The Bank Note History Project


Find out who signed your bank notes

Find out who signed your bank notes, and learn more about them! Do some research and write up a Banker Bio or Bank History as part of SPMC's Bank Note History Project!

The purpose of this project is to stimulate research and help organize historical information related to U.S. bank notes that were issued during the National Bank Note Era (1863-1935) and Obsolete Bank Note Era (1782-1866). This project is focused on two of the primary historical aspects of these 'Hometown' bank notes: The Banks that issued them, and the Bankers who signed them.

For an in-depth overview of this project see this video What's New with the Bank Note History Project
 
The Bank Note History Project consists of two websites: The Banks & Bankers Database search website and the Bank Note History Wiki website.

1. Banks & Bankers Database (1782 - 1935)

The Banks & Bankers Database is a structured, searchable database with historical data on all 14,348 National Banks that were chartered between 1863 and 1935. It also includes all of the Presidents & Cashiers listed in the OCC reports from 1867-1935, as well as many other potential bank note signers (VPs & Asst Cashiers) based on data from Bankers Directories, etc. A Search website provides an easy-to-use  interface into the database with links to the Bank Note History Wiki (as well as other online sources) to make that historical information for Banks and Bankers easily available.

If you haven't used the Database before, here's an article on How to Search the Banks & Bankers Database

You must login to the SPMC website before clicking on the 'Search the Banks & Bankers Database' button.

Search the Banks & Bankers Database

2. Bank Note History Wiki (1782 - 1935)

The Bank Note History Wiki is a crowd-sourced, searchable content website (very similar to Wikipedia) for creating and organizing historical information on the National and Obsolete Banks & Bankers from 1782-1935. This is a Public/Open access Wiki, so anyone can View the information. Users who have set up an account on the wiki website (with a confirmed email address) are allowed to Add new pages or Edit existing wiki pages. The Bank Note History Wiki is primarily focused on two topics: Bank Histories and Banker Biographies.

For an overview of the wiki website, see this article Bank Note History Wiki Overview

Bank Note History Wiki


First National Bank, Battle Lake, MN (ca. 1907-1908)