quantities be 6,000 of $1,000 each, 6,000 of $500 each, and 10,000 of $100 each.” This in itself represented a lot of work for Douglas, but in the same letter Secretary Memminger enquired whether Douglas would have the capability to undertake the full order - $50 million worth of bonds. The Treasury’s only other suppliers at that time were already swamped with other urgent orders, namely the New Orleans branch of the American Bank Note Company (which had been renamed as the Southern Bank Note Company), and the Richmond- based Hoyer & Ludwig company. Douglas had begun work on the order, but we will never know if he would have been able to complete it successfully. A letter dated August 15th, 1861, from Secretary Memminger to his contact in New Orleans - the esteemed James D. Denègre, President of the Citizens Bank of Louisiana – advised that Congress wanted to change the terms of the proposed bonds, and that Douglas should cease all work on them. Douglas was paid for his work to date on the new bonds, but unfortunately would not be awarded the contract to resume work after Congress had agreed the changes. The contract was handed over to Hoyer & Ludwig in Richmond, Virginia. Secretary Memminger had a wariness of the engraving and printing community, who were known to be a rowdy bunch, and liked to keep a close eye on things, especially given the desperate need for the said Treasury notes and bonds. Thus, he felt uncomfortable SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 326 about the great distance between the engravers in New Orleans and his office at the Treasury department in Richmond; this anxiety was compounded by operational delays with the orders placed with the Southern Bank Note Company run by Schmidt, and with the amateurism of another minor New Orleans engraver, Jules Manouvrier, when a delivery of his notes failed to reach Richmond securely. Douglas lands on his feet Douglas must have been disappointed with the sudden end to his brief relationship with the Confederate States Treasury, and the fact that he had only produced two bonds in their name. Perhaps, as an act of sympathy and support, he was soon awarded some work for the City of New Orleans; this involved engraving four change notes in denominations of 50- cts, $1, $2, and $3 dollars. Figure 5. 1861 $2 City of New Orleans. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions. Douglas also produced a set of change notes (dated November 1st, 1861) for the New Orleans, Jackson & Great Northern Railroad Co. Figure 6. 1861 $3 New Orleans, Jackson & Great Northern Railroad Company. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions. The State of Louisiana As the War rolled into its second year, the demand for more Treasury notes and bonds continued to increase. This demand was not just from the Confederate States Treasury, but also the Treasury departments of many Southern States, which were permitted to issue limited amounts of their own paper money to supplement that issued by the Confederate States Government. In early 1862, Douglas was awarded contracts by the State Treasuries of Louisiana and Georgia. The Act of January 23rd, 1862, approved by the Louisiana State Legislature, authorised the issuance of change notes in the denomination of $1, $2, and $3; these notes were dated February 24th, 1862. Douglas is known to have produced the first series of these notes, which bore his imprint – “Douglas, N. Orleans”. Figure 7. 1862 $1 The State of Louisiana (face). Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions. These notes were of reasonable quality, similar to those that he had produced for the City of New Orleans. Paper was in short supply in the Confederacy at that time, and Douglas’ notes were printed on the backs of unused sheets - manufactured in the 1850s by Draper, Toppan, Longacre & Company of Philadelphia, and New York - for the Commercial and Agricultural Bank of Texas, based in Galveston. Figure 8. 1862 $1 The State of Louisiana (back). Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions. A second series of change notes – in the same denominations, but with much simpler designs – were issued by the Louisiana State Treasury at this same time. These notes did not feature an engraver’s imprint and did not resemble any of Douglas’ prior notes. If he was involved with them at all, it was probably only to subcontract the work to another local engraver. The state of Georgia Whilst the notes that Douglas had produced for the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana were low denomination and of average quality, his work for the State of Georgia was much more impressive. The Act of December 5th, 1861, approved by the Georgia State Legislature in Milledgeville, authorized the production of $2,500,000 in Treasury Notes, which were dated January 15th, 1862. Douglas was contracted to produce the $10, $20, $50, and $100 denominations, which involved a total of some 80,000 notes. This was clearly the most prestigious, but also SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 327 the most challenging engraving work that Douglas had ever undertaken. The resulting notes were of admirable quality as illustrated by the two examples below. Figure 9. 1862 $10 The State of Georgia. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions. Figure 10. 1862 $50 The State of Georgia. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions. These notes were issued across Georgia between mid-1862 and mid-1863. Douglas placed his imprint along the lower right edge of the note: “Douglas Engr. N. Orleans”. The fall of New Orleans In 1861, New Orleans was undoubtedly the largest, wealthiest, and most important city in the Confederate States of America, with a population of almost 170,000. Its location at the mouth of the Mississippi River on the Gulf of Mexico, made it a powerful commercial hub; the port of New Orleans handled half of the South’s cotton exports, a value of more than $500 million. The city’s importance made it a prime target for Federal forces, and it was not long before the U.S. Naval blockade began to hamper maritime trade activities. Worse was to come for the city, when on April 17th, 1862, U.S. Flag Officer David G. Farragut led a daring naval attack on the city from the Gulf of Mexico, disabling several heavily-armed forts which defended the mouth of the Mississippi river, and then sailing upriver where his fleet of seventeen warships and nineteen gunboats destroyed the smaller Confederate fleet after a ferocious naval battle. The Confederate defenders, lulled into a false sense of security, had been caught completely by surprise; it was assumed that any naval attack would be launched via the Mississippi river from the North, almost 800 miles away. The beleaguered city surrendered on April 28th, 1862, and was duly occupied by Federal forces from May 1st until the end of the War. Not surprisingly, these dramatic events brought an abrupt end to the bank note manufacturing activities of John Douglas and New Orleans’ other engravers. The War-time economy had undoubtedly presented John Douglas with a significant business opportunity, one which he gratefully exploited during the fourteen months that it lasted. After occupation, his business returned to normal – wedding invitations and visiting cards – as an 1863 newspaper advertisement showed. Federal authorities had quickly declared all Confederate paper money illegal, and New Orleans banks were forced to reissue stocks of their own pre- War notes as a temporary measure. Figure 11. June 19th, 1863 – The Daily True Delta. Understandably, the citizens of New Orleans were wary of the creditworthiness of these old notes, but Douglas’ advertisement bravely showed that he had no such reservations. Douglas’ second child, a girl named Mary, was born in September 1862, and a third child, another daughter named Alice, was born in December 1864. Tragically, his wife Mary would die within days from complications following the birth of their third child; the infant, Alice, would also die four months later. Post-War life and activities The widowed Douglas and his two children were surrounded with support from his deceased wife’s family; in 1866, he married his wife’s younger sister, Margaret Purcell, then aged twenty. The couple went on to have six children of their own. After the War’s end and the subsequent period of Reconstruction, Douglas continued to operate his engraving business, relocating in 1866 to new premises at 10 Camp Street. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 328 Figure 12. January 10th, 1869 – The Times Picayune. By 1878 Douglas’ son, John Jr., had begun working alongside him, and the father and son team remained together for the next twenty years. John Douglas Sr. died on August 30th, 1900, aged seventy-eight; he was buried in the family plot at the Metairie cemetery, at the northern end of Canal Street. Several local newspapers printed obituaries of Douglas, all of which were warm and praising of the stout and genial Irishman from Dublin, who had lived and worked in the city for more than half a century. Figure 13. August 31st, 1900 – The Times Picayune. Douglas was survived by his second-wife, Margaret, who lived in New Orleans until 1921, and eight children. His eldest son John Jr., continued the family business until around 1930, living until 1936. John Douglas’s last surviving child, Laura, died in 1963, more than a century after her father had issued some of the first ever Confederate States Treasury bonds; she was buried alongside her father. The legacy of John Douglas There can be no doubt that John Douglas stepped up to the opportunities that secession and War had briefly presented him with between February 1861 until April 1862. Had New Orleans not been captured so early in the War, his activities in producing Treasury notes and bonds for the Confederate Government and for individual Southern States, may well have been more extensive. However, the question arises as to whether the bonds and notes bearing the imprint of John Douglas were all his own work? It would seem to require quite a jump in skills from engraving simple wedding invitations to producing tens of thousands of Treasury notes and bonds. It is conceivable that Douglas was obliged to engage other specialised engravers to assist him in completing such sophisticated work, especially given the extreme urgency involved; piecework and subcontracting, were common practices in the engraving industry. New Orleans was home to several engravers who were skilled in the production of bank notes and could have assisted Douglas. These included John V. Childs (1813-1870), originally from New York, who produced various pre-War mercantile notes, and engraved various State of Arkansas Treasury Warrants during 1861; Childs also produced the famous New Orleans Postmaster provisional postage stamps prior to the availability of Confederate States stamps. Perhaps Solomon Schmidt at the former American Bank Note Company branch on Royal Street might also have helped? He is known to have supplied Douglas with paper and quantities of ink, and almost certainly loaned many of the pre-engraved vignettes which appeared on his notes and bonds. From mid-1861 Schmidt was totally consumed with his own work for the Confederate Treasury, but he may well have assisted Douglas with the Treasury bonds produced earlier in 1861. Douglas also may have used Schmidt’s facilities for printing; there would certainly have been periods when these presses were idle whilst Schmidt was busy engraving new Treasury notes. But perhaps this is being unfair on Douglas, and he was able to raise his game. His obituary claimed that he “… enjoyed a wide reputation for the finish and perfection of his steel and copper-plate engraving, which could not be surpassed by the best foreign talent.” With such praise, perhaps we should give the benefit of the doubt to Mr. Douglas. What happens in N’Awlins stays in N’Awlins. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 329 SOURCES  “Collecting Confederate Paper Money - Field Edition 2014”: by Pierre Fricke (2014).  “Confederate States Paper Money: Civil War Currency from the South”: by George S. Cuhaj (2012).  “Criswell’s Currency Series Vol 1. Confederate and Southern States Currency”: by Grover Criswell Jr, (first published 1957).  “Correspondence of the Treasury of the Confederate States of America”: by Raphael P. Thian (1878).  “Register of the Confederate Debt”: by Raphael P. Thian (1880, reprint 1972).  “A Guide Book of Counterfeit Confederate Currency”: by George B. Tremmel (2007).  “Comprehensive Catalog and History of Confederate Bonds 2nd Edition”: by Douglas B. Ball, Henry F. Simmons Jr. (2015).  “Guide Book of Southern States Currency (The Official Red Book)”: by Hugh Shull (2006).  “Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era”: by James M. McPherson (2003).  “The Life and Times of C.G. Memminger”: by Henry D. Capers (1893).  “Empire of Cotton: A Global History”: by Sven Beckert (2014).  “Southern Wealth and Northern Profits: As exhibited in statistical facts and official figures” by Thomas Prentice Kettell (1976).  “The Great Hunger, Ireland 1845-1849”: by Cecil Woodham-Smith (1991).  “Confederate Finance”: by Richard Cecil Todd (1954).  “Dictionary of Louisiana Biography - Louisiana Historical Association”: www.lahistory.org  “Origins of the Train Vignette on Confederate Type-39 Treasury Notes - Paper Money Mar/Apr 2019”: by Marvin D. Ashmore & Michael McNeil (2019)  “Historic New Orleans Collection”: www.hnoc.org  “Gardener’s New Orleans Directory - 1861” by Charles Gardener (1861).  “Heritage Auctions Online Archives”: www.ha.com  “Genealogy and History Websites”: o www.ancestry.com o www.familysearch.org o www.fold3.com o www.findagrave.com o www.newspapers.com FURTHER INFORMATION This short article has been abridged from the Author’s remarkable new 535-page book on “Engravers and Printers of Confederate Paper Money”. Available now in paperback format at $55.00 through www.amazon.com. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 330 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 National Bank Note Circulation Hit with a Forced 8% Decline by Redemption of the Loan of 1925 Introduction and Purpose The total circulation of national bank notes dropped abruptly by 8 percent in 1925 from $778 million to $716 million. No financial shock had rocked the economy during 1925 to account for this decrease. Instead, the cause was the result of an arcane technicality: the redemption by the Treasury of a series of bonds used to secure part of the circulation of national banks that matured on February 1, 1925. Without the bonds, the impacted bankers had to reduce their circulations until they could purchase other bonds to replace them. This was problematic because virtually all of the available bonds that carried the circulation privilege already were tied up by other banks to secure existing circulations. It is the objective of this article to explain what happened. The spotlight will fall on the Loan of 1925, a 4 percent 30-year loan consisting of U.S. Treasury bonds that originated in 1895. That bond issue arose from the ill-conceived Series of 1890 and 1891 Treasury note emissions authorized by the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act caused havoc to the U.S. monetary system in the mid-1890s. Then 30 years later, through the maturation of the 1925 bonds, it delt another blow by forcing an 8 percent reduction in the volume of national bank notes in circulation. Retirement of the 4 Percent Bonds of 1925 Our knowledge of this story began to unfold when co-author Lofthus happened upon a writeup warning of the consequences coming with the redemption of the Loan of 1925. The writeup was buried in the December 1924 Federal Reserve Bulletin (FR Board, 1924, p. 944-947). It led off as follows. The Secretary of the Treasury has announced that $118,489,900 of 4-percent United States bonds payable on February 1, 1925, will be redeemed on that date. Over $76,000,000 of these bonds were on deposit in the Treasury to secure national bank notes on October 31, 1924, and their redemption will necessarily result in some reduction in the circulation of these notes, since there will not be enough bonds The Paper Column Peter Huntoon Lee Lofthus Figure 1. The entire circulation of this Phoenix bank was terminated by the redemption of 4% Loan of 1925 bonds by the Treasury on February 1, 1925. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 332 bearing the circulation privilege outside the Treasury to replace those redeemed. Only about $11,000,000 of such bonds will be left outstanding in the market after the withdrawal of the 1925 issue. The anticipated reduction of national bank circulation by $65,000,000 or more is about 10 per cent of the total of notes outstanding. National bankers were required to deposit U.S. Treasury bonds with the U.S. Treasurer to secure national bank notes issued to their banks. Congress legislated which bonds could be used, thus endowing them with what was called the circulation privilege. The eligible bond issues varied over time. Table 1 lists those that were current in 1924. The law permitted a given bank to issue circulation up to 100 percent of its capital stock. However, in 1924 the total outstanding circulation of the country equaled only 54.7 percent of the total capital stock of all the banks. The report went on to point out that the total of outstanding bonds bearing the circulation privilege had diminished markedly since 1914, whereas the total circulation of the national banks continued to grow. Therefore, the availability of the bonds on the market was severely constrained and declining. As revealed on Table 1, all but about $11 million worth of the Consols of 1930 and Panama Canal Bonds already were tied up as security for existing national bank note issues. Once the Loan of 1925 was redeemed in 1925, there would be an acute shortage of available bonds that the impacted banks could purchase in order to maintain their circulations. The result was inevitable, most of the bankers who held the 1925 bonds could not replace them, so they would be forced to contract their circulations. Nationwide, there would be a reduction of about $65 million or more. It was pointed out that smaller banks tended to have the largest note issues in proportion to their capital and they also tended to have the largest share of their circulations secured by the 1925 bonds. This finding wasn’t surprising because many small banks had entered the system in recent years and their officers were buying the then available 1925 bonds. See Table 2. However, despite the disproportionate vulnerability of the smaller banks, the bulk of the circulations secured by the 1925 bonds resided with the big city banks owing simply to their overwhelming capital. Origin of the Loan of 1925 A fair question is, what was the origin of the 4% Loan of 1925? The answer is the ill-conceived Sherman Silver Purchase Act of July 14, 1890, which ran up the national debt. The act authorized the Series of 1890 and 1891 Treasury notes. Table 1. U.S. Treasury bonds available and bonds used to secure national bank note circulations on October 31, 1924. 2% Consols of 1930 2% Panama Canal Bonds 4% Loan of 1925 Total Outstanding $599,724,050 $74,901,580 $118,489,900 Total Used to Secure NBNs $589,086,200 $74,069,640 $76,687,050 % Used to Secure NBNs 98 99 65 Table 2. Loan of 1925 4% U.S. Treasury bonds deposited with the U.S. Treasurer to secure national bank note circulations on October 31st for the years listed. 1895 $13,856,500 1905 $4,465,000 1915 $32,304,800 1896 $36,531,650 1906 $4,602,100 1916 $26,214,400 1897 $30,474,150 1907 $10,732,900 1917 $34,743,900 1898 $23,990,650 1908 $14,960,450 1918 $50,240,800 1899 $18,242,750 1909 $15,463,050 1919 $58,055,050 1900 $7,503,350 1910 $21,022,650 1920 $68,578,000 1901 $2,911,100 1911 $22,854,300 1921 $77,257,400 1902 $2,208,600 1912 $26,817,000 1922 $82,509,900 1903 $1,410,100 1913 $35,302,700 1923 $85,823,150 1904 $1,791,600 1914 $34,699,300 1924 $76,687,050 SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 333 The Sherman Silver Purchase Act required the Treasury to purchase up to 4,500,000 ounces of silver per month if offered at a price not to exceed $1 per ounce. The Treasury was to pay for the silver with Treasury notes, which were issued in denominations ranging from $1 to $1000. Two million ounces of the silver was to be coined into standard silver dollars each month until July 1, 1891, and after that as much of the silver bullion purchased as necessary to fully cover the outstanding Treasury notes. The act also required that the outstanding circulation of the Treasury notes was to be maintained at a level equal to the cost of the silver bullion and silver dollars held by the Treasury that had been purchased by the notes. The act had a serious flaw. Section 2 required the Treasury to redeem the Treasury notes in gold or silver at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury. This provision had been included to demonstrate the commitment of the United States to a bimetallic monetary standard that at the time was a 16:1 gold/silver ratio based on $20.67 per ounce gold and $1.2929 per ounce silver. Silver was a glut on the on the market at the time, causing it to be overvalued at the 16:1 ratio. The result was that speculators engaged in a merry-go-round of buying silver on the metals market where the price of silver was steadily decreasing, selling it to the Treasury for Treasury notes, redeeming the notes for gold coin, selling the gold coin for ever increasing quantities of silver in the market, pocketing the difference and repeating the cycle. Most of the gold was exported whereas net silver imports increased during 1890 through 1893 (Carlisle, 1894). The Treasury saw its gold reserves flow overseas while its stock of silver and silver bullion ballooned. The silver bullion that hadn’t been coined went into storage in the Treasury alongside the bulky silver dollars the public didn’t want to carry around. The plight of the Treasury was unsustainable. Figure 2. These beauties ran up the national debt. Heritage Auction Archives photo. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 334 The Panic of 1893 was beginning as Democrat Grover Cleveland assumed his second and detached term as president on March 4, 1893. Cleveland had two economic priorities upon taking office: dismantle the McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 and repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890. The McKinley Tariff Act had raised import duties from 38 to 49.5 percent on average, which curtailed trade. Cleveland blamed both acts as primary causes for the panic. In particular, he felt that the Silver Purchase Act was destabilizing public confidence in the nation’s money. On August 8, 1893, he called on Congress to hold a special session to repeal the Silver Purchase Act (Richarson, 1908, v. 9, p, 401- 405). By a vote of 239 to 108 in the House and 48-37 in the Senate, Congress complied by repealing the purchase requirements in the act but not the redemption obligation carried by the Treasury notes. The repeal became law on November 1, 1893. Silver purchases ceased forthwith but not the cycling of Treasury notes through the Treasury. Thus, the enduring legacy of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was its drain on Treasury gold and its adverse impact on the national debt (McAdoo, 1915, p. 12-13). The latter can be viewed through the lens of the Gold Reserve Fund. A bit of history will set the stage. The resumption of specie payments act approved January 14, 1875 directed the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the redemption of United States notes in coin beginning January 1, 1879, and if necessary to sell bonds in order to purchase gold to redeem those notes from what became the Gold Reserve Fund. The bank act of July 12, 1882 established $100 million as the minimum size of the Gold Reserve Fund, below which it had to be replenished. The fund was started through a bond sale. Over the decades, Congress provided sources of income to support the Gold Reserve Fund. The rate of redemption of United States notes prior to 1893 was not sufficient to reduce the Gold Reserve Fund below $100 million. However, the cyclic redemptions of Treasury notes of 1890 and 1891 for gold seriously Figure 3. Total outstanding circulation of national bank notes through time showing the abrupt decline associated with the redemption of 4% Loan of 1925 U.S. Treasury bonds on February 1, 1925. The Aldrich-Vreeland and Glass-Borah spikes are discussed in Huntoon (2022) and Huntoon and Yakes (2021), respectively. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 335 eroded the fund. By April 1893, the minimum was reached and the drain became serious enough that in February 1894 an issue consisting of $50 million worth of 10-year 5 percent bonds was necessary to restore it. This was followed in November by another $50 million in like bonds. These two sales were called the Loan of 1904, which was the maturation date for the bonds. The hemorrhage of gold intensified, so in February 1895 the government purchased 3,500,000 ounces of gold coin to bolster the fund, paying for it with 4 percent 30-year bonds amounting to $62,315,400. This was followed by another sale of $100 million more of the 4 percent 30-year bonds in January 1896. These comprised the Loan of 1925. By the time the Loan of 1904 matured, $72 million worth of the bonds already had been rolled over into 2 percent Consols of 1930 and $8.5 million had been redeemed with funds in the Treasury. The remaining Loan of 1904 bonds were redeemed in 1904 with funds in the Treasury. Of the $162 million in the Loan of 1925, $44 million had been redeemed by the Treasury by 1915 leaving $118 million outstanding and payable February 1, 1925. Thus in 1915, $72 million in public debt was kicked down to 1930 in the form of the Consols of 1930, and $118 million was kicked down to 1925 in the form of the Loan of 1925. Virtually all of this represented gold that had been depleted through the operation of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act. Impact When the outstanding $118 million dollars from the Loan of 1925 matured on February 1, 1925, those bonds ceased earning interest and the U. S. Treasury redeemed them at their par value upon presentation. $76 million worth of them were on deposit with the U.S. Treasurer by national banks across the country as security for national bank note circulations. This represented 10% of the total national bank note circulation at the time. The redemption of the bonds forced an equal contraction of national bank note circulation. The Treasurer redeemed the bonds that he held on behalf of the bankers, deposited their money in his national bank note redemption fund, and began the process of withdrawing that amount of their national bank notes from circulation through his National Bank Redemption Agency. Notes ceased being issued to the affected banks forthwith by the Comptroller of the Currency. No more would be sent until the value of the notes covered by the liquidated bonds was withdrawn from circulation. If the bankers wished to increase their circulations to their pre-February 1 levels, they could attempt to have their agents buy bonds that carried the circulation privilege on the open market. There were only $11 million worth of such bonds outstanding that were not already tied up as security for national bank circulations. Even if all those bonds could be pried from the hands of investors, total national bank note circulation would be reduced by $67 million, or by 8 percent. Fully Terminated Circulations The big question for numismatists is did these reductions impact the scarcity of nationals? The bonds were owned by many hundreds of banks across the country. Many had only part of their circulations secured by the bonds, but the circulations for others were entirely covered by them. Thus, it was likely that entire bank circulations could be wiped out. We were especially interested in the situations where entire circulations were terminated. Potential candidates could be found by examining the Pollock data set that lists the annual circulations of national banks. The search consisted of finding banks where their circulations ceased in 1925 but the banks continued in business thereafter. There were 8,077 national banks on October 10, 1925 in Pollock’s data set. Of these, we found somewhat over 200 with circulations in 1924 but no circulations in 1925 and 1926. There are various reasons why bankers decided to get out of the note-issuing business, but at least many if not most of the 200 plus banks we identified had to be the result of the redemption of the Loan of 1925 bonds. The way to definitively determine if their bonds were indeed the 1925 lone was to examine the bond record for the candidate banks in the National Currency and Bonds ledgers in the National Archives. Three Arizona banks were on our list: Phoenix (3728), Douglas (6633) and Phoenix (11559). Huntoon had copies of the ledger pages for all three. Only the Douglas bank didn’t qualify. The Douglas bankers had 2% Consols of 1930 that they sold to take themselves out of the currency-issuing business. In SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 336 contrast, the two Phoenix banks held nothing but the 4% Loan of 1925 bonds. Both of the Phoenix stories are worth telling. The simplest tale of the two is that of The Commercial National Bank of Phoenix, charter 11559, a young bank that was chartered on October 26, 1919. The bankers bought two groups of $25,000 Loan of 1925 bonds, the first on May 11 and the second on June 10, 1920. Those bonds secured a $50,000 circulation of Series of 1902 plain back $5s. The bankers purchased the Loan of 1925 bonds because they were practically the only bonds with the circulation privilege that were available on the bond market in 1920. The bankers had issued 15,300 sheets of their $5s by the time their bonds matured in 1925 and were redeemed. The bank remained in the national system until 1931, when its officers relinquished their national charter to join the state system as the Arizona Bank, Phoenix. Obviously, they felt that the low profitability associated with circulation no longer was worth pursuing so they didn’t attempt to join the 1925 scramble buy other bonds in the market. The result was that their $5 Series of 1902 issues ceased in 1925, instead of 1929. Also, collectors were sadly robbed of the opportunity to collect Series of 1929 notes from the bank before it relinquished its national charter in 1931. The story of the venerable old National Bank of Arizona at Phoenix, charter 3728, is a bit more convoluted and involves the fickle finger of fate. Those bankers had built their circulation up to a respectable $200,000 by 1913 and maintained it at that level into the 1920s. It was secured by 2% Consols of 1930 until February 21, 1922, when they swapped those bonds out for the more profitable 4% Loan of 1925 bonds. Then came the redemptions in 1925, so on February 6 their bonds were redeemed and they found themselves entirely out of the note-issuing business. The last shipment of their 10-10-10-20 Series of 1902 notes had been sent to them on January 12, 1925, which covered redemptions of some worn notes from circulation. From then on, their notes were actively redeemed from circulation by the National Bank Redemption Agency. The officers wanted to get back into the note-issuing business so finally on March 5, 1929 they were able to purchase $300,000 worth of 2% bonds to reestablish their circulation, but now at the higher figure. In the interim, they changed the title of their bank in 1926 to First National Bank of Arizona at Phoenix. The Comptroller’s clerks immediately sent all the unissued stock of 10-10-10-20 sheets bearing the old title upon the deposit of the new bonds, but that supply was insufficient to cover the amount due the bank. A rush order for a new 10-10-10-20 plate with the new title was lodged with the Bureau of Engraving Figure 4. This is an Arizona scarcity carrying the second title for this Phoenix bank that came about as a result of the redemption of 4% Loan of 1925 U. S. Treasury bonds on February 1, 1925. After the bank lost its circulation backed by those bonds, it took it until 1929 for the officers of the bank to replace them in order to reestablish their circulation. In the meantime, they had changed their bank title in 1926. They finally received notes with their new title in three modest shipments sent to them over a period of only 8 days in 1929. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 337 and Printing, and it was quickly pressed into production. It was one of the last large-size national bank note plates made. The production from it was sent to the bank as soon as the printings arrived at the Comptroller’s office. The notes came in three shipments totaling 5,298 sheets sent from Washington over the 8-day period of April 11-18, 1929. The rarities created in this instance were the new-title Series of 1902 blue seals printed in April 1929. Only a handful of them are reported. If a bank of interest to you ceased issuing between 1924 and 1925 but continued in business, chances are excellent that the cause was redemption of 4% Loan of 1925 bonds. The redemption of the bonds may account for why its notes are unusually scarce. The difficult part is verifying that the redemption of Loan of 1925 bonds was the cause. That information is available only from the national currency and bond ledgers. Partially Reduced Circulations The vast majority of bankers who held Loan of 1925 bonds also held other bonds, so they experienced partial reductions in their circulations when their 1925 bonds were redeemed. This accounts for many if not the majority of stepped-down circulations between 1924 and 1925. Lofthus has copies of the ledger sheets for several national banks so he readily found three that held the 1925 bonds; specifically, Butte, Montana (2566), Orangeburg, South Carolina (10674) and Gardiner, Oregon (10676). All the 1925 bonds held for these banks had been redeemed by February 5, 1925. The bankers at The First National Bank of Gardiner, Oregon had $10,000 worth of 1925 bonds but also held another $10,000 in 2% Consols of 1930 and $5,000 in 2% Panama Canal Loan bonds of 1938. Once their circulation dropped to $15,000 through the redemption of their 1925 bonds, they decided to get completely out of the note-issuing business and sold the rest on May 8, 1925. Consequently, the bank had no circulation at the end of 1925 and thus showed up on our list of potential banks that could have had all their circulation wiped out by the sale of the 1925 banks. This bank didn’t fit that profile though. The Gardiner bankers didn’t take out circulation again until 1933 when they invested $25,000 in high-interest bonds that were available at the time. Thus, they got in on the Glass-Borah Spike on Figure 3 with an issue of Series of 1929 notes. The case for The First National Bank of Butte, Montana was more typical. The $300,000 circulation of the bank dropped by a third with the redemption of its $100,000 holding of 1925 bonds. The bankers took no action to increase their circulation during the remaining large-note era. They were issuing $50 and $100 Series of 1902 blue seal plain backs at the time and it took the Treasurer’s National Bank Redemption Figure 5. The circulation of this Butte, Montana bank was cut by 1/3rd when the 4% Loan of 1925 bonds were redeemed that backed its circulation. At the time, the bank was issuing $50 and $100 Series of 1902 blue seal plain backs. This note was issued after the reduction. Such notes are a third scarcer thanks to the reduction in circulation. Heritage Auction archives photo. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 338 Agency until July 1926 to withdraw the $100,000 worth of their notes from circulation. Normal shipments of replacements for their remaining $200,000 circulation resumed July 7th. The situation at The Orangeburg National Bank, South Carolina, was a bit more interesting because those bankers wanted to replace their redeemed bonds. Their circulation going into 1925 was $150,000 secured by $100,000 in 2% Consols of 1930 and $50,000 in Loan of 1925 bonds. The 1925 bonds were redeemed on February 5th, but the bankers were able to replace $18,000 worth of them with 2% Panama Canal Loan of 1936 bonds on May 13th. Thus, they closed out 1925 with a circulation of $118,000. The Big Picture The cumulative national bank note circulation in the country in 1925 was about 15% of all the money in circulation. Redemption of the 4% Loan of 1925 bonds reduced that percentage to a bit less than 14% of the nation’s total (FR Board, 1924, p. 947). The loss certainly didn’t cause a disruptive economic impact. The officers in the banks impacted by the redemption of their Loan of 1925 bonds had to contend with the inconvenience of the situation, but they had plenty of time to adjust. Although their circulations on the books suddenly were reduced or even eliminated, it didn’t cause pain. Yes, the bonds were redeemed and the proceeds of those sales were deposited in the Treasurer’s redemption fund. But the value of the notes that had been issued to the banks remained the property of the banks. The notes or their equivalent value in cash either resided in the banks or had been loaned by the bankers. When loaned, the bankers got their cash value back with interest upon maturation of the loans. The actual nationals in circulation now were the liability of the Treasury and gradually were retired by the Treasurer’s National Bank Redemption Agency. The bankers could either attempt to replace the lost bonds with other bonds in order to obtain more circulation, or they could simply discount their future loans through their Federal Reserve bank and obtain either Federal Reserve notes or other Federal currency to continue the conduct of their businesses. As far as the U.S. Treasury was concerned, the reduction of national bank note circulation was all for the good because it took inelastic currency out of circulation that was replaced by elastic Federal Reserve currency, which better served the operation of the nation’s economy. The result of the redemption of the Loan of 1925 bonds is the abrupt drop in national bank note circulation in 1925 illustrated on Figure 3. That impact lasted six years until the Glass-Borah Amendment to the Federal Home Loan Bank Act of 1932 awarded the circulation privilege to U.S. bonds with interest rates of 3-3/8% or less for a period of three years. This made more bonds temporarily available to national Figure 6. The bankers in this Orangeburg, South Carolina bank were able to buy $18,000 worth of 2% Panama Canal Loan of 1936 bonds to partially replace $50,000 in 4% Loan of 1925 bonds that were redeemed on February 5, 1925. They also held $100,000 in 2% Consols of 1930 so this left them with a circulation of $118,000 at the end of 1925. The reduction didn’t appreciably impact the scarcity of 1902 notes with this title. Heritage Auction archives photo. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 339 bankers as well as improving the profitability of circulating national bank notes. The hope was that an increase in volume of national bank notes would add liquidity to the economy that was in the grips of the Great Depression then. What swirled around the Loan of 1925 constitutes a background story that unexpectedly linked two classes of currency, Treasury notes of 1890-1891 and national bank notes. The Treasury Notes of 1890- 1891 were long gone from the scene in 1925 but were still causing headaches. National bank notes were struggling for economic relevance against the glamorous newly instituted Federal Reserve notes. National bank currency as an element in the nation’s money supply suffered from being inelastic; that is, unable to expand and contract in response to seasonal business cycles and periodic economic shocks. A major objective of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 was to provide for an elastic currency that would supplant nationals. However, there was money to be made by bankers who engaged in the currency-issuing business so nationals did not go away. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon was actively seeking means to eliminate national bank notes from the scene short of legislation from Congress to do so. Consequently, his administration used the call of the 1925 bonds at their maturity as the first concrete step to jumpstart the process. Successive bond calls and maturities in 1935 after Mellon left office finished the job. By then, banker and public support for nationals had waned so removal of their bond banking by FRDs New Deal Treasury was not seriously opposed in Congress so the job could be completed as an administrative action by the Treasury without Congressional intervention. National bank notes could not exist without available U.S. Treasury bonds that bankers had to deposit with the U/S. Treasurer to secure their circulations. Sources Carlisle, John G., 1894, Gold and silver in the Treasury of the United States, and circulation of silver & silver certificates (chart with month-end totals including insets for imports and exports of gold and silver, June 1878 through May 1894); in, Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the state of the finances: Government Printing Office, 992 p. Comptroller of the Currency, yearly, Annual reports of the Comptroller 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, Washington, DC. Federal Reserve Board, Dec. 1924, National bank note circulation: in, Federal Reserve Bulletin, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC., v. 10, no. 12, p. 944-947. Huntoon, Peter, Nov-Dec 2021, Emergency currency, the Aldrich-Vreeland Act & Series of 1882 and 1903 date back national bank notes: Paper Money, v. 60, p. 405-412. Huntoon, Peter, and Jamie Yakes, Jul-Aug 2023, Glass-Borah Amendment of 1932 spiked Series of 1929 national bank note circulation by a third: Paper Money, v. 62, p. 216-281. Pollock, Andrew, National bank presidents, cashiers, total resources and national bank note circulations by year: Newman Numismatic Portal, Washington University, St. Louis, MO. Richardson, James W., 1908, A compilation of the messages and papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, vol. IX: Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 853 p. McAdoo, W. G., Secretary of the Treasury, 1915, Information respecting United States bonds, paper currency and coin, production of precious metals, etc.: U.S. Treasury, Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 106 p. United States Statutes, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 340 WORLDWIDE AUDIENCE LIVE BIDDING ON OUR WEBSITE & MOBILE APPS DEDICATED CATALOGS & SALES FOR ADVANCED COLLECTIONS 0% COMMISSION FEE ON ALL CONSIGNMENTS WORLD BANKNOTE AUCTIONS SPECIALIZING IN US PAPER MONEY info@worldbanknoteauctions.com +1 (916)-701-5132 / (888)-707-1564 World Banknote Auctions P.O. Box 348144 Sacramento, CA 95834 United States www.worldbanknoteauctions.com Portraits on Parade: Miss Blackey, the Most Beautiful Woman in Virginia by Tony Chibbaro Readers of my articles over the past couple of years may notice a change in the title of this one in comparison with the others. All preceding titles have begun with the phrase “It’s Not Just About the Vignettes.” This one, however, begins with the words “Portraits on Parade.” As several of my more recent articles have focused on banknote portraits instead of actual vignettes, I thought this change would be more appropriate and more descriptive for this and any future columns which feature single or multiple portraits as the primary subject matter. I first became aware of the identity of the woman appearing on the banknote illustrated below when I was offered it for sale a few months ago. The seller had noted that cataloger James Haxby had identified the portrait as being a certain Miss Blackey. Consultation with Volume 2 of Haxby’s United States Obsolete Bank Notes revealed that the portrait on the $1 note issued by The Bank of Tecumseh, Michigan, was indeed attributed as being Miss Blackey, but the author offered no information about her other than her name. Above: Unissued $1 remainder note of The Bank of Tecumseh in Tecumseh, Michigan, (Haxby MI-435-G22a) dated August 22nd, 1859. Appearing on its left side is a portrait that author James Haxby identified as Miss Blackey. This Michigan note is not the only one upon which the portrait of Miss Blackey appears. I have multiple notes in my collection which feature her portrait. A $10 note of the Exchange Bank of Columbia, South Carolina, and a $20 note of the Bank of Chester, South Carolina, both display her likeness prominently. She also appears on $1 notes of the Shetucket Bank of Norwich, Connecticut, and the City Bank of Augusta, Georgia, as well as several other notes issued by banks across the country. A male portrait appearing on the obsolete notes of several banks widely distributed across the United States would normally signify that the person depicted was a figure of national importance. But such was not the case with female portraits in the first half of the 19th century. Instead, this image of Miss Blackey was likely chosen to be placed on so many different banknotes because of her pleasing looks. Hers is one of a type which banknote engravers called “Fancy Heads,” a group of attractive female portraits which graced the notes of scores of financial institutions from Maine to Texas. But exactly who was this Miss Blackey that was portrayed on the note above? The earliest mention of her identity that I could locate was printed in the October 31, 1905, issue of The Philatelic West, an illustrated monthly magazine published at Superior, Nebraska, which catered primarily to stamp collectors. An article entitled “Bills of the Monticello Bank of Charlottesville, Va.” presented an additional piece of information about her. Author Fred Whittemore wrote that “the $10 (note of the Monticello Bank) has the portrait of Miss Blackey, the most beautiful woman in Virginia.” A pair of subsequent articles printed in The Numismatist, the official publication of the SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 342 American Numismatic Association, in 1908 and 1924 were clearly derivative of Whittemore’s 1905 piece, but both replaced the word “beautiful” with “handsome” in the phrase describing Miss Blackey. Neither of the three sources had anything further to say about her, though. Left: Miss Blackey, proclaimed to be “the most beautiful woman in Virginia during the 1850s, as portrayed on the $1 note of The Tecumseh Bank of Tecumseh, Michigan. Try as I might, I could find nothing more beyond her surname and her “title” as the most beautiful woman in her state. Curiously, the ancestry.com website listed no families by that last name in Charlottesville, Virginia, and just a few in the entire state. The standard reference work on Virginia banknotes, Virginia Obsolete Paper Money by Richard Jones and Keith Littlefield, did not identify her by name at all. Searches on google.com and newspapers.com revealed nothing more, not even her first name. So I now appeal to the readers of this periodical. If anyone has more information on Miss Blackey, “the most beautiful woman in Virginia,” please contact me at tony@sctokens.com. Above: $10 note issued by The Monticello Bank of Charlottesville, Virginia, (Haxby VA-45-G22a) dated October 1, 1860. A larger portrait of Miss Blackey appears on this note. A portrait of Thomas Jefferson and a vignette of his nearby home called Monticello accompany it. I also have a second request of Paper Money readers. I mentioned in my last article the database I am compiling that tracks the identities of the various portraits found on old currency. I now have cataloged in it over 1000 different portraits, including those referenced in Gene Hessler’s The Engraver’s Line and all three volumes of Roger Durand’s Interesting Notes: About Portraits. Others from Jim Haxby’s United States Obsolete Bank Notes and The Whitman Encyclopedia of Obsolete Paper Money are in the process of being added. In the cue await the archives of Heritage and Stacks-Bowers auction houses. If anyone knows of other sources, such as old books, catalogs, or other private lists that can aid in such an endeavor, please contact me at the aforementioned email address. I would also be happy to answer queries from other collectors about the identities of portraits that they might be trying to attribute. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 343 THE REAL STORY BEHIND THE CIA’S COUNTERFEIT CUBAN BANKNOTES OF 1961 by Roberto Menchaca A commonly accepted idea is that a series of Cuban banknotes of 1961 with nominal value of twenty pesos were produced by the CIA and given to the members of the Cuban Assault Brigade that attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro during the ill-fated Bay of Pigs Invasion to the island of that year. The topic has been treated with some detail over the years by both, Cuban and foreign specialists. Most sources indicate that each soldier was given approximately one-hundred of these forged notes to be carried to Cuba for purchasing supplies from the peasants and/or bribery (Quesada, 2009; Wayne, 2011). Using essentially the same description, some of these notes have been sold over the years by the most prestigious numismatic auction houses reaching always considerable prices.1 While the counterfeit twenty-peso notes closely resemble the authentic ones issued in 1961 by the National Bank of Cuba, they can be easily distinguished from the latter given that they all belong to the series F69 or F70. In each case, the notes can display a serial number or not. As a result, four different varieties of these counterfeits are known to exist. Obverse of a fake twenty-peso Cuban note of 1961 (series F70, serial number 592013) The present article explains why the generally accepted idea about these counterfeit notes is simply wrong and discloses for the first time evidence essential to understand the true story surrounding the origin and use of the banknotes. Prior to Fidel Castro’s revolution of January, 1959, Cuban currency had been traditionally produced by American companies. Large amounts of these moneys were brought to the United States by the Cubans that left the country after Castro’s rise to power. Fearing that the money could be used to destabilize the new government, the National Bank of Cuba enacted on April 7, 1959 the Law number 210 that demonetized the hitherto circulating five-hundred and one-thousand-peso banknotes. Obverse of a one-thousand peso Cuban note produced in 1950 by the ABNC 1 See, e.g. Lot nr. 28361, Long Beach Expo World Paper Money Signature Auction, September 5, 2019, hammer price: 780 USD; Lot nr. 26394, idem, September 6, 2018, hammer price: 1140 USD. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 344 The relations between Cuba and the United States deteriorated rapidly after 1959. The latter sponsored sabotage and violent acts in the island to provoke the fall of the new regime, to which Cuba responded from 1960 with the nationalization of the American-owned companies established in the island. The subsequent economic embargo imposed by the Americans, still in force nowadays, caused the island to look for new partners in the former Communist bloc. The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a military landing operation covertly financed and directed by the U. S. Government and the CIA. Around 1400 Cuban exiles organised in the so-called Assault Brigade 2506 landed in the southwestern coast of Cuba on April 17, 1961. However, the operation failed and already by April 20 the revolutionary forces were in control of the situation. Most of the invaders were captured (1202 men) whereas 118 men were officially reported dead in action. Commander Ernesto Guevara had been appointed as President of the Cuban National Bank on November 26, 1959 and a currency reform was carried out between August 5 and 6 of 1961 under his supervision. The Law number 963 signed on August 4 demonetized all previously circulating banknotes in the country and ordered their replacement by the new ones that had just been secretively produced by the State Printing Office of Prague in the former Communistic Republic of Czechoslovakia. The action automatically rendered worthless all the Cuban money that had been extracted from the country and therefore inflicted a heavy blow on the political opponents to the revolutionary process. Front page of the official newspaper “Revolución” of August 5, 1961 informing on the banknote replacement and picturing the new notes SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 345 A quick look at the dates of the previously referred events already show that it is simply impossible for the men of the Brigade 2506 to have carried the twenty-peso notes to Cuba during the Bay of Pigs Invasion. As mentioned earlier, the notes were only placed in circulation at the beginning of August, 1961. That is, more than three months after the invasion!! It is a well-known fact that the banknotes had been produced in Prague under great secrecy. Confidentiality was of outmost importance in order to avoid that the large stock of old banknotes held in the United States was sent back to Cuba for exchange. It is also documented that the new notes were only sent to Havana from Prague shortly before the date fixed for the exchange and were kept heavily guarded at all times (Vives, 2007). Thus, the Cuban people only knew about the new banknotes in August, 1961 at the earliest. As a result, the idea accepted up to now that the notes had been carried by the members of the Assault Brigade during the invasion of Bay of Pig held three months earlier to pay and bribe people in the island is obviously not tenable. Even if for the sake of argument it is admitted that the CIA could have known about the existence of the notes and could have even forged them even before they were released in circulation, it makes absolutely no sense to imagine that the plan conceived by the CIA consisted of supplying the soldiers with still-to-be released banknotes (on a yet to be decided later date) that were obviously unknown by Cubans and therefore could hardly be used in commercial operations in the island. It must be further added that while most of the members of the Brigade were captured or killed within seventy-two hours, neither the Cuban authorities nor the media informed of any single one of these notes being recovered. For these reasons alone, the previously accepted idea of the counterfeit twenty-peso notes being prepared and carried during the invasion should already be ruled out. It is however plausible that the soldiers were provided with Cuban notes for use in the island. However, the notes would have necessarily been of the kind circulating in Cuba at the time of the invasion, thus before the currency exchange of August 1961. Testimonies of Cubans having participated in the invasion recalling being given notes for use in the island may have been misunderstood and erroneously guessed to be referring to the twenty-peso counterfeited notes of 1961. In fact, the wrong assumption only appeared much later. Someone may have boldly supposed that the year printed in the counterfeited notes (1961) could only mean that they were those carried to Cuba by the members of the 2506 Brigade during the Bay of Pigs Invasion. In addition to the above, new evidence is presented here for the first time that solves the “mystery” surrounding these counterfeits. An official report elaborated by the Cuban National Bank on April 22, 1964 specifically refers to these peculiar counterfeits. It was inserted in the main Cuban newspaper of the time and informed the population of the detection of forged twenty-peso notes in circulation having the specifications identified below. The notes corresponded to those issued back in 1961, belonged to any of the F-69 or F-70 series and carried serial numbers higher than 221.000 in both cases. A period of fifteen days was given for the holders to exchange them at the bank offices for authentic ones, after which their possession would be punishable. The report was further accompanied by pictures of a fake and an authentic note for comparison. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 346 Information issued by the National Bank of Cuba on April 22, 1964 The document unambiguously proves that the twenty-peso fake notes of 1961 described above were not used during the Bay of Pigs Invasion but a few years later. It must also be noted that the report makes absolutely no reference to these notes having been detected in Cuba on earlier occasions, let alone any reference to their (otherwise impossible) introduction during the1961 invasion. On the contrary, it conveys the idea that they had just been detected in 1964 for the first time. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 347 It can then be assumed that the notes were forged by the CIA and sent clandestinely to Cuba sometime before their detection by the Cuban authorities on April, 1964. This assumption is confirmed by the records found within the evidence dating from that time that has been recently declassified by the CIA. A report found in the CIA records dating from June 2, 1964 discloses that a Cuban exile living in the United States, Mario Garcia Kohly, had been arrested by the FBI accused of counterfeiting Cuban notes that were to be introduced in the country to disrupt the nation’s economy and to finance an anti-Castro underground organization. Despite the abundant evidence submitted during the hearing proving that this was in fact a CIA covert operation, Kohly was sentenced in 1964 to two years in prison. While the report does not identify the type of Cuban banknotes being forged, they must have at least included the twenty-peso notes referred to above. This is easy to ascertain given the fact that after the emission of the new Cuban notes of 1961, Cuba did not issue new banknotes until the end of 1964. Hence, only those issued in 1961 could be forged. The information is further supported by a Confidential Memorandum dated October 21, 1963 relating to Covert actions against Cuba. The document contains a proposal for introducing counterfeit currency in the country in order to degrade the economy and cause internal instability. While the document does not explicitly refers to banknotes, back in 1963 Cuba’s currency only consisted of the paper money issued in 1961 and minor fractional coins. First page of the Memorandum dated October 21, 1963 CONCLUSIONS The evidence disclosed for the first time in the present article allows to establish beyond doubts that the twenty-peso counterfeit Cuban notes of 1961, previously thought to have been used at the time of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, were actually introduced in the island some years later, most likely at the beginning of 1964, as part of the CIA covert operations seeking to destabilize the Cuban regime. BIBLIOGRAPHY Banco Nacional de Cuba: “Aviso”, April 22, 1964, Newspaper “Noticias de Hoy” same date. CIA Declassified Records under the Freedom of Information Act, “Cuban Counterfeiter Trial may involve Top US Leaders”, June 2, 1964, Reference: FOIAb3b, www.cia.org Gilkes, Paul: “Collecting the so-called forbidden notes of Cuba”, Coin World, February 18, 2016. Homren, Wayne: “The CIA Bay of Pigs Counterfeits”, The E-Sylum, December 18, 2011, vol. 14, nr. 52, article nr. 20. Memorandum for the Department of Defence Executive Agent for Cuban Affairs, “Covert Actions against Cuba”, October 21, 1963, Ref. CM-949-63, www.archives.gov Menchaca, Roberto: “History of the Coin Circulation in Cuba”, 2023, Ed. Punto Rojo Libros. Quesada, Alejandro: “The Bay of Pigs”, 2009, Ed. Osprey Publishing. Vives, Juan: “Las Cajas Misteriosas y el Cambio de Moneda”, September 3, 2007, www.baracuteycubano.blogspot.com Mario Garci Kohly (1902-1975) SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 348 The Hastings National Bank Robbery Let me ask a couple of questions. Do you collect National Bank notes? If you do, I am sure that like me, you have wondered, “What life did it have? How was it spent? What did it purchase? Was it ever taken in a bank robbery?” Was this note part of the Loot? Back in the 1930’s bank robbery was much more common than today and the bank robbers grew in fame to celebrity status. Who has not heard of John Dillinger, Bonnie & Clyde, Baby Face Nelson or Machine Gun Kelly? The depression was hard on everyone with so many people out of a job, their farm failing or the bank’s foreclosing. This era made the banks a very popular target for bank robbers. Located in south central Nebraska, the city of Hastings, in Adams County, had a population of around fifteen thousand in 1931. Primarily an agricultural area, Hastings was also home to many businesses that were starting to feel the strain of the national economic depression that began with the stock market collapse of 1929. Six banks served the town during the 1920’s, but by 1931, only three banks remained. All appeared to be doing well. The January 17,1931 edition to the Hastings Daily Tribune ran an article on the health of these remaining banks. To the criminal mind, it must have read like an invitation. The article began with the eye-opening statement, “With almost $5,000,000 on deposit in Hastings banks at the close of 1930, financial conditions in the Hastings trade territory were reflected as being unusually favorable here.” The first bank robbery in Adams County was carried out on October 18,1906, in the village of Pauline, ten miles south of Hastings. Robbers blew the safe of the Bank of Pauline, which was connected to the First National Bank of Hastings (Charter 2528), and got away with $1,500. The second robbery is the subject of this article, occurred on February 25, 1931, when the Hastings National Bank was robbed of over $27,000. William B. Hughes Jr., secretary of the Nebraska Bankers Association called it “the slickest job that has been pulled on a Nebraska bank in history.” The robbery began about 4:00 am when three men had jimmied a rear side window of the bank. William Meininger approached the front door of the bank about 6:20 am, to start his shift as the janitor. He was responsible on winter mornings to fire up the furnace so the bank would be a comfortable temperature when employees started to arrive. As he stepped inside, two men took him by surprise. He grabbed one of his attackers by the throat and started yelling. The men told him if you don’t stop, we will kill you! The janitor came upon three masked bandits that bound his hands with wire. They wanted information about any alarm system and how many employees were going to be arriving. One of the bandits asked the janitor for instructions on how to light the furnace so that the employees would be comfortable when they arrived. Eventually, thirteen bank officers and employees came to work and all were taken to the SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 349 basement and their hands and feet were bound by wire. The men were forced to lie on the floor while the women were allowed to sit in chairs. Interestingly, a sign painter had arrived to change the name on the building from the State Bank of Hastings to the Hastings National Bank as the bank had changed hands just a month before. He was forced to join the others, tied up, in the basement. The banks vault’s time lock was set to release at 8:30 am and after the Assistant cashier Herbert Nelson was forced to unlock the vault door, a masked bandit went about emptying the vault. Less than ten minutes later, the three bandits walked out with $22,943 in currency, $1,800 in gold, $2,930 in silver and a $100 diamond ring, for a grand total of $27,773. The take is equivalent to $541,410.88 in today’s dollars. Marguerite Bierman, a teller for the bank, arrived minutes after the bandit’s departure. Seeing no one in the lobby but hearing voices in the basement, she went down and found them bound by wire. After she untied her fellow employees, the alarm was sounded. The Hastings National Bank of Hastings, NE was organized on December 26, 1930, and chartered December 31, 1930 with capital of $100,000. The officers were: H.G. Pratt, President (1931-1935), I.C. Riley, Cashier (1931-1935) and H.E. Nelson, Asst Cashier (1931-1935) The bank issued the following notes: 1929 Type 1 $10’s 1-1234 = $74,040 1929 Type 1 $20’s 1 – 420 = $50,400 = $124,440 1929 Type 2 $10’s 1 -182 =$1,820 1929 Type 2 $20’s 1- 70 = $1,400 =$127,660 TTL No Type 2’s are known / Outstanding in 1935 $63,040 For all of you that got this far, the answer to the question is: No! None notes issued by the bank were taken in the robbery. The first shipment of notes to the Hastings National Bank left the BEP on October 19, 1932 and consisted of 750 sheets of type 1 ten-dollar notes and 250 sheets of type 1 twenty-dollar notes for a total of $75,000. The note pictured above was from the first shipment. What happened to the bank robbers and the recovery of the money is an interesting tale for another time. REFERENES CITED AND SOURCES OF DATA The 1931 HASTINGS BANK JOB & the Bloody Bandit Trail by Monty McCord, The History Press, 2013 Comptroller of the Currency, National Currency and Bond Ledgers. Record Group 101, U.S. National Archives, Archives II, College Park, Maryland. (1863-1935). Society of Paper Money Collectors, The Bank Note History Project, Banks & Bankers Database. (1782-1935). spmc.org (2022). SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 350 Shop Live 24/7 Scan for $10 off your first purchase whatnot.com Money Used in the Japanese-American Internment Camps of World War II—Part II By Katherine Ameku, Momo McCloskey Feller, Ray Feller, and Steve Feller (Part I in July/August Issue) Reparations After the War After decades of effort, those interned in these camps finally received financial compensation from the United States. President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 into law, which paid each living resident, spouse, or parent $20,000, accompanied by a letter of apology from the president. A sample check is signed below, See Figure 21. Japanese people deported from Latin America to the United States and interned in places like Crystal City, Texas received $5,000 and a presidential letter of apology. Over the course of the redress program, more than 82,219 people received more than $1.6 billion (US National Archives). Among the estimated 82,219 individuals paid, 189 were Japanese Latin American claimants eligible for the full $20,000 in redress compensation under the Act because they had the required permanent residency status or U.S. citizenship during the war period. In addition, $5,000 was paid to 145 Japanese Latin Americans who were deported from their homes in Latin America during WWII and held in internment camps in the U.S (US National Archives). The government rules included: In order to have been eligible for restitution, an applicant had to have been: 1. alive on August 10, 1988 2. a United States (U.S.) citizen or permanent resident alien during the internment period December 7, 1941 to June 30, 1946 3. a person of Japanese ancestry, or the spouse or parent of a person of Japanese ancestry 4. evacuated, relocated, interned, or otherwise deprived of liberty or property as a result of Federal government action during the internment period and based solely on their Japanese ancestry (US National Archives) Figure 21: Compensatory $20000 payment to Ms. Dorothy Nakamura for being interned in WWII. (Image from Densho) Visiting Jerome and Rohwer in Arkansas There is an incredible wealth of information about the camps through online portals like Densho Digital Repository or the Library of Congress’ Digital Collection. However, we have also learned from previous experience that going to the actual sites provides information that is not possible to glean from a distance. With that in mind, and funding from the Newman Numismatic Portal, the authors traveled to McGehee, Arkansas in October. This is where The World War II Japanese American Internment Museum is located. It is also near two relocation campsites: Rohwer and Jerome. We visited all three places and found new numismatic information, as well as additional insights. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 352 We began our visit at the phenomenal Taylor’s Steakhouse in Dumas, AK, a town of 4,700 people. We were welcomed by the waitress, who noticed that we were not familiar faces (or accents). When we told her we were there to learn more about the Japanese internment camps, she was very familiar with the history. In fact, nearly everyone we spoke to was fully aware that there had been Japanese internment camps--and considered them a regrettable part of the country’s past. She actually connected us directly to the mayor of McGehee--Mr. Jeff Owyoung– through his personal phone number(!) She also served us a delectable dinner. We stayed at the Furr House, a beautiful bed and breakfast in historic Arkansas City. Our host, Rick Hales, introduced us to Robert S. Moore, Jr, former Speaker of the House of Representatives in Arkansas, and an impressive resource on the history of the area. He took us on a tour of Arkansas City, including a surprise visit to a church that had used a Jerome barracks building as an addition (see Figure 22). Figure 22: Japanese-American camp barracks used as an addition to a now-closed church in Arkansas City, AR. Barracks at the Japanese-American internment camps typically held several families, only provided with cots and a small stove. It is difficult to imagine so many families packed in such a small space with limited privacy.We did not anticipate being able to step into a barracks building from the camp--in fact, we had read that none of the barracks remained. This is one concrete example of the kind of learning that can only happen with a visit. Per Robert, after the camps were shut down, the materials were gathered up and used by many people in the area--he said his own house had windows from the barracks. Our first morning in town, we visited the World War II Japanese American Internment Museum. It is a small museum, located in the old train depot. We were welcomed with a short documentary and then invited to explore the exhibits, as well as a plethora of scrapbooks, newspapers, and yearbooks that were left out for people to look through. Momo, our youngest researcher at age 6, took notes and helped with photographing the artifacts. We saw many numismatic-related items: ration books, photographs of one of the canteens, employment paperwork, documents from the Co-op, tickets to events, and even a Co-op receipt we had never seen before (See Figures 24-26). We also observed tokens from Wilson Plantations (see Figure 28), a local farm that attempted to entice internees to stay and work in Arkansas after the war. We learned that, despite a peak population of over 16,000 internees, only one family chose to remain in Arkansas long-term (World War II Japanese American Internment Museum). Figure 23: Jerome-Rohwer Interpretive Museum and Visitor Center at the World War II Japanese American Internment Museum in McGehee, AR. This is located on the site of the passenger train terminal in McGehee. Co-authors Katie Ameku, Momo McCloskey Feller, and Ray Feller are shown. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 353 Figure 24: Purchase receipts good for profit sharing in the co-op at the Jerome Camp (World War II Japanese American Internment Museum, McGehee, AR). Ration Cards: Figure 25: Ration card from the Jerome Relocation Camp (World War II Japanese American Internment Museum, McGehee, AR). Figure 26: Badges for use at Camp Rohwer (World War II Japanese American Internment Museum, McGehee, AR). SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 354 Figure 27: Raffle ticket for Jerome (World War II Japanese American Internment Museum, McGehee, AR) Figure 28: Tokens from the Wilson Plantation (National Japanese-American Relocation Camp Museum, McGehee, AR). We also visited the campsites of both Rohwer and Jerome. Although very little remains--two brick chimneys from the camp hospitals, a cemetery, and some monuments--we were able to get a sense of the scale of the camps. Rohwer also has an audio tour that one can listen to while reading the signage by the National Park Service, narrated by Geroge Takai who was interned at the site. Currently vast farm fields, we attempted to imagine what they would have been like with families, schools, shops, and auditoriums. Figure 29: The Rohwer Campsite in Arkansas SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 355 Figure 30: War memorial at the Rohrer Relocation Campsite. After Jerome closed as a war relocation camp, it served as a prisoner-of-war camp for Germans. As such, it issued scrip for work done by Prisoners of War. Shown here is a coupon booklet cover along with examples of the scrip. These coupon books were known to have been redeemable after the war. These notes were printed in Fort Smith, Arkansas by Weldon, Williams, and Lick printing company. The imprint of the firm is on the bottom of the coupon cover. Figure 34: Set of scrip for the Jerome POW Camp. Figure 31: Memorial at the Jerome Relocation Camp Site. Figure 32: Cover to a book of scrip coupons used at the Jerome POW Camp Figure 33: The printers of the scrip were Weldon, Williams, and Lick of Fort Smith, AR. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 356 Figure 35: The Printing Plant for Weldon, Williams, and Lick in Fort Smith, Arkansas . The internment of Japanese Americans, including American citizens, is a difficult part of our country’s history. Our hope is that, by telling the numismatic story of these camps, we will be able to help people to understand an aspect of these lives that were lived behind barbed wire. We thank the Newman Numismatic Portal of Washington University, St Louis for their support. Our research will continue in the summer of 2024 when we visit more camp sites and museums in California. Sources Archives: Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project. Densho.org Smithsonian US National Archives, https://www.archives.gov/research/japanese-americans War Relocation Centers, National Park Service World War II Japanese American Internment Museum, McGehee, AR California State University, Dominguez Hills, Archives and Special Collections. Articles: Thompson, David J., 2011. Co-operatives and the victims of internment, Coop News. https://www.thenews.coop/36529/sector/retail/co- operatives-and-victims-internment/ Books: Howard, John. (2008). Concentration Camps on the Home Front: Japanese Americans in the House of Jim Crow. The Univ of Chicago Press. Imahara, W. M., & Meltzer, D. E. (Eds.). (2022). Jerome and Rohwer: Memories of Japanese American Internment in World War II Arkansas. University of Arkansas Press. Kashima, Testuden (2003). Judgment Without Trial: Japanese American Imprisonment During World War II. University of Washington Press. Unrau, Harlan D. (1996). The Evacuation and Relocation of Persons of Japanese Ancestry During World War II: A Historical Study of the Manzanar War Relocation Center. United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Personal Justice Denied: Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians. (1997). Univ of Washington Press. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 357 Figure 35: Katherine (Katie) Ameku teaches Ramona (Momo) McCloskey Feller By Momo: It was very hot and there isn’t much right now but there used to be a whole camp there. There was so much space there and all we saw was a big space with sand. The space was so big. I had fun and there was a lot of research in it at the same time. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 358 The Tishomingo Hotel by James C. Ehrhardt Many collectors have found an item outside of their main collecting interest that attracted their attention and inspired them in a new direction. This happened to me with a piece of 1862 scrip from the Tishomingo Hotel in Corinth, MS, which is in the collection of the State Historical Society of Iowa in Iowa, City, IA. At first, the unusual (to me) hotel name caught my eye. A quick internet search revealed that the hotel and the county in which it was located were named after a prominent Chickasaw Indian chief. It was a significant structure in Corinth during the Civil War’s Battle of Corinth. The scrip, illustrated in figure 1, is about 1 ¾” wide by 1 1/16” high made out of thick yellow paper. On its face is printed “Tishomingo Hotel/Good for 50 Cents” with an authorizing signature of J. Martin & Co. No date, no imprint. On its back is hand-written in a different hand Corinth/Miss/1862. The State Historical Society has no information about the accession of this piece to its collection. We do not know whether the back was written by the issuer, the finder, or the Historical Society. The Battle of Corinth After their defeat in the Battle of Shiloh in April 1862, Confederate forces retreated southwest towards Corinth, MS. Corinth was strategically important because it was the site of the crossing of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and the Memphis and Charleston Railroad controlling much of the transportation and communications in the western theater of war. The Union army paused around Shiloh to regroup and then cautiously marched towards Corinth. After the Union troops laid siege to Corinth in July, the Confederate forces withdrew. The Union then fortified the town and its surroundings awaiting a Confederate counterattack, which occurred October 3-4, 1862. Heavy fighting ensued with the Confederates penetrating to the center of town but failing to dislodge the Union army. They were forced to retreat from the Corinth area. The engagement became known as the Battle of Corinth. Several Iowa regiments were involved in the Corinth fighting. These included the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 10th, and 17th infantry regiments, 2nd Iowa Cavalry, and the Union Brigade which included remnants after Shiloh of the 8th, 12th, and 14th Iowa regiments. The Tishomingo Hotel The Tishomingo Hotel was built in 1859 directly behind the railroad depot adjacent to the tracks. It was a large two-story building with a two-story roofed balcony across much of its front. After their retreat from Shiloh, the Confederates used the hotel as a hospital for their wounded. When the Union forces occupied the town, they also used it as a hospital for their wounded. Several newspaper articles reported that during the intense fighting in Corinth, a cannonball penetrated the hotel and killed one of the soldiers convalescing inside. Eventually Union forces moved out of Corinth in pursuit of the enemy and Confederates retook control. They burned the hotel and its contents in Figure 1. Tishomingo Hotel scrip; face and back. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 359 January 1865 to prevent the Union from making use of them. Figure 2 is a painting of an artist’s impression of the Battle of Corinth showing the Tishomingo Hotel and the depot in the middle of the battle. The painting is hanging in the National Park Service’s Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center. Figure 2. Artist’s impression of the Battle of Corinth showing the Tishomingo Hotel. Courtesy of the National Park Service. From Corinth to Iowa The state legislature established the State Historical Society of Iowa in 1857, just four years before the war. Theodore S. Parvin was the managing director of the society, He had been the private secretary of Iowa’s first territorial governor, Robert Lucas, was Iowa’s leading historian, and was a coin collector. He was quite successful in promoting donations of historically significant material, including such items as captured Confederate battle flags, swords, weapons, everyday items, and currency and scrip. Consequently, the society holds one of the best collections of Iowa obsolete currency and scrip, including several that are probably unique, as well as a substantial number of pieces from other states and the Confederacy. It seems clear that the Tishomingo Hotel scrip was picked up by an Iowa soldier in Corinth, brought back to Iowa, and donated to the historical society where it has remained underappreciated for more than 150 years. Supporting this idea are two more notes in the society’s collection presumably obtained in a similar fashion. One is a 10-cent scrip from the Mobile and Ohio Railroad of Macon, MS, dated Feb. 15, 1862, Kraus catalog #52150. This is the railroad that passed right in front of the Tishomingo Hotel, so it is reasonable that these bills would be circulating in Corinth. Also, in the collection is a $100 bill, dated June 1, 1862, from the Northern Bank of Mississippi in Holly Springs, MS, spelled “Holley Springs.” This is a very scarce note, Kraus catalog #3635, to which Kraus assigns a rarity value R7 (1 to 5 known). Holly Springs was the site of a Union supply depot established after the army moved on from Corinth. Both of these pieces could have been picked up easily by a souvenir-seeking Iowan. The voluminous Kraus book lists no scrip from the Tishomingo Hotel. Thus this piece possibly may be a unique item from this unreported issuer. J. Maren & Co. The final pieces to the puzzle represented by this note were the identity and vintage of the signer, J. Martin & Co. The 1860 federal census of Tishomingo County listed several Martin families, but none were identifiable as the proprietor of the hotel. A comment by Tom Parson of the National Park Service in Corinth inspired me to search in old newspapers at the Library of Congress website chroniclingamerica.loc.gov. This was a success. The Memphis Daily Appeal on January 21, 1862, carried an ad shown in Figure 3 that read “NO. 1 STEWARD WANTED! Wanted, at the Tishomingo Hotel, at Corinth, Miss, a No.1 STEWARD, to take charge of the Cooking and Dining Room. Good wages will be paid. The best references required. (signed) JOSEPH MARTIN & Co.” Thus we know the name of J. Martin. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 360 Figure 3 Ad in the Memphis Daily Appeal, Jan. 21, 1862 Additional research in the book History of Old Tishomingo County Mississippi Territory added more information. It summarized the activities of the Tishomingo County Board of Police in 1861 and 1862. In January 1862 the Board granted a license to J. Martin and Co. to run the Tishomingo Hotel and bar for one year. In January 1861 the Board had granted the license to another individual. So Joseph Martin had the misfortune of operating the hotel for only six months before the Union occupied the town. On August 7, 1862, the Corinth War Eagle, a Union paper, carried a story reporting that “Spencer & Wells, at the Tishomingo, are daily receiving an unusual amount of Sutler’s Goods.” It isn’t clear whether Spencer & Wells were actually Union sutlers or simply taking advantage of a commercial opportunity. Summary This possibly unique Tishomingo Hotel scrip was issued sometime between January and July 1862 by Joseph Martin & Co. in Corinth, MS, when it was under Confederate control. An Iowa soldier found it there, brought it back home and donated it to the State Historical Society of Iowa. I would like to acknowledge the support and assistance of Tom Parson of the National Park Service and Mary Bennett and Hang Nguyen of the State Historical Society of Iowa. References Corinth War Eagle, August 7, 1862, Corinth, MS, page 1 History of Old Tishomingo County Mississippi Territory, edited by RaNae Smith Vaughn and Cynthia Whirley Nelson, fourth Printing, 2005, Tishomingo County Historical & Genealogical Society, Southern Heritage Press, St. Petersburg, FL Memphis Daily Appeal, January 21, 1862, page 1 Mississippi Obsolete Bank notes, post notes, scrip, and government issues, by Guy Carlton Kraus, published by the Society of Paper Money Collectors, 2003 (which I could only obtain on loan from the SPMC library) Undated brochure, Shiloh National Military Park, Shiloh Corinth, National Park Service SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 361 U N C O U P L E D PAPER MONEY’S ODD COUPLE Joseph E. Boling Fred Schwan Iran at War   After the Iranian mullahs overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, they undertook to obliterate his image on both the printed portions of unissued notes and the watermark windows of same. Many varieties of obliteration were used; elaborate arabesques covered the portrait (tailored to avoid overprinting the adjacent serial number), while the watermark was either ignored, or covered with a lion and sun seal, or with fancy calligraphy signifying the Islamic Republic. The notes with portraits were overprinted in- country, presumably on already-separated notes. Numerous overprinting errors exist, such as misplaced, inverted, or doubled overprints. I recently was asked to authenticate an inverted misplaced overprint on the face of a note. I concluded that the overprint was applied by inkjet, but could not condemn the piece because I had no other pieces to compare it to—I did not know what technology was used by the bank originally. Digital printing was already available at the time the overprints were created. Since then I have been able to rectify that situation. I have found a well-used note on which significant circulation damage affects the overprint, making it a self-authenticating piece. The first overprints were letterpress. Thus the suspect piece was not original. In the same purchase I was able to obtain a false inkjet overprint. Figures 1 and 2 show the two notes involved—figure 1 the letterpress overprint and figure 2 the inkjet version. Figure 3 shows the circulation damage to the overprint on the note of figure 1. Figure 4 shows part of the calligraphy over the watermark, including the letterpress right See Boling page 364 Secrets of Military Payment Certificates Installment 1 Replacements by Printing I frequently start by complaining that I had difficulty deciding on a topic for discussion. This issue is no exception, but with a twist. When I did come up with an idea—Secrets of MPC—I realized that I had far too much to discuss at one time. Instead this will be installment one of a series. I am not sure how many issues there will be nor how we will run them. You know my motto: “there are no rules.” Have you ever cherry picked an MPC replacement from a junk box, eBay or even a major auction? Although it was much more common in the “old days,” it still happens. I have never found a good replacement via cherry picking. I have added some cherries to my collection that were found by other collectors and resold to me, but I have never found one myself. In the old days, many, perhaps most, paper money collectors did not know what military payment certificates were, much less how to identify their replacements. All you had to know was that MPC replacement serial numbers do not have suffix letters. Now virtually all paper collectors not only know how to identify MPC replacements, but also have keen eyes for spotting them. While you might find some replacements in the places mentioned above, the real key is to find rare replacements. You likely would recognize a high denomination replacement from an early series as being desirable and grab it or at least research it if you found one. Somewhat surprisingly, there are some really rare replacements that often go largely unnoticed today. Some of these are even low denomination late series certificates! The key is to identify the printing whence the replacement came. Since 2002 when the data were first published, collectors have been seeking MPC from as many as four printings for a series (Series 481 has four printings, Series 521 and 641 have three each). The most interesting series is 481 because it has four SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 362 printings and because it is the series that led us to cracking the code on the mysteries of printings. More than 250 Series 481 replacements have been recorded. Of those 250, only eight are from the fourth printing! There are four each five and ten cent certificates. Illustrated here is a four-note collection of Series 481 five cent replacements. Of course the key to identifying these pieces is the serial numbers. Basically, a printing unit of replacement serial numbers is allocated to printing replacements of each printing of each denomination. For fractional certificates that is 672,000 numbers, which is 8000 sheets of 84 certificates per sheet. The serial numbers would be between 00000001- 00672000. If a given issue of fractional issues had two printings, the serial numbers of the second printing replacements would be 00672001-01344000. Rather than talk through all (four) printings for all of the denominations, we will just include a chart of the critical values. One of the great MPC mysteries is the situation with Series 641 replacements. The series was used in Vietnam. It was produced in three printings. The totals and distribution of replacements of the first printing are rather routine with approximately 500 pieces recorded across all seven denominations. The situation with the second and third printing replacements is quite different. For the second printing replacements, 171 pieces have been reported. Of those 114 are $10 certificates and 46 are five cent certificates. That leaves only eleven examples spread over five denominations and nine of them are from one denomination (50 cents). All of this is leading up to an important discovery. The first example of a replacement for the entire third printing of Series 641 has finally been found! The $1 certificate (serial number J01232021) was found in a dealer’s inventory where it was correctly identified as a replacement. It was found only days before the fifth edition of The Comprehensive Catalog of Military Payment Certificates was published. I was able to fit in an image (see page 141) but was not able to update the related data in the replacement appendix. This is an important discovery although the interpretation is not clear. Certainly it proves that it is possible to find a third printing replacement from the $1 denomination. It probably also indicates that the existence of other denomination replacements is likely. It seems equally likely that they are and will remain rare. As always, we would be pleased to have your thoughts on this matter. fredschwan@yahoo.com MPC replacement serial numbers by printing 5-50 cents start-end no. First printing Second printing Third printing Fourth printing 1 - 672,000 672,001 – 1,344,000 1,344,001 – 2,016,000 2,016,001 – 2,688,000 $1 start-end no. First printing 1 - 560,000 Second printing 560,001 - 1,120,000 Third printing 1,120,001 - 1,680,000 Fourth printing 1,680,001 - 2,240,000 $5-$20 start-end no. First printing 1 - 400,000 Second printing 400,001 - 800,000 Third printing 800,001 - 1,200,000 Fourth printing 1,200,001 - 1,600,000 First printing Second printing Third printing SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 363 Boling continued letterpress diagnostics. Figure 5 shows the lower corner of the overprint on the portrait of note #2, including the inkjet diagnostics. Figure 6 (right) is the watermark that the authorities wanted to hide. Some notes did not receive an overprint on the watermark, so its absence on note #2 does not automatically make that a false overprint. The next series of notes did not have the shah’s printed portrait, but apparently was partly printed on paper with the shah’s watermark, so an obliteration was placed over the watermark window on both sides of the note by the original manufacturer. F. N. Farahbakhsh reports that some of the notes had a watermark of a lion and sun. Even though that image had been used as a watermark obliteration on some of the portrait notes, it was now deemed undesirable, so a new obliteration representing the Islamic Revolution was placed on the backs of these issues. See figures 7-8 for images of the 10,000 rials note of that series. These dense obliterations thoroughly hid the watermarks. Fourth printing Fig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3 Fig 4 Fig 5 Fig 7 SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 364 Saddam Hussein counterfeited the 5k and 10k notes of that series, using line lithography. Figure 9 shows the quality drop between the intaglio notes that Iran bought compared to the Iraqi counterfeits. In order to simulate the feel of intaglio, the Iraqi notes used blind embossing from the back to make the face feel genuine. See figure 10 for what that embossing looks like. After Operation Desert Storm, when Hussein was embargoed from purchasing notes from his pre-war source, he used this same technique to make home- grown notes seem better than they were. The Iranians were not out of the woods yet. Their next series (figures 11-12) was also counterfeited by Iraq, still using embossing to simulate intaglio. Since by now the Pahlavi-linked watermarks were out of the picture, the Iraqis had to simulate the ones being used. They did this by embossing the design of the 5k watermark and both embossing and printing in pale gray ink the design of the 10k watermark. Neither was very successful. Figures 13-14 (below) show the result for the 5000 rials note. Skipping back to the initial years of the Islamic Republic, other examples of “cancellation” of the shah’s portrait and watermark exist. Figures 15-16 show two of them. Although superficially identical, they were not marked with the same rubber stamp. Figure 15 was sold to me as a false cancellation. Figure 16 was not, but Farahbakhsh says that all such markings were unofficial and “illegal.” Since Desert Storm, Iraq has stopped molesting Iranian currency, and no further examples of official or entrepreneurial counterfeiting of Iranian notes have come to my attention. But for those of the period 1979- 1988, Iran provides many examples of notes for my classes to study. References: F.N. Farahbakhsh, Standard Catalogue of Iranian Banknotes 1888-1992 3rd ed. 1992. Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: Modern Issues 1961- Present 25th ed. 2019. Fig 8 Fig 9 Fig 10 Fig 11 Fig 12 Fig 15 Fig 16 SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 365 Are You “Pack”ing? By Robert Calderman Have you noticed recently that tons of material has been coming to market? Not paying attention? We’ll be sure to keep your eyes peeled over the next 3-6 months and beyond as a vast bounty of paper money will be hitting the auction block and subsequently appearing in dealer cases on bourse floors at shows across America! While there are always auctions seemingly everywhere you look, the caliber of material coming out of the weeds lately is absolutely mind boggling! When too much of the good stuff comes out in rapid succession, huge opportunities present themselves to eagle eyed dealers and collectors. Tough small size varieties have been falling through the cracks recently selling for historic lows while commonplace large size material has skyrocketed over the past few years. Why is this happening? Is there a mad rush to dump material to the auction house behemoths? To liquidate holdings at a rapid pace fearing the doom and gloom of an approaching bear market in the paper money arena? Is there a major catalyst causing material to come out of hiding like the approaching media crazed presidential election or an unrelated recession wielding mega monster like the 2008 housing collapse? Fluctuations in the values of collectibles are always present and boom and bust cycles cannot be stopped. No one knows for sure how long the good times will last when the market is hot, but as they say all good things must eventually come to an end. We went for a ride on a wild rollercoaster beginning spring 2020. What is quickly becoming a legendary moment in numismatics, the covid collectibles boom of 2020-2021, created a massive surge in values across many popular paper money categories. These new found lofty prices held steady and even continued to tic upwards during 2022 and early 2023. An important key skill required for adept cherry picking requires an awareness of the current state of the hobby. When is it a buyer’s market and when is it a seller’s market? When auction prices appear to be hitting new high records at every turn, it is no wonder that big collections come out of hiding chasing these huge wind fall numbers. The party usually does not last forever and we are now after nearly five years of a nuclear hot market, finally seeing indications of SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 366 the dust settling and prices coming back down to earth. As of yet, we are not seeing a dive off a cliff, fall off the Empire State Building onto the streets below type of crash in pricing. We are however, seeing a calming gradual adjustment and are clearly coming down from where we’ve been living lately way up on the moon! To shine some light on this subject, let’s look at a couple of popular type notes and see what has become of them. We will also look at a big head scratcher that seems to be a living creature standing on its own island. So if the claim here is that things got completely out of hand with prices nearly tripling over a short period of time and the air is now out of the proverbial bag, were there any indicators this was on the horizon? Absolutely! Since the first quarter of 2020, sports cards, comic books, coins, paper money, watches, even video games all went on a feverish launch into the stratosphere. Some of these categories had 6-8 hot months before fizzling out, while others went strong and did not hit their peak for over two years! One thing that became common among them all was a very significant pricing correction. With the exception of paper money all categories of collectibles had a literal flash in the pan moment of glory that has come and gone. Why has the paper money category faired so much better than all of the others? The word on the street that seems to be the common belief follows the classic law of supply and demand. It is a hard cold fact that decent quality paper money just did not survive in massive quantities when compared to coins or sports cards. Enough new collectors and returning collectors pouring into the paper money category helped prop up the covid boom pricing effect much longer than any other collecting venue. There was simply not enough good paper money to feed the hungry masses! If you have tried to buy VF30 – AU58 popular large size type notes your head must be reeling over the past four years wondering when all the madness would finally stop! We are now seeing clear signs that the pricing correction that was inevitable is finally here. Let’s examine a few popular paper money widgets and how they have performed over the past five years. 1899 black eagle one dollar silver certificates are one of the most popular designs for many collectors and the availability and relatively low entry level pricing of these notes make them a type that is frequently the very first large size note purchased by new collectors. Combining all varieties, PMG has graded over seventeen thousand black eagles! While this may seem like a big number, it does not hold a candle to the hundreds of thousands of round metal disc silver dollars on the market that have been slabbed. Out of the 17,000 black eagles graded by PMG, over fifteen hundred of them are graded CU64. Back long, long ago in 2019 black eagles in 64 were consistently bringing $450. These are very popular notes in uncirculated condition but they are far from being rare collectibles. Just a short time later during the summer of 2021 these had entered the $900 territory with even a handful of sales exceeding one thousand dollars! Potentially doubling your money or more after just two short years! We are not talking about significant varieties, low serial numbers, or star notes, just common cookie cutter Speelman-White examples! Prices have remained strong until very recently. Now with a little patience you can purchase an Fr.236 in PMG 64EPQ for $600-$650. While this is still a very healthy increase from 2019 levels, this is an absolute bargain compared to just a short time ago. Another extremely popular category of type notes are five-hundred-dollar federal reserve notes. The most common of these are the series of 1934A Chicago district. These notes in all grades have taken incredible leaps to the moon since 2019, baffling dealers and collectors alike. It is no surprise that these are popular but when low grade fine condition notes that used to sell for $700 shoot up to $1600 it’s a really big deal!!! At one time you could hardly find a handful of these to go around the whole room at your local regional coin show. As prices started to rocket upwards, flippers came out the woodwork from every corner and dark cave to buy and sell these high denoms at a frenzied pace. Buy it here, sell it there, and then do it all over again as quickly as you can! This seemed to last forever until just recently. One popular grade level in particular had a wild ride of ups and downs. Almost uncirculated notes graded AU50-AU58 are highly coveted. Examples in this grade range have the look of new notes with only very minor handling and circulation. At nearly a third the price of a true uncirculated note it is no wonder these AU grades are very desirable. Again back in 2019 common Friedberg catalog AU’s were bringing $1400 - $1600. If you are sitting down and can wrap your heads around this, I will tell you what these are now selling for. Are you ready? As recently as June 2024 common 1934A $500 FRN’s on Chicago graded PMG 58EPQ like the note pictured here have sold at Heritage Auctions for $4,800!!! An incredible price increase of over three times what they were selling for five years ago, wow! While prices seem to be holding strong, many dealers have large piles of $500’s in their dealer cases at shows and they are not flying off the shelves as they once were. If you have wanted to add one or more $500’s to your collection but have been sitting on the sidelines, patience may prove valuable to you as these lofty prices are beginning to finally soften as demand begins to waver. Dealers with fresh inventory acquired at peak prices are not going to be eager to sell material for significant losses SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 367 so keep in mind, prices are likely to remain higher in the short term. A third paper money widget is worth mentioning here and its new found outrageous pricing has many of us scratching our noggins! Uncirculated original packs of 100 consecutive notes have always been fun collectibles. While being more of an offshoot and not necessarily bread and butter, packs definitely have an avid following. When one-dollar bills changed their seal color from blue to green, many people decided to hold back some silver certificates for the future, “Maybe these will be worth a premium someday?” The problem with this is we creatures all think alike and millions of silver certificates were saved from their intended fate at the teeth of the Federal Reserve Bank shredding machines! Many original packs were saved and to this day are still very common numismatic items. Prior to the covid collectibles boom, these 100 note 1957 era consecutive packs of one- dollar bills were regularly selling for $600. You could often find them available at major national shows and they were not flying off the shelf, no one was lining up out the door in droves to buy these packs, quite the opposite in fact! As recently as July 30th, 2024 these packs have sold at auction for as much as $4,800!!! Yes, a shocking 8 times more than they typically sold for five years ago. The pack pictured here sold at Heritage auctions for the aforementioned record-breaking sum. Surprisingly, the pack was described as having over half the notes damaged from spots and stains! Maybe it was the two consecutive star notes on top of the pack that made it so desirable? Maybe two or more bidders thought the entire pack was star notes? Or someone had their eyes on the triple seven face plate serial number, haha! Whatever the case may be, this is not the only pack like this to recently sell for over four thousand dollars! Part of the fun in this hobby are all of the times when things make absolutely zero sense… whether you are buying, selling, or just spectating, it can be exhilarating just being along for the ride! 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 * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 368 “Eighteen Ninety-Four” by Bob Laub Please read the above date carefully, 1894. No reference to Eric Arthur Blair’s book, better known by his pen-name, George Orwell. His work is entitled Nineteen Eighty-Four. Why Eighteen Ninety-Four?: Why is this year so significant to my story line? As a 20-year collector of 1883-1894 U.S Postal Notes, 1894 represents the final year of this 12-year series. During that time, almost 71 million of these one-time usage documents were issued, and distributed by the United States Postal Service, with over 125-million dollars forwarded through the mail. A true testament of how widely accepted it was by most persons of that era. Basic Postal Note background facts: Three different printing companies carried out their competitive winning bids to produce these notes for distribution through almost 6,500 of the nation’s top Money Order Offices. At the start of the first printing contract, provided by the Homer Lee Bank Note Company of New York, (Aug. 15, 1883 -Aug. 14, 1887) the country had more than 46,000 established post offices. Government regulations initially stated any post office, in order to be deemed a Money Order Office, must show an ability to conduct $250 in annual revenue. That is why, just under 6,500 post offices were able to meet the prescribed monetary requirements. As mentioned above there were three different printing contracts awarded. The second four-year bidding competition was presented to the American Bank Note Company (ABNCo.), also of New York. Their printing run commenced on August 15, 1887, and ran until August 14, 1891. The Final Printing Contract, and Narrowing Time Frame: The final contract, went to Dunlap and Clarke, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with printing engaged from Aug, 15, 1891 – June 30, 1894. This final company is the basis from which my story will be presented. Concentrating on January 1, 1894, through the last day of June. The latter representing the final day these were available to postal patrons. Sometime in early January 1894, a significant number of the nation’s newspapers began reporting Postal Notes were about to go the way of the dinosaur, the final day of June. Upon seeing the announcements, some of the populous were pleased to read of this final demise. For years many felt the notes were a nuisance, and had long since out lived their initial usefulness. Others, especially those located in more rural areas, were concerned as to what, if anything, the government would create as a replacement. I guess one could say the “fear of the unknown” was being over tested here. Basic Purchasing Objectives: Government regulations stated all postal notes issued would carry a three-cent administrative fee, and must be issued for amounts under $5.00 (one- cent to $4.99). All postal notes, weather issued in large metropolitan areas, or on main street in rural America, had two basic objectives. First, purchased notes could be implemented to pay for goods, services, or as gifts to friends or loved ones. The vast majority of these were purchased with generally a higher issued amount in mind. Secondly, this criterion would fall into a much lesser monetary need. That being the souvenir hunters of the day looking for an inexpensive keepsake for generally accepted issue values of five- cents or less. One might think such an insignificant amount was not conducive to commercial usage, and were most times correct. Thankfully our accessorial postal patrons thought enough to seek out these insignificant amounts. Without their unconscious contribution to todays’ hobby, there would be little to no surviving notes for current collectors to embrace. Of the 2,234 recorded survivors (February, 2023), 77% fall within the one-cent to five-cent range. That number computes to just over 1,700 of today’s surviving notes. Checking over 340 Ty. V Postal Notes, again from January 1st on, I found 284 postal notes had been issued between one-cent, and five- cents. That only leaves 56 notes which would carry the definition of commercial usage. Interesting Anomaly Discovered, a No “Filigree” Variety: While doing further research on the Ty. V Postal Notes, I discovered an interesting anomaly located on the reverse side of a small number of these notes. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 369 Prior to my discovery, at a basic glance, the reverses of all Ty. V Postal Notes appear to all be the same. Upon closer examination, I observed a lack of “filigree” which bracketed the ABNCo. logo as part of the design on their original engraved plates. When the old ABNCo. plates (supposedly) were turned over to Dunlap and Clarke, their original logo obviously needed to be removed from the obverses, and reverses. On the reverse side, the logo was embellished by some decorative “filigree”, which had not been removed. Checking my personal records, a single postal note, dated January 12, 1894 (earliest observed), shows Ty. V notes began appearing without these embellishments. After contacting a number of fellow collectors, it was decided to give these new discovery notes their own Type designation number, Ty. V.001. Checking over 425 Type V notes, results show only 59 of these newer discovery types. I am also pleased to report no other collector has mentioned this new variety I encountered almost 15-years ago. In Conclusion: Type V Postal Notes, without a doubt, are the most readily available of all the other types. It is understandable as these notes were the last to be issued. This article attempts to show the reader even these more common type can still present some interesting challenges with only a few facts, and ones’ own imagination to help guide you. Hope you enjoyed this latest journey into the Postal Note year of “Eighteen Ninety-Four”. Any questions or comments are always welcomed at briveadus2012@yahoo.com. I am also interested in hearing about any Postal Notes you may have. A Ty. V, from Chicago, IL. for $2.18, obviously purchased for commercial intensions. A Ty. V, from Key West, FL. issued for one-cent. The fact all issued postal notes carried a 3-cent administrative fee, it is generally accepted most 1-cent to 5-cent Postal Notes were put in place as early souvenirs A Ty. V, issued from Indianapolis, IN., showing the reverse side with the “filigree” Another Ty. V reverse scan. This one from Fort Wayne, IN., dated January 12, 1894, and represents the earliest Ty. V, without the more common ABNCo. “filigree” SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 370 Obsolete Corner--The Fontenelle Bank of Bellevue by Robert Gill As you read this article Fall is about to be on us. It has been a hot, dry summer here in Oklahoma, as it has been in most of the country. It seems that climate change is in the minds of many in our great nation. Along with that, the political scene is in chaos, and there appears to be no end in sight. Sometimes I wonder “when is all this ever going to end?” It seems that people just cannot agree on hardly anything anymore. But one thing we can come together on is our love and appreciation for the world of paper money. And with that, let’s look at the sheet from my collection that I’ve chosen to share with you. In this issue of Paper Money, let’s go back to 1850s Nebraska and look at The Fontenelle Bank of Bellevue. Bellevue is a thriving community today, but that was not the case when this short-lived bank came into existence. This extremely rare, possibly unique sheet came my way earlier this year. Thanks goes to my good Nebraska friend, John DeMaris, who decided to part with it so that I could add it to my massive collection. In his study and publication, Territorial Banking in Nebraska, Leonard M. Owen tells us that Nebraska was one of twelve states created from the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Because the new Territory was so sparsely populated, it was by necessity that nearly all the members of the first Territorial Legislature, which met in Omaha on January 16th, 1855, were not from Nebraska. They were, in fact, from Iowa. For this reason, and because Iowa had laws which prevented their banks from issuing currency, the notes of Nebraska were closely tied to Iowa. It has been said that the first signs of a new settlement were a “bank and saloon”, and the first corporation of any sort in Nebraska was The Western Exchange Fire and Marine Insurance Company, chartered in March of 1855. In reality, it was just a pseudo bank because the Territorial Criminal Code stated, “punishment by imprisonment in the County Jail not exceeding one year or by a fine of not less than $1,000” for participating in any form of banking. In 1856, when the building boom hit Nebraska, the idea of banks was still a big topic. One of the loudest voices against banking was that of J. Sterling Morton, later Secretary of Agriculture, who felt that a bank “had to be composed of surplus, and there was no such capital in the infant territory”. In spite of Morton’s and others’ opposition, the 1856 Session of the Territorial Legislature did change its perspective on banking and chartered five applicants for a bank. Just a few months after the insurance company was chartered, Peter Sarpy of Bellevue, General L.L. Bowen of Elgin, Illinois, and six other men applied for a banking charter from the Territorial Legislature. Over the strong objections of Morton, their bank, The Fontenelle Bank of Bellevue, was granted a charter. John Weare was seated as Bank President, and John J. Town took on the position of Cashier. It was just a little later that year that a two-story building of handmade bricks was completed on the Northwest corner of Mission and Main Streets in Bellevue. The Transitional Greek Revival-Italianate rectangular building faced Main Street with an exterior staircase leading to the second floor on the Northwest corner of the structure, facing West. The banking rooms and vault were on the first floor. The Bank’s actual twenty-five-year charter was dated January 18th, 1856, allowed up to $500,000 of capital stock, and was permitted to open as soon as $50,000 had been subscribed and paid in. Before the Bank had been in existence for a year, it was sold to Greene, Ware & Co. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Almost at once, Greene & Ware commenced printing notes on the Bank in the denominations of $1, $2, $3, $5, and $10. Because the notes were not secured by gold or silver, they circulated as long as public confidence in the Bank existed. Unfortunately, their timing left a great deal to be desired, as 1857 proved to be a year of nation-wide depression. Sadly, The Fontenelle Bank of Bellevue, and virtually all of the Territory’s fledging financial institutions, failed within months. Banking historian, A.G. Warner, was quick to point out that “the Bank was not to be considered a home-owned institution, but the result was the same.” Reports of the amount of outstanding banknotes varied from $35,000 as reported by the Dakota Herald on September 10th, 1859, to $150,000 noted in the Nebraska City News on June 12th, 1858. The Nebraska paper also stated that “this and other bank failures were proof that corporation have no souls.” An old saying says, “It is an ill wind that blows no good”. However, and just as the Bank failure occurred, the Territorial Legislature created Sarpy County to correct an inequity in representation. With the new County Seat located in Bellevue, the Bank building proved an excellent courthouse, with the upstairs SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 371 converted to a courtroom. As County Courthouse, the upper floor was also used as a meeting room, dance hall, and opera house. An election in 1875 relocated the Sarpy County seat to Papillion, allowing the County to rent the Bank Courthouse to Bellevue for use as a City Hall. Fifty years later, in 1925, the City bought the building for $600. In 1959, it built a new City Hall, and it seemed as if the old building would be razed. In order to save the structure, Mrs. Harold LeMar bought it the following year for $10,000, and rented it out to a variety of retail shops. The city of Bellevue realized it had allowed a historic relic to slip away and repurchased the building in 1972 for its appraised value of $36,000. Without a vast expenditure, the building was restored around the extant vault as its original use as a bank. Today, what is undoubtedly the oldest commercial structure in Nebraska, it is on the National Register of Historic Buildings, looking almost exactly as it did in 1856, the only alterations being a new roof line and front steps. So, there’s the history of this institution that was around for a very short time. It seems that as I research these old banks, it’s usually the same old story over and over again. They come into existence with good intentions but end up creating confusion for the surrounding area. Let’s not ever take today’s banking system for granted. As I always do, I invite any comments to my personal cell phone (580) 221-0898, or my email address robertdalegill@gmail.com So, until next, HAPPY COLLECTING. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 372 The front of the Type-40 Treasury note endorsed by Major John Lucien Brown, CS. Image: Brian Strange Maj. John Lucien Brown, C. S. 4th Brigade, Army of Tennessee ost of the documents of military officers in the National Archives relate to the routine chores of a quartermaster or commissary. We see vouchers for quarters, vouchers for forage of horses, vouchers for sales of supplies, and letters of recommendation for promotion which often provide valuable historical background. But on rare occasions we find letters that reveal a great deal of the personality of the officer, and we find such letters in the files for Maj. John Lucien Brown, Commissary of Subsistence. His endorsement is rare, with five known: Background According to research by Charles Derby, John Lucien (often mis-spelled “Lucian”) Brown was born on March 29th, 1800 in Clarke County, Georgia, to Bedford Brown (1769-1818) and Sarah Trigg (1777-1858). His father worked as Clerk of the Superior Court in Athens, Georgia, in 1801. In early 1822 Brown studied law with William Williams at Spring Hill, Tennessee, but he declined to enter the legal profession, “being the possessor of a considerable fortune.” He married Jane Baird Weakley (1805-1845) on March 24th, 1824. Her father, Robert Weakley (1764-1846), was a U. S. Congressman from Tennessee. They had four children. “Major Brown was generous and enterprising, devoting much time to public improvements. ...His investments in manufacturing enterprises were many.” During the war with Mexico, Brown served as a Captain and Commisssary in Cheatham’s 3rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment. After his wife died in 1845, Brown married Mary Hull Barry (1810-1888) in 1849, leaving that year to participate in the gold rush in California.1 The 1860 census noted that he was working as a real estate agent in Nashville, Tennessee. M The Quartermaster Column No. 38 by Michael McNeil The endorsement (by a clerk) reads: “Issued by / Jno L Brown / Maj. & C. S. / August 4th/ 63” Image: Brian Strange SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 373 Major John Lucian Brown, 1800-1884, by Washington B. Cooper (?), ca. 1837. Image: Tennessee State Library and Archives. 1861 The National Archives contain 104 documents in the files of Officers in the listing for John Lucien Brown. He was appointed by Tennessee Governor Harris as Lt. Colonel and Assistant Commissary General, Provisional Army of Tennessee, on September 11th, 1861. At the beginning of the war the states raised their own militias, and these were absorbed into central Richmond control in the Provisional Army Confederate States in 1862. In 1861 Brown reported to Gen’l Zollicoffer in Bate’s Division. 1862 Brown appears on a report dated July 20th at Vicksburg, Mississippi, of officers in the 4th Brigade, Breckinridge’s Division, Army of the Mississippi. He was appointed Major and Commissary of Subsistence to the Division by Maj. Gen’l Breckinridge on August 8th. Vouchers signed by Brown in October through December located him in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Vouchers signed by Brown also provided the first evidence that some Treasury note endorsements were written by clerks. These were often in a more florid style; see the original research in the author’s book.2 1863 Brown’s division participated in the Battle of Chickamauga on September 18th to 20th. Two letters in Brown’s own hand to Maj. Gen’l Breckinridge are found in the National Archives file. They clearly show that Brown was on very familiar terms with the general, and they show his anguish from criticisms leveled at him by Gen’l Braxton Bragg’s staff officers for his conduct during the Battle of Chickamauga. Brown’s letter of October 12th went into great detail of his efforts to rally troops at the Battles of Shiloh and Murfreesboro. The full text can be read in the author’s book.2 Brown’s pride is deeply wounded and the tone of the letter is extremely defensive. Another long letter written just two days later shows that Brown is still stung by the criticism: I think it most probable that I may conclude to quit the Commissary Department especially should the present unholy war continue much longer. ...I think that I could be more useful in the line. I may conclude to apply to President Davis or the Secretary of War, for authority to raise a Brigade outside of the Conscript Law ― (that is) to have each member of the Brigade to be from 15 to 18 years of age and from 45 to 55 or 60. [Brown was 63 years old at this time] ...I regret much to part with you. I prefer being with you to any man in the Confederacy....” Breckinridge (who would later become the last Treasury Secretary) must have calmed his anxieties, and Brown served out the remainder of the war in his division as its Commissary of Subsistence. An account of Brown’s history mentions that “at Baton Rouge, La., he led a charge and drove from the field a Federal battery that had done much damage to our troops. His valor called forth commendation from his commanding general. On the other hand, his action on the field called forth from the authorities at Richmond an order that officers of the Commissary Department should not engage in battles.”3 His obituary noted that his “comrades applied to him the sobriquet of ‘Old Charge ’Em.’ ”1 1864 Brown received forage for horses on January 1st at Rome, Georgia. He signed vouchers for “beef hides” (cattle) at Dalton, Georgia, on January 4th and 31st, and again on February 29th. He purchased forage for his horses and “beef hides” for the troops at Marietta, Georgia, on May 31st and June 16th. Gen’l Sherman was pushing the Confederate Army south towards Atlanta. After the fall of Atlanta, Brown’s vouchers showed that he was located at Blountsville, Alabama. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 374 “Battle of Chicamauga” by Kurz and Allison (1890), Library of Congress, Licensed under the Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons 1865 A National Archives summary card noted that on January 21st Brown was “detailed for 15 days to proceed to Columbus, Miss. and Selma, Ala. on public business.” The last record notes that on March 23rd Brown was still assigned to duty with Bate’s Division in the Army of Tennessee. There are no further records. Postscript After the war Brown again entered the real estate business in Nashville.1 The 1880 census noted that Brown was working as the Superintendent of the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville. Brown died at 11:30 pm on January 9th, 1884, a few miles from Nashville at the residence of his daughter.1 Carpe diem References: All military data was derived from National Archives documents on Fold3.com. 1. Weekly Public Ledger, Memphis, Tennessee, January 15th, 1884. Researched by Charles Derby. 2. Michael McNeil. Confederate Quartermasters, Commissaries, and Agents, 2016, published by Pierre Fricke, pp. 124-130. 3. S. A. Cunningham. Confederate Veteran, Volumes 5-6, 1897, page 128. Researched by Charles Derby. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 375 The Signers and Issuers of Confederate Bonds – a book review . In its early days, the Confederate Treasury made a significant decision that set it apart from the U.S. Treasury: requiring Treasury officials to hand-sign every Treasury note and bond. Initially, this seemed reasonable under the expectation of a short war. However, as the conflict extended over four years, the Confederacy eventually printed over $1.5 billion in notes and more than $700 million in bonds. This required 80 million notes to be hand-signed by the Register and Treasurer, and nearly 1 million bonds to be hand-signed by the Register, initialed by two clerks as Recorder and Enterer, with coupons signed by another clerk. The enormity of this task necessitated additional clerical help, leading to the hiring of clerks to assist with the signing. By the war’s end, 371 Treasury employees had hand-signed Treasury notes, and nearly 100 employees signed and initialed bonds and their coupons. In their 2022 book, Confederate Treasury Notes: The Signers and Their Stories, the authors explored the origins of Treasury notes and shared the stories of their signers. While the workforce was initially male, by the end of the war, all Treasury note signers were women. Overall, two-thirds of the note signers were women, many of whom were young, privileged, educated, and possessed excellent penmanship. Employing women as Treasury clerks had significant social implications, providing them with experiences and opportunities that paved the way for post-war employment and new societal roles. The authors’ new book, The Signers and Issuers of Confederate Bonds, continues this narrative by detailing the Treasury’s operation in issuing bonds. Like the Treasury notes, the bonds were signed by numerous employees: six men served as Register or Assistant Register, 32 women and 22 men signed bond coupons as clerks, and nearly 40 men initialed bonds as Recorders or Enterers to verify the bonds in the Treasury’s registers. This book includes biographies of these individuals and features a section that pairs each signer’s or initialer’s name with an image of their signature or initials, allowing readers to identify the signers and initialers of any bond or coupon easily. The book also describes the Treasury Department’s operations and the professional activities of these employees, including the bond issuance process. Hand-Signed History: The Personal Stories behind Confederate Treasury Notes and Bonds SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 376 Many of the bond signers and initialers led remarkable lives. For instance, Martha “Mittie” Morris, a signer of bond coupons and notes, became a prominent figure in the Richmond art scene into the 20th century. Sarah Pumphrey, a coupon signer, owned an estate as a “feme sole” with her husband as trustee, an uncommon arrangement at the time. Margaret Bronaugh, another coupon signer, served as a U.S. government clerk before and after signing Confederate bond coupons. Monimia Cary, an affluent single mother, signed bond coupons and notes while also working as a hospital nurse. William W. Dennison, who signed coupons, was a controversial U.S. agent for the Pawnee and Otoe-Missouria tribes in Nebraska before the war and the father of Eliza Dennison, who signed Confederate Treasury notes. George Dabney, a coupon signer, and James M. Boyd, an Enterer who initialed bonds, were respected university professors. Henry D. Capers, Chief Clerk of the Treasury who initialed bonds as Enterer, had a multifaceted career as a physician, soldier, lawyer, financial officer, entrepreneur, professor, and biographer. William R. Teller, a coupon signer, worked as a coal merchant in Cuba with former Confederate General Fitzhugh Lee. Robert Tyler, the Register of the Treasury who signed bonds and coupons, was the son of former U.S. President John Tyler. Together, these two volumes bring to life the financial documents of the Confederate Treasury, which are highly valued by collectors. They place the documents and the people who created them in their historical and societal context, providing a personalized perspective on Treasury bonds and notes and offering numismatists new ways to appreciate and collect these artifacts. To order The Signers and Issuers of Confederate Bonds, the cost is $29.95 plus $5 for domestic postage. Payments can be made electronically via Venmo to @Charles-Derby-1 or Zelle to charlesderbyga@yahoo.com. Alternatively, checks can be mailed to Charles Derby at 204 Sycamore Ridge Drive, Decatur, GA 30030. edited by David Crenshaw Metropolitan Coin Club of Atlanta A T-5 $100 Confederate Treasury note signed in 1861 by Robert Tyler as Register of the Treasury. Robert Tyler’s wife Elizabeth Priscilla “Priss” Cooper (from Ellet 1870). Robert’s father, President John Tyler (from the Brady- Handy Collection, public domain). Emma Sophia Read, one of the 54 signers of Confederate Treasury bond coupons. She was one of the most prolific signers of Treasury documents, having also signed Treasury notes for both the Register and Treasurer, and in both Richmond and Columbia S.C. SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 377 $MALL NOTE$ By Jamie Yakes Secret Marks on $10 1928B Federal Reserve Notes In 2011, Pete Huntoon and I ran a story about a secret mark used on some Series of 1928B plates for $10 Federal Reserve Notes.1 It’s been over a decade since we brought this variety to light, and it’s time to revisit it in the ensuing months. In May 1930, personnel at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing reported to the treasury secretary that they’d prepared a new master die of Hamilton’s portrait to replace the old master die. The old die had become worn and was reproducing poorly during plate production. To denote plates made with the new portrait die, engravers added a secret mark—a thin curved line—to the top right “10” counter of new portrait plates (refer to the figures below of New York plates). The new master die was used on all new 1928B plates made thereafter. Reports of what’s been found will be valuable for a refreshed analysis. Marked plates were made for all twelve districts, but none of the St. Louis plates were sent to press, so the other eleven districts are fair game for regular and star notes. Report notes to me at fivedollarguy@optonline.net, or to the PaperMoneyProject.com. If you want to make good use of your loupe or glass, go nuts. Otherwise, these are the first plate serial numbers for each district with marked 1928B plates that got sent to press: Boston, 8; New York, 50 (plates 54 to 60 were old portraits without marks); Philadelphia, 49; Cleveland, 23; Richmond, 29; Atlanta, 13; Chicago, 92; Minneapolis, 14; Kansas City, 21; Dallas, 9; and San Francisco, 36. Except as noted for N.Y., there was a single break between marked and unmarked plates. Reference 1. Huntoon, P., and J. Yakes, “Secret Marks on $10 1928B FRNs,” Bank Note Reporter, Vol. 60 (June 2011): 36 SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 378 Histories of money tend to follow one of two thematic alternatives: Either they examine money in some broader economic, political, or social setting, or they focus more narrowly on the features and details of the physical coins and currency themselves. Ekaterina Pravilova’s history of the ruble achieves a fascinating combination of both perspectives. Surveying the period between the introduction of Russia’s first paper money, the Assignat Ruble, in 1769 and the emergence of Soviet Russia’s New Economic Policy in the 1920s, Pravilova chronicles the intellectual and policy debates that took place over the nature of money in Russia and how to reform the monetary system in a sprawling empire whose economic and financial underdevelopment increasingly constrained its geopolitical ambitions. Russia’s basic problem during this period was its chronic practice of issuing currency to excess, resulting in declines in its value. This problem was hardly unique to Russia; as a general matter, the advent of paper money and how to manage it proved a profound policy challenge to all countries experiencing capitalist industrialization. In her book, Pravilova shows how Russia’s attempts to meet this challenge reflected its distinctive political values and practices. To make sense of Russia’s experience, Pravilova sketches out a contrast between two approaches to money rooted in contrasting political philosophies. The first, liberal, approach treated money as representative of economic values and sustained by social capacities of trust and credit. This vision of money placed its origins outside of the control of the political authorities, money in its metallic form being the clearest example. Indeed, the success of that sort of money, even if regulated by the state, presumed constitutional restraints upon the state’s power, and its subjection to the rule of law. In particular, this view of money entailed the institutional separation of the ability to issue currency from the state’s financial and budgetary authority. The second, conservative, approach treated money not as a debt or obligation of the state, but as a straightforward expression of autocratic state authority. In this view, money need not be gold or silver, but can be whatever the state declared it to be. By extension, the value of such money flowed directly from the power and legitimacy of the state itself, rather than from money’s economic usefulness. In this view, commitment to a monetary standard like silver or gold was suspect because it implied limits on the state’s freedom of action. To Russian conservatives, far from being problematic the paper ruble issued as a fiat currency was “the material embodiment of the bond between the tsar and his subject” –-a superior form of money to metallic coin. While the liberal approach prevailed in the West by the early 19th century, the conservative view dominated Russian thinking and drove state policy. As a result, the trajectory of monetary development in Russia diverged from the European and North American experience. Whereas the West regarded inconvertible paper money as a policy failure, Russia embraced it as more consistent with its political values. Even when it sought in the early 1840s to stabilize the value of money by replacing the Assignat Ruble with the Credit Ruble, Russia never took the crucial step of institutionally distinguishing currency issuance from the state’s fiscal activities. Throughout the 19th century, the Russian government could, and did, meet its budgetary requirements by simply printing more paper money, sometimes even secretly. As more of the world turned towards the gold standard, this Slavic monetary exceptionalism became a problem as Russia grew to depend upon European loans to finance its wars. Neither Russia’s land-owning nobility nor its protectionist-minded industrialists favored monetary discipline. Lacking any domestic coalition in favor of hard money, Russia’s adoption of the gold standard in 1897 under the stewardship of finance minister Sergei Witte instead reflected its need to maintain its international creditworthiness. A complex figure, Witte pushed Russia’s economic modernization without adopting the institutional constraints typical of political liberalism. Consequently, the Russian version of gold standard meant something very different than it did elsewhere. Finally, in Pravilova’s narrative, the Russian Revolution of 1917 at first augured a radically different approach to monetary policy and to money itself, as implied by its Marxist doctrines. However, after the revolutionary chaos subsided Soviet monetary practice evinced more continuity with, than change from, the imperial experience. Though primarily an intellectual and policy history of the ruble, Pravilova has a gift for livening abstract discussions with quirky forays into such topics as the treatment of money in Russian literature, the problem of counterfeiting, and the use of Russian local currencies. Above all, in a way satisfying to numismatically minded readers Pravilova illuminates her argument by repeatedly referencing the symbolism and language found on Russia’s ruble notes themselves. *Oxford University Press, 2023. ISBN 978-0-19- 766371-4. Chump Change Book Review--The Ruble: A Political History, Loren Gatch by Ekaterina Pravilova SPMC.org * Paper Money * Sep/Oct 2024 * Whole No. 353 379 OUR MEMBERS SPECIALIZE IN LARGE SIZE TYPE NOTES They also specialize in National Currency, Small Size Currency, Obsolete Currency, Colonial and Continental Currency, Fractionals, Error Notes, MPCs, Confederate Currency, Encased Postage, Stocks and Bonds, Autographs and Documents, World Paper Money . . . and numerous other areas. THE PROFESSIONAL CURRENCY DEALERS ASSOCIATION is the leading organization of Dealers in Currency, Stocks and Bonds, Fiscal Documents and related paper items. PCDA To be assured of knowledgeable, professional, and ethical dealings when buying or selling currency, look for dealers who proudly display the PCDA emblem. For further information, please contact: The Professional Currency Dealers Association PCDA • Holds its annual National Currency Convention in conjunction with the Central States Numis- matic Society’s Anniversary Convention. Please visit our Web Site pcda.com for dates and location. • Encourages public awareness and education regarding the hobby of Paper Money Collecting. • Sponsors the John Hickman National Currency Exhibit Award each year, as well as Paper Money classes and scholarships at the A.N.A.’s Summer Seminar series. • Publishes several “How to Collect” booklets regarding currency and related paper items. Availability of these booklets can be found on our Web Site. • Is a proud supporter of the Society of Paper Money Collectors. Or Visit Our Web Site At: www.pcda.com Susan Bremer – Secretary 16 Regents Park • Bedford, TX 76022 (214) 409-1830 • email: susanb@ha.com View All Lots and Bid at HA.com/4052 For a free appraisal, or to consign to an upcoming auction, contact a Heritage Expert today. 800-872-6467, Ext. 1001 or Currency@HA.com WORLD PAPER MONEY SIGNATURE® AUCTION Dallas | October 17 DALLAS  |  NEW YORK  |  BEVERLY HILLS  |  CHICAGO  |  PALM BEACH LONDON  |  PARIS  |  GENEVA  |  BRUSSELS  |  AMSTERDAM  |  HONG KONG  |  TOKYO Always Accepting Quality Consignments in 50+ Categories Immediate Cash Advances Available 1.75 Million+ Online Bidder-MembersPaul R. Minshull #16591. BP 20%; see HA.com. 74552 Highlights from Our Fall Auction Canada - Halifax, Nova Scotia Bank of Nova Scotia $100 2.1.1929 Ch.# 550-28-40 PCGS New 62 Panama Banco Central de Emision 20 Balboas 1941 Pick 25a PMG Very Fine 25 Italian Somaliland Cassa Per La Circolazione Monetaria Della Somalia 100 Somali 1950 Pick 15a PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ Iraq Government of Iraq 100 Dinars 1931 (ND 1936) Pick 12a PMG Very Fine 20 Cyprus Central Bank of Cyprus 1 Shilling 1.3.1920 Pick 14 PMG About Uncirculated 55 EPQ Suriname Surinaamsche Bank 1000 Gulden ND (1925-1948) Pick 84r Remainder PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ