official journal of The Society of Paper Money Collectors Treasury Notes of the Mexican War 1550 Scenic Avenue, Suite 150, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 • 800.458.4646 470 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022 • 800.566.2580 Info@StacksBowers.com • StacksBowers.com California • New York • New Hampshire • Okalhoma • Hong Kong • Paris SBG PM ANA2021 Cons 210129 America’s Oldest and Most Accomplished Rare Coin Auctioneer LEGENDARY COLLECTIONS | LEGENDARY RESULTS | A LEGENDARY AUCTION FIRM Contact Us to Consign Your U.S. Paper Money! 800.458.4646 West Coast • 800.566.2580 East Coast • Consign@StacksBowers.com Consign Alongside these Highlights from The Stack’s Bowers Galleries Official Auction at the ANA World’s Fair of Money® August 10-14, 2021 • Rosemont, Illinois Consignment Deadline: June 10, 2021 Fr. 129. 1878 $20 Legal Tender Note. PCGS Banknote Superb Gem Uncirculated 67 PPQ. From the Tarzan Collection Part II. Fr. 263. 1886 $5 Silver Certificate. PMG Choice Uncirculated 64 EPQ. From the Tarzan Collection Part II. Fr. 375. 1891 $20 Treasury Note. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ. From the Tarzan Collection Part II. Fr. 1180. 1905 $20 Gold Certificate. PCGS Banknote Superb Gem Uncirculated 67 PPQ. From the Tarzan Collection Part II. Fr. 150. 1863 $50 Legal Tender Note. PCGS Banknote Extremely Fine 40. From the Tarzan Collection Part II. Fr. 341. 1880 $100 Silver Certificate. PCGS Banknote Extremely Fine 40. From the Tarzan Collection Part II. Fr. 893B. 1914 Red Seal $10 Federal Reserve Note. New York. PCGS Banknote Superb Gem Uncirculated 67 PPQ. From the Tarzan Collection Part II. Fr. 1220. 1922 $1000 Gold Certificate. PMG Choice Extremely Fine 45. From the Tarzan Collection Part II. Fr. 187j. 1880 $1000 Legal Tender Note. PMG Very Fine 30 Net. Restoration. From the Tarzan Collection Part II. Fr. 367. 1890 $10 Treasury Note. PCGS Banknote Gem Uncirculated 66 PPQ. From the Tarzan Collection Part II. Fr. 1132-K. 1918 $500 Federal Reserve Note. Dallas. PCGS Banknote Choice Extremely Fine 45 EPQ. From the Tarzan Collection Part II. Fr. 2221-E. 1934 $5000 Federal Reserve Note. Richmond. PMG Choice About Uncirculated 58 EPQ. From the Tarzan Collection Part II. 100 U. S. Treasury Notes of the Mexican War--Nicholas Bruyer Origin of Series 1907 Gold Certificates and Legal Tender Notes--Peter Huntoon British POW & Internee Camp Money--Steve Feller Thomas Macdonough Naval Hero--Terry Bryan "New Site" Alabama--Bill Gunther 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Ella Overby Hoard--Peter Huntoon 1st National Bank of Forest City--Michael Saharian young Selma Entrepeneur-M. J. Williams--Charles Derby 120 126 86 106 113 135 138 124 The Second National Bank of Charleston, MD--J. Fred Maples Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 81 Contents, Advertisers, Hall of Fame 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 Doug Ball Joseph Boling F.C.C. Boyd Michael Crabb 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 Don Kelly Lyn Knight Chet Krause Allen Mincho Judith Murphy Chuck O’Donnell Roy Pennell Albert Pick Fred Reed Matt Rothert Neil Shafer Austin Sheheen Herb & Martha Schingoethe Hugh Shull Glenn Smedley Raphael Thian Daniel Valentine Louis Van Belkum George Wait D.C. Wismer From Your President Shawn Hewitt 84 Editor Sez Benny Bolin 85 SPMC Bank Note Project Mark Drengson 142 Cherry Pickers Corner Robert Calderman 148 Obsolete Corner Robert Gill 150 Quartermaster Column Michael McNeil 152 Chump Change Loren Gatch 156 New Members Frank Clark 157 Uncoupled J. Boling & F. Schwan 158 Stacks Bowers Galleries IFC Pierre Fricke 81 Fred Bart 119 DBR Currency 119 Higgins Museum 125 Denly's of Boston 129 Jim Ehrhardt 129 ANA 134 FCCB 140 Lyn F. Knight 141 Bob Laub 147 Vern Potter 164 PCDA IBC Heritage Auctions OBC Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 82 In Memoriam The Paper Money hobby has lost three giants in our hobby recently. We all wish their families our thoughts and prayers. Martin Gengerke Martin passed away on December 20, 2020. He is survived by his wife Beatrice and son Corey as well as other family. Martin was a founding member of the Fractional Currency Collectors Board (FCCB) and was an active collector of credit cards, especially American Express cards. A renowned researcher, Martin published a number of articles related to Fractional Currency in Paper Money and other hobby publications. He was also a researcher extraordinaire and a cataloger for Lester Merkin, NASCA and Stacks and was the first recipient of the NLG’s award for excellence in cataloging. He was the author of two books, American Numismatic Auctions and United States Paper Money Records. Martin was one of the few people to ever form a complete set of fractional currency, including the Fr. 1352 Justice note of which only two were know at that time. He obtained his first fractionals as a 6-piece denomination set over the counter at Stack’s in Dec. 1967. He completed it with the purchase of the Fr. 1373a at Smythe’s sale of the Rockholt collection on Sept. 12, 1981. Martin was fascinated by the history of coins and paper money. He was one of the few people who had almost unfettered access to John J. Ford and his collection and was able to see and inventory the Boyd collection of fractional and write about it long before it was sold. Ron Horstman Ron passed away on January 2, 2021. He is survived by his wife Ann Moriarity. Ron joined the SPMC in 1965 as member #1526 and was Life Member #12. He served the SPMC as governor from 1987-2003 when he became President. He also served as the New Member Coordinator and served on numerous committees including the Member Recruitment, Nominating, and others. He received SPMC literary awards in 1988 and again in 1989 and received the recruitment award in 1991 and again in 1992. Ron was also an active member of the PCDA and was the first life member of that group. Ron was a researcher of Missouri banknotes and financial historian, and authored two books, Missouri Money (A Study of Banking & Finance in the Territory and State of Missouri), and Missouri Money II. Like many currency collectors, Ron switched from coins to paper money at an early age. His goal was to collect a National Bank Note from each issuing bank in St. Louis, and he then branched out to collect St. Louis and Missouri obsolete notes. Roman Latimer Roman passed away on January 20, 2021. He is survived by his son Michael and six grandchildren. A lifelong resident of Santa Fe, New Mexico, he was SPMC member #2540 and served the society as governor from 1983-1986. He collected New Mexico Nationals and Territorials for over 60 years. He collected both small and large size nationals and specialized in currency printed for use by Territorial Banks which he generously shared with The Museum of New Mexico. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 83 Officers & Appointees ELECTED OFFICERS PRESIDENT Shawn Hewitt shawn@shawnhewitt.com VICE-PRES. Robert Vandevender II rvpaperman@aol.com SECRETARY Robert Calderman gacoins@earthlink.net TREASURER Bob Moon robertmoon@aol.com BOARD OF GOVERNORS Mark Anderson mbamba@aol.com Robert Calderman gacoins@earlthlink.net Gary J. Dobbins g.dobbins@sbcglobal.net Matt Drais Stockpicker12@aol.com Pierre Fricke pierrefricke@buyvintagemoney.com Loren Gatch lgatch@uco.edu Steve Jennings sjennings@jisp.net William Litt Billlitt@aol.com J. Fred Maples maplesf@comcast.com Cody Regennitter cody.regennitter@gmail.com Wendell A. Wolka purduenut@aol.com APPOINTEES PUBLISHER-EDITOR Benny Bolin smcbb@sbcglobal.net ADVERTISING MANAGER Wendell A. Wolka purduenut@aol.com LEGAL COUNSEL Megan Regennitter mreginnitter@iowafirm.com LIBRARIAN Jeff Brueggeman jeff@actioncurrency.com MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR Frank Clark frank_spmc@yahoo.com IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Pierre Fricke WISMER BOOK PROJECT COORDINATOR Pierre Fricke From Your President Shawn HewittFrom Your President Shawn Hewitt Paper Money * July/August 2020 6 Its cold outside. Really cold. It looks like we are fresh out of degrees. This is the time of the year I like to dedicate to indoor projects, for obvious reasons. Some of the those are related to our hobby, and one on my list is launching our first ever Zoom based SPMC membership meeting and seminar. As I write this, it is still yet to come, but should be in the rear-view mirror by the time you read this. I expect this will have been successful, and will be a new, ongoing part of the future interaction among SPMC membership. If you have ideas or suggestions for improvement, please drop me a line at shawn@shawnhewitt.com. I would be pleased to hear from you. You will have noticed in this and other recent issues of Paper Money memorial pages dedicated to long time members of the paper money collecting community who have passed away. In this issue we remember Martin Gengerke, Ron Horstman and Roman Latimer. It’s clear that we have a large demographic of senior members, and yet at the same time we have an influx of younger, new members thanks to our presence in social media. Have you seen our Facebook page recently? It has been getting a lot of interest ever since Andy Timmerman began rolling out the Note of the Day. I love to see SPMC members stepping up to make the hobby a better place. What would be even better is to have the older and younger demographic groups actively communicating with each other. The older have a wealth of knowledge and experience, and the younger are eager to learn. I would encourage both groups to reach out to each other on whatever platforms are at their disposal, whether its Facebook, email or USPS. I remember well back to 2004 when I put a request in Bank Note Reporter, seeking information about Minnesota obsoletes for inclusion in the book my colleagues and I were writing. Eric Newman personally responded to my call, and we seized the opportunity. How glad I am that he reached out, and we were able to connect. Are there researchers you would like to correspond with? Do you have a desire to share your knowledge and experience, and mentor others? For starters, you might try checking out some of the Facebook groups listed on our website at https://www.spmc.org/social_media. Maybe Facebook is not your thing, and I get it. Regardless, make the effort to reach out while the opportunity is there. The future of our hobby will be all the better for it. With that, I am going to close now and work on my presentation for our Zoom seminar. As of this time, we have very limited visibility on this year’s International Paper Money Show. We will post updates on our website as soon as we have them. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 84 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 Space 1 Time 3 Times 6 Times Full color covers $1500 $2600 $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 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 copy 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. Editor Sez Benny Bolin I hope that everyone is staying warm and safe. As if COVID-19 wasn't bad enough, then come the biggest weather system in years. Here in Texas it was -2o when I got up this morning and we had 4 inches of snow with another 3-5 inches tonight. Wowser! Here, we go bonkers when it gets below 60o! Who would-a-thunk it?!?! Now that vaccines are out for COVID, it may (just mabye) be shaping up for some shows this summer. Not to get our hopes up, but we can all wish for it. I love going to FUN and IPMS, not only to buy and add to my collection, but also and mainly for the camaraderie of in- person friendly get-togethers. This issue it the beginning of my 8th year as the editor of this fine tome. It has been enjoyable and fulfilling. I want to thank all the amazing authors who have contributed articles and columns and those who have offered suggestions and constructive criticisms. This has been a team effort and I thank everyone! Unfortunately, this issue brings more information on three more giants in our hobby who have passed on. We will miss them and their contributions to the hobby and we wish their families well. I hope you all had a chance to partake in the recent SPMC Zoom meeting. It was the first step to getting back to normal. I enjoyed my presentation and seeing all the people there. It is always fun listening to others talk about their area of expertise and I always learn some new about a subject or two that I don't actively collect. And any time you can listen to Wendell--we that is a real treat. (I write all the above before the actual presentations so I really hope they were able to come off well.) As we go forward, I encourage you to enjoy this fine hobby we have and to get more involved. Staying at home more during this pandemic has freed up some time (hopefully) so that you can just enjoy the hobby more. I really hope we can start the journey back to seeing each other in person in the very near future. Let's all pull together and support everyone in not only our hobby but our communities as well! Benny Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 85 U. S. Treasury Notes of the Mexican War 1846-1848 by Nick Bruyer After Robert J. Walker helped James Polk become the first “Dark Horse” President in U.S. history, Polk rewarded him with the position of Secretary of the Treasury. In that capacity, Walker used Treasury notes and bonds in 1846 to fund a war with Mexico. The first Treasury notes, which were like those issued after the Panic of 1837, were used mostly to pay war expenses. A second issue of Treasury notes in 1847, designed and produced by two bank note firms, were convertible into bonds and did not circulate. Victory over Mexico secured for the U.S. 600,000 square miles of land and an immensely valuable Pacific coastline. The election of President James K. Polk in December 1844 was as unlikely and as consequential as any in U.S. history. Polk was the first “dark horse” candidate to become President. His choice as the flag- bearer of the Democratic Party came as such a surprise that the opposition Whigs based their campaign on the slogan “Just who is James K. Polk?” Polk’s rise to power began with the news that the presumptive Democratic candidate for President, Martin Van Buren, could not be counted on to annex the Republic of Texas to the Union. On April 27, 1844 Van Buren as well as his opponent, Henry Clay, issued public letters opposing Texas annexation because it would become a slave state. Both believed they would lose crucial northern votes, and thus their party’s nominations, unless they took this stand. Texas advocates were horrified. Chief among them were former President Andrew Jackson and Mississippi Senator Robert J. Walker. They and other like-minded Democrats huddled behind closed doors at Jackson’s Nashville, Tennessee home, the Hermitage, to find a way to restore Texas annexation as a centerpiece of the Democrat agenda. The conspirators needed an alternative to Van Buren: A Democrat not sullied by the slavery debate; someone they could portray to the American people as a champion of America’s expansionist destiny “from sea to shining sea”. Jackson had a candidate in mind: Fellow Tennessee Democrat and confidant James K. Polk. An intelligent and skilled debater, Polk had been out of the public eye since 1841, when he lost re-election as Governor of Tennessee. Although he had inherited slaves, Polk was not overtly pro-slavery. He described it as a “common evil”. What next unfolded was a plot to kneecap the Democratic front-runner, Van Buren. On May 27 the Democrats arrived at the Democratic National Convention in Baltimore to find their platform was written by Robert J. Walker. Unsurprisingly, its key planks included the annexation of Texas. It also included opposition to a national bank, as Jackson had succeeded in ending the former Bank of the U.S. in 1836. Van Buren confidently strode into the convention with a majority of delegates in his pocket. But as the first order of business, restoration of an old rule requiring a two-thirds majority was called for, throwing the convention into disorder. Senator Walker was called to read the old convention rules of 1832, which he conveniently had in his pocket. He then gave a speech arguing that to abandon the two- thirds rule was to desert democratic principles. Debate Robert J. Walker, Secretary of the Treasury 1845-1849 Democrat candidate Martin Van Buren opposed annexation of Texas (public domain) Former Pres. Andrew Jackson found an alternative to Van Buren. (Daguerreotype ca. 1845) Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 86 followed until the next day, when by a vote of 148-116 the old two-thirds rule was restored. Van Buren’s group had the wind knocked out of them as the pro- annexation cabal tied up the convention in procedural knots and bided their time. On the first ballot Van Buren won a majority of votes but could not reach two-thirds. As six more ballots followed, many feared the convention was deadlocked beyond hope. On the eighth ballot Polk was nominated as the only man who could unite the party. At last Van Buren withdrew his name and directed his delegates to vote Polk. On the ninth ballot James K. Polk was unanimously chosen to be the Democrat Presidential candidate. The convention erupted in wild cheers. Senator Walker, who played a key role in engineering Polk’s nomination, was appointed to manage Polk’s Presidential campaign against Henry Clay. Never one for half measures, Walker waged a political war both clever and dirty. Clay and his Whig party tried to paint Polk as a nobody with their campaign slogan “Just Who is James K. Polk?” Walker turned the question on its head with ads and pamphlets to expose the “real” Henry Clay. The smear campaign featured such gems as: “The history of Mr. Clay’s debaucheries and midnight revelries in Washington is too shocking, too disgusting to appear in public print.” and “Clay spends his days at the gaming table and his nights in a brothel.” After the last votes were received on December 4, 1844 Polk had beaten Clay by a razor thin 1.4%. Polk announced he would serve just one four- year term. He set four key goals: Acquire Alta California from Mexico; Settle a standoff with England to acquire the Oregon Territory; establish an independent treasury; and tear down the high protective tariff wall erected in 1842 during an economic depression. To reward Robert Walker for his key role in the Presidential victory, Polk gave Walker what was then considered to be the plum position in his cabinet: Secretary of the Treasury. Annexation & War Polk’s election settled the question of whether or not Texas should be annexed. Walker, still a Senator in February of 1845, helped Congress craft a joint resolution for the terms under which the President could negotiate with Texas. On March 4 Polk sent a message to Texas advising that they could enter the Union immediately on terms the House of Representatives had laid out. After some personal prodding from Andrew Jackson, the Texans ratified the annexation at a convention on July 4, 1845. Upon learning of the annexation, Mexico recalled its minister from Washington and broke off diplomatic relations with the United States. No one expected Mexico to accept Texas annexation lying down. War would give Polk the excuse he needed to seize Alta California. His plan was to negotiate a purchase, if possible, but prepare for the likelihood of war. In November 1845 Polk sent his new minister to Mexico, John Slidell, with secret orders to negotiate the purchase of Alta California and Nuevo Mexico for up to $20 million. But the proud Mexican government had no interest in negotiations. In early January 1846 Slidell’s mission was rejected by Mexico’s president. Polk’s response was swift. On January 13, 1846 he ordered 3,550 troops under the command of General Zachary Taylor to the disputed border “on or near” the bank of the Rio Grande river, far south of the border Mexico claimed along the Nueces river. Taylor built an outpost dubbed “Fort Texas”, with cannon facing the Mexican town square of Matamoros, directly across the Rio Grande. A provocative trap was set and baited.1 On April 25 sixteen hundred Mexican cavalry crossed the Rio Grande a few miles north of Fort Texas. The next day a patrol of 63 U.S. dragoons were James K. Polk was the first dark horse President (Stacks- Bowers) Texas claimed its southern border was along the Rio Grande River, but Mexico recognized the historical border as the Nueces River (Courtesy Maps ETC) Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 87 ambushed, with eleven killed, six wounded and the rest captured.2 It took 14 days for Polk to receive news of the attack. Two days later, on May 11, he sent a message to Congress. “Mexico has passed the boundary of the United States, has invaded our territory and shed American blood upon American soil.” He concluded that “notwithstanding all our efforts to avoid it, (war) exists by the act of Mexico herself”.3 The next day Congress passed a war bill by an overwhelming margin. It authorized $10 million and the raising of fifty thousand troops. News of the war ignited an intense patriotic fervor that spread across America like a prairie wildfire. Polk’s war strategy, which he kept secret from Congress, was to seize enough territory in northern Mexico to force a negotiated settlement, while simultaneously conquering the western lands he desired in return for that settlement. Those lands consisted of present-day California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, half of New Mexico and parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and Wyoming. No end of war would be forthcoming from Polk until Mexico surrendered these lands.4 Treasury Notes In June Secretary Walker proposed to fund the war with an issue of Treasury notes rather than a loan.5 After much debate, legislation was enacted on July 22, 1846. It authorized $10 million in either Treasury notes, bonds or a combination of both. Bonds could be issued with a duration of up to ten years, while Treasury notes could earn interest for one year. Interest was limited to a maximum of 6% and neither bonds nor Treasury notes could be sold for less than face value (par). Redeemed notes could be reissued up to a maximum of a combined $10 million in notes and bonds outstanding at any time. Authority to issue them expired in one year. Walker split the borrowing authority evenly between Treasury notes and bonds: $5 million for Treasury notes, which he would either pay out to the military and creditors or sell for coin; and $5 million for 10-year bonds. Instead of designing new Treasury notes, Walker put existing plates, last used in 1844, back into production. The face and back designs were the same as those created during the Panic of 1837. The most recent of these notes also were overprinted on the backs “Pay to the Order of” and “Pay to Bearer”. Once a Treasury note was endorsed by the original payee named on the face of the note it could then be transferred as a bearer obligation. All four previously used denominations of $50, $100, $500 and $1000 were produced. However, a check-like “fractional” note, which had been used for odd amounts greater than $50 but less than $100, was not resurrected. The Treasury note had spaces for writing in the serial number, issue date, interest rate and to whom it was payable. Walker decided upon two interest rates: 5 2/5% for Treasury notes sold for specie, and one mill percent for Treasury notes paid out for government warrants, creditors or payrolls. The one mill rate, which previously was employed by the Treasury following the Panic of 1837, yielded an effective interest rate of zero. Secretary Walker realized the Treasury Department did not have the facilities, materials, staffing or budget to transport coin to the Army in Texas, Mexico and other remote points in the dangerous western frontier. As he pointed out to Congress, “The great object… would not be to circulate paper among our troops in Mexico, but to facilitate the obtaining and transferring specie there for circulation”. Regardless, practical realities dictated otherwise. Walker characterized the Treasury notes as “specie bearing interest”. Walker biographer James Shenton said the new notes “provided a new medium of currency”.6 The first Treasury notes were released August 21, 1846 in denominations of $50 and $100. Commencing with serial no. 1, the first 3,000 $50 notes were paid out to Lt. Col. Thomas F. Hunt, Deputy Quartermaster General. Hunt also received the first 2,500 of the $100 Treasury notes, starting with serial no. 1. All bore an interest rate of one mill percent. Hunt became the deputy quartermaster at New Orleans, the key post for supplying U.S. forces in both Texas and Mexico via the Caribbean. The first Mexican War Treasury notes continued designs previously used in 1843-44. (Heritage auctions) Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 88 The Register of the Treasury recorded all disbursements of Treasury notes in five volumes of “numerical registers” containing the names of all recipients and serial numbers. Most of the $50 and $100 Treasury notes bearing one mill interest went to the military. They included Capt. George Waggaman, the Commissary of Subsistence for Gen. Zachary Taylor; Deputy Quarter Master Lt. Col. Aeneas Mackay; George Loyall, the Navy agent at Norfolk, Virginia; and Lt. (later Civil War General) Winfield Scott Hancock. Non-military recipients of the one mill Treasury notes included William Armstrong, Acting Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Western Territory; Robert J. Chester, U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Tennessee; and Register of the Treasury Ransom H. Gillet. On August 31 the first $500 Treasury notes of one mill interest were issued to Lt. Col. Hunt, who received $60,000 serially numbered 1-120. It was not until October 14 that the first $1000 notes of one mill interest were paid out. The entire issue of thousands at one mill was just 55 notes, issued to three individuals: Capt. R. E. Clary, Asst. Quarter Master, 5th Infantry; E. Harding, Capt. of Ordnance, Allegheny Arsenal; and Col. Henry Stanton, Asst. Quarter Master General. Nutt’s Bearer Notes On September 10 1846 the Treasury resumed a practice it previously used for Treasury notes issued after the Panic of 1837: All notes from that day forward were made payable to a Treasury official named William D. Nutt and endorsed by him prior to issue. Nutt headed the note-issuing department at the Treasury. All Treasury notes issued on September 10 and thereafter were made payable to William D. Nutt, who endorsed the backs of the notes. This made the Treasury notes immediately payable to the bearer without further endorsement. The Register’s numerical logs recognized this change by stating that the notes were “issued” to William D. Nutt, but “assigned” to the person named in the registry. By October 1, 1846 the Treasury reported $1,953,950 in Treasury notes were issued, heavily skewed to the lower denominations:7 Denomination Quantity $50 8,363 $100 6,223 $500 1,827 The escalating war rapidly drained Treasury coffers. Treasury receipts for the quarter ending Sept. 30 were $6,782,000, but expenditures were more than double at $14,089,000. Part of the $7,307,000 shortfall was covered by issuing Treasury notes, but $5,353,000 was paid in out specie. Walker recognized that a cash crisis was imminent. On September 30 he hastily left Washington to meet bankers in New York. He departed so quickly that he didn’t have time to meet Page from the numerical register of the Treasury shows Lt. Col. Thomas F. Hunt received the first $50 notes on 21 August 1846. (National Archives) Treasury numerical register shows notes “issued” to W. D. Nutt and “assigned” to recipients 21 October 1846. (National Archives) Treasury clerk William D. Nut pre-endorsed the back of this $1000 Treasury note. (Author’s collection) Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 89 with President Polk, but instead left him a note advising that he had to negotiate a $1 million loan. Walker’s assistant told Polk that he would return in two or three days. But days turned into a week and then two weeks. Walker was joined in New York by William W. Corcoran, a partner in the Washington D. C. banking firm of Corcoran & Riggs. He tried to help Walker persuade the bankers to make a loan, but without success.8 On October 15, Walker returned to Washington to report that despite his best efforts, no banks or financiers would loan the Treasury specie at 5%, although that was the going rate. A week later he informed the President that he would offer to the public $4 million of Treasury notes at 5 2/5%. Advertisements soliciting bids were placed in major newspapers that same day. Walker and Polk also discussed complaints from government creditors who had been paid in Treasury notes with one mill interest. The creditors were upset that their zero interest notes were less valuable than the 5 2/5% notes. Polk thought the Treasury should offer anyone holding one mill notes the opportunity to exchange them for 5 2/5% notes. Walker agreed, discontinuing the one mill notes on October 24.9 The $4 million Treasury note offering was a disaster. On October 28 the Washington correspondent for the New York Tribune reported that just $50-60,000 in specie had been exchanged for 5 2/5% Treasury notes.10 The Tribune added that “The disbursements of the Treasury during the present month have exceeded the total receipts (by) $800,000. The revenue is diminishing and the requisitions are becoming more heavy. All the revenue now paid is in Treasury notes.” On October 30 an increasingly desperate Walker told Polk he needed to fund a $5 million loan and would advertise that day to obtain bids for 10-year 6% bonds. Normally the minimum acceptable bid would be $25,000, but Walker proposed dropping the minimum to $1,000 in order to stimulate broader participation. Polk agreed. Solicitations for the Treasury loan were rushed into newspapers that afternoon. Walker breathed a great sigh of relief when the bids for the $5 million loan were opened on November 13. All of the loan was subscribed to, some even at a slight premium to par. But far greater financial demands were looming With the end of the one mill Treasury notes, Walker substituted 5 2/5% notes. According to historian James Cummings, “Besides selling and exchanging the new (5 2/5%) notes, the Treasury began distributing them to military officers and purchasing agents to buy supplies and pay the soldiers and sailors.”11 It was essential for the Treasury to keep track of which Treasury notes it sold for specie and which notes it paid out as money. To accomplish this, starting with the new 5 2/5% notes it set up two separate numerical registers: One for notes “exchanged” for specie, and another for notes paid out. Notes of each category were issued starting with serial number 1. The “exchange” registers show that on October 24 the first $100 Treasury notes at 5 2/5%, serial numbers 1-6, were sold for specie to Richard Smith, cashier of the Bank of the Metropolis in Washington D.C. Corcoran & Riggs bought the first fifteen $1000 notes. $500 notes also were exchanged for specie that day. No “exchange” register was set up for $50 notes at 5 2/5%, so apparently the Treasury chose not to sell this lowest denomination for specie. The regular register of $50 notes at 5 2/5% continued to show extensive issuance to pay military war warrants. The War Grows After Mexico attacked General Taylor on the Rio Grande, he was reinforced with 12,000 regulars and volunteers. Taylor seized Matamoros, then headed up the Rio Grande to Camargo, just across the river, in August. They arrived to find that the local drinking Secretary Walker’s first public offering of Treasury notes was a disaster. (Newspapers.com) The Treasury offered to exchange Treasury notes earning one mill interest for notes earning 5 2/5% interest. (Newspapers.com) Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 90 water was contaminated by a flood. In a matter of weeks the bad water and high summer heat combined to kill about 1,500 U.S. soldiers. After taking Camargo, Taylor’s forces headed south and during September 20-24 attacked the city of Monterrey. Here they engaged in brutal urban warfare, fighting house-by-house through the city until they overpowered the Mexicans. The Charleston Mercury reported of the Americans on Oct. 11, 1846: “murder, robbery and rape were committed in the broad light of day... It is thought that one hundred of the inhabitants were murdered in cold blood...” That U.S. Treasury notes were being paid out and used by the army in Mexico is attested to by a small newspaper clipping pasted into the Treasury’s numerical register for $500 Treasury notes of one mill percent: NOTICE: The public are cautioned against trading for a five hundred dollar Treasury Note, ... viz., a Sept., 1846, Washington city; letter B: No. 426, Endorsed by Paymaster E. Kerby, to Loyd Tilgman, and by Mr. Tilgman made payable to my order, but not endorsed by me. Said note was stolen from me at Monterey, Mexico, on the 31st December, 1846; and I hereby caution the public from trading for the above Treasury note, as I have stopped its payment at the U. S. Treasury, Washington. A. G. Mayers In addition to General Taylor’s campaign in northeast Mexico, the United States launched campaigns in New Mexico and Alta California under Gen. Stephen Kearny; the Pacific coast under Naval Commodores John Sloat and Robert F. Stockton; and Southern Mexico, where the Navy under Commodore Matthew Perry blockaded the Gulf of Mexico and delivered U.S. land forces through Mexico’s main port of Veracruz. Providing money to these far-flung military campaigns thousands of miles across the continent and into foreign lands was a daunting logistical challenge for the Treasury. That the Treasury relied extensively upon Treasury notes to fund the military is exemplified by this story in the Nov. 7, 1846 issue of the Boon’s Lick Times of Fayette, Missouri: THE “BETTER CURRENCY.”--- We make the following extract from a private letter received a few days since, dated, “Weston, Mo., Nov. 3, 1846.” “Living only five miles from Fort Leavenworth, I have a chance to see some things that are going on there. On last Tuesday night they received funds to pay off their DUE BILLS; it came on in rolls, like wall paper---Treasury Notes not cut. That was the pay the poor fellows got for their due bills---at least the few of them that succeeded in getting hold of them- -- for I tell you they were all used up in a few days. I know several persons who had due bills to the amount of Ten Thousand Dollars, who went over to the Fort and got a roll of this wallpaper, to paper their---pockets! The balance who have Due Bills, are patiently waiting for a new supply of the Red Backs! They go here, fast, at ten per cent. Discount.” In addition to unsanitary conditions and ever- present diseases such as dysentery, U.S. soldiers were subjected to late pay from their Quartermasters and the plague of “camp followers”, consisting of predatory sutlers, liquor sellers, gamblers and prostitutes, all intent upon relieving them of their pay. One general became so disgusted with the discounting (known as “shaving”) of soldier’s Treasury notes by sutlers that he issued this order: (Order No. 47.) Head Quarters 2d Brigade, 2 division Volunteer Corps, Army of Occupation, Camargo, November 12, 1846 1. Sutlers will receive Treasury notes in payment for goods purchased by the soldiers, or any balances that shall or may be against them, at their par value, and any attempt to extort more than this value will be punished, when properly brought before the general commanding the brigade, by shutting up the store and sending the goods or the offender out of the country. 2. The General commanding the brigade can scarcely find words to express the astonishment he feels at the rapacity which is not content with absorbing every copper of the soldier’s hard earned pittance, but it must turn to shaving the money which he is bound to take when offered by Government, or none. He trusts that none of the sutlers of his brigade have been guilty of this outrage; but, if they have, he warns them against its Large denomination Treasury notes were issued to the Army throughout the southwest and Mexico to buy supplies. (Author’s collection) Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 91 repetition in future, as he is determined to carry out his measures to the very letter. 3. Commanding officers of regiments are held strictly responsible for the literal enforcement of the above order. By order of Brigadier General Pillow. O. F. WINSHIP. Assistant Adjutant General12 Quartermasters seeking to buy supplies for their regiments suffered from receiving Treasury notes instead of coin from the Treasury. As Brigadier General John E. Wool, in a dispatch from Coahuila, Mexico on October 14, 1846 reported, “Unfortunately the quartermaster’s department is without specie. Treasury notes are of no use to us, as the Mexicans will take nothing but gold and silver. With private means, and borrowing, we shall be able to pay for half rations of corn during our stay at this place.”13 The commander-in-chief of the army was General Winfield Scott. Known as “Old fuss and feathers”, Scott was a vain, hulking, blustering tower of a man at six feet five inches. Scott had basked in the glory of being the nation’s top military man for over thirty years. He possessed outstanding military skills and was a well-read military tactician. During the War of 1812 he took a bullet and emerged as a hero with the rank of general at the age of 27. His leadership in various Indian wars led to his appointment in 1841 as the army’s general-in-chief. War Budget for 1847 On November 7 Polk’s cabinet met to discuss budgets for the coming year. Secretary of War William Marcy estimated he would need $20 million to fight the war, an enormous figure in this era. Polk expressed fear that such a huge amount of money might alarm the public and frighten banks and investors. They also discussed the likelihood that the big banks were boycotting Treasury loans to protest the Independent Treasury Act, which stripped the banks of Government deposits by transferring them into sub-treasury facilities.14 On December 9 Secretary Walker presented to Congress his annual report, together with revenue and expense projections for the remainder of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1847. Taking into account Secretary of War Marcy’s estimate to prosecute the war and allowing for the Treasury to keep on hand a reserve of $4 million, Walker calculated the government would end the fiscal year with a deficit of $23 million. So disheartened was Walker at the prospect of securing loans from the New York banks that he proposed a new 25% duty on coffee and tea to raise a projected $2.5 million, despite the fact that he had pushed through Congress a massive reduction in tariffs earlier that year. He told Congress that “in the absence of these duties, it will probably be wholly impracticable to negotiate the loan on such terms as would be permitted by Congress.” Even if he were to empty the vaults of the New York City banks of every single dollar in gold and silver, it would amount to not more than $8 million. Walker needed to expand the supply of money and printing Treasury notes seemed to be the quickest way to do it.15 Walker recommended that Congress fund most of the deficit by issuing $19 million in Treasury notes, with the option that he could substitute a 20-year loan for any part of that amount. On January 28, 1847 President Polk signed into the law the new Treasury note act. It authorized $23 million in Treasury notes, redeemable in either one or two years, and bearing a 6% interest rate payable semi- annually. At the bearer’s option the notes could be converted at any time into 20-year bonds earning 6%. The Treasury notes could be issued in denominations as low as $50 and upon redemption could be reissued with new notes. The government could use the Treasury notes to pay public creditors, the military and anyone else willing to accept them. The notes and bonds were to be issued or sold at not less than par. The law also gave the Treasury the flexibility to substitute 20-year 6% bonds for any portion of the Treasury notes. Authority to issue the notes would cease six months after ratification of a treaty of peace with Mexico. Commanding General Winfield Scott was honored on this $100 Treasury note issued in 1861. (Author’s collection) Secretary of War William Marcy appears on the $1000 Silver Certificate of 1880. (Smithsonian Institution) Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 92 The Treasury notes were to be signed by the Treasurer and countersigned by the Register of the Treasury. Bonds were to be signed by the Register and stamped with the Treasury Department seal. This appears to be the first use of the Treasury seal on a U.S. obligation. The law also extended the period for the issue of the 1-year Treasury notes originally authorized by the act of July 22, 1846, to a maximum of $5 million. Treasury Mobbed for Old Notes The New York Tribune reported on February 9 that plates for the new 2-year Treasury notes had been engraved and some of them were printed but not yet issued. However, the old 1-year notes previously issued enjoyed a sudden surge of demand. Section 14 of the new law provided that “it shall and may be lawful for the holder of any Treasury notes issued or authorized to be issued, under this act, or any loans heretofore passed to convert the same into certificates of funded stock upon the same terms and in the same manner hereinbefore provided in relation to the Treasury notes authorized by the first section of this act.” (Author’s emphasis). The unique provision of Section 14 allowed all Treasury notes issued under all previous acts to be converted into 20-year loans at 6%. The New York Tribune reported “The Sub-Treasurer has been overrun with applicants, specie in hand, for Treasury Notes under the old act, and has declined receiving any more specie until he has instructions from the Department at Washington. He has had since Thursday more than half a million offered him for Treasury Notes... Orders have gone from here to buy at the South, and specie has been shipped to the Rio Grande to buy up what may be circulating in that part of the country.”16 The Treasury was caught unprepared to deal with the Treasury notes that poured in.17 Officials quickly met to hammer out procedures for converting notes into bonds and published instructions on February 15. It advised that depositors of Treasury notes would receive “certificates of deposite” showing the principal on which bonds would be issued. The depositor was to then forward the certificate to the Register of the Treasury, requesting the denominations of bonds wanted. Any accrued interest would be paid separately by draft.18 As a result of Section 14, $133,728 in old pre- 1846 Treasury notes were withdrawn from public hands and converted into 6% twenty-year bonds. Certainly this explains in part the lack of these early Treasury notes surviving in collectors’ hands today. 19 $18 Million Treasury Note Gamble Less than two weeks after passage of the new Treasury note act, Secretary Walker took a huge gamble: He immediately offered at auction $18 million of the $23 million authorized. It would be the single largest issue of Treasury notes ever. Haunted by the poor response he had received from his Treasury note offering in October, it represented a considerable risk. Walker set terms of the offering to allow bids for as little as $50. Moreover, he suggested that the notes might trade at a premium due to their convertibility into 20-year bonds paying 6% (known as the “6’s of 1867”). It was an audacious pronouncement from a Secretary of the Treasury. On February 22, 1847 the armies of Santa Anna and Zachary Taylor clashed at Buena Vista. An overwhelming force of 15,142 Mexican troops confronted 4,750 Americans. After U.S. forces repeatedly repulsed attacks for two days, Santa Anna’s army withdrew. It was a major victory for the outnumbered Americans. Taylor was lionized in the American press. Buena Vista was the final battle for northern Mexico, fueling speculation that the war might end soon. Now both New Mexico and California were firmly under U.S. control. The budding optimism was immensely valuable to Secretary Walker because such expectations drove up demand for Treasury notes and bonds. On March 9, forces under General Winfield Scott launched a naval assault against the key Mexican port of Veracruz, then regarded as the strongest fortress in North America. On March 13 Scott’s forces landed and formed a 7-mile siege line around the city. After Mexican defenders declined Scott’s demand for surrender on March 22, gunboat cannons and rocket fire pounded the city. General Zachary Taylor directs the Battle of Buena Vista (Currier & Ives lithograph) Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 93 Three days later the Mexicans asked for a temporary truce so that women and children could be taken to safety. Scott refused. On March 29 the Mexican army surrendered its garrisons and the Americans hoisted their flag over the city. It was not until Saturday, April 10 that news of the capture of Veracruz reached Washington. It also was the final day for bids on the $18 million Treasury note offering. Walker immediately telegraphed orders for the Treasury offices to keep their doors open until midnight so that bids could be accepted up to the last minute. Treasury officials worked to get out word of the Veracruz victory to every prospective bidder, in case they wanted to place or update their bid. A bid from a group of New York banks was not received until 8:00 pm that evening; bids came in as late as 11:00 pm. On Monday morning the bids were opened, with Secy. Walker personally breaking the seals in the presence of three Treasury officials. After all the bids were tallied the total amounted to an astounding $58 million--- more than three times the amount offered! Moreover, for the first time during a war the entire loan was subscribed to at a premium above its face value. The Washington bank of Corcoran & Riggs bid for the entire $18 million and won $14.7 million at a premium of 1/8 over par ($100.125 per $100). Elisha Riggs of New York, father of George Riggs of Corcoran & Riggs, obtained $1.65 million at $100.15. The remaining $1.9 million were sold to a few other banks and various small investors at premiums up to 2½%.20 Altogether Corcoran & Riggs, together with Elisha Riggs, won over 90% of the entire offering. The big New York, Boston and Philadelphia banking houses failed to get any of the Treasury notes. Angrily they complained that the bids were rigged against them. Yet it was a moment of triumph for Walker, who had been shunned by the same banks just months earlier.21 Two-Year Treasury Notes The new 2-year 6% Treasury Notes made their public debut about mid-February. On February 17 the Baltimore Sun reported that Treasury notes of the new issue traded in New York on Monday, February 15 at a 2% premium. They were issued in denominations of $50, $100, $500 and $1000. For the first time ever a $5000 denomination also was issued. The Treasury contracted with two firms to design, engrave and print the notes. For the $100 and $500 denominations the firm of Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson resurrected a design similar to the $50 Demand note they produced for the Treasury in 1843. The central design features an eagle with spread wings. A “beaded necklace” comprising the States’ coats of arms curls around the eagle and the denomination counters at left and right. The $100 note has vignettes of a young lady at left and Liberty, Athena and Plenty standing at right. The $500 has vignettes of Minerva standing at left and Justice standing at right. Both notes were overprinted with numerical protectors (“100” and “500”) in rust red. The $50, $1000 and $5000 were produced by Toppan, Carpenter & Co. of Philadelphia. The $50 note features a scene of an Indian Princess seated with an eagle, shield, flags and a cornucopia. To her right is a portrait of George Washington. On the left side is a portrait of Benjamin Franklin and on the right is a female representing the arts. William Corcoran’s bank bid for the entire $18 million of Treasury notes in April 1847. (Wikipedia.com) Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson resurrected elements first used for Treasury notes in 1843 for its 1847 design. Obligation at bottom allows conversion into 20-year 6% bonds. (Stacks-Bowers) In addition to the central eagle vignette, Rawdon’s 1847 $500 design portrays Minerva at left and Justice at right. (Stacks-Bowers) Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 94 Cameos at left on the 1847 $1000 note are of former Treasury secretaries Alexander Dallas (top) and Albert Gallatain (bottom). (Stacks-Bowers) The 1847 $5000 note of Toppan, Carpenter & Co., has a medallion engraving of Washington, with representations of Agriculture and Minerva at left and right. (Author’s collection) The $1000 note has a spread-winged eagle on rocks with ships on either side, most likely symbolizing America spanning the continent to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. At left are small portraits of past Treasury Secretary Alexander Dallas, above, and his friend, past Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin, below. At right is an Indian Princess symbolizing America. On the $5000 Treasury note the central design consists of two vignettes: An eagle on a tree branch with a harbor scene in the background, and a medallion bust of George Washington. The left end has a female symbolic of Agriculture while the right end has Minerva. All 2-year Treasury notes bear the obligation “Receivable for all Public Dues” and a fixed interest rate of six percent. They were redeemable for specie two years after the date hand-written on the face of the note. Interest was payable semi-annually. When the first interest payment was made the note was to be stamped on its face “six months’ interest paid”, at the second payment stamped “twelve months’ interest paid” and so on.22 The notes also are imprinted with the act date of 28 January 1847 and the 20-year bond conversion obligation: “Principal fundable at the option of the holder in United States 6 per cent stock with semiannual interest redeemable after 1867”. All 1847 2-year Treasury notes feature on their backs a convenient table to calculate interest accrued from the date of issue. All 1847 2-year Treasury notes have “PAY TO BEARER” and a line for the original recipient to endorse the note, converting it into a bearer obligation. The backs of the 2-year notes are engraved and printed in orange with geometric designs and denomination counters. At the center is an “Interest Table” displaying the exact amount of interest the Treasury note earned in dollars and cents per year, per month and per day. To the right of this is a space for the person to whom the note is made payable on the face to endorse. Once endorsed, the engraved “PAY TO BEARER” made the note a circulating obligation. While proofs or specimens of most all these notes exist, there does not appear to be any known example of the back design of the $100 denomination. It is believed that all notes were overprinted on the front with denomination protectors. However, no fully printed $50, $100 or $1000 notes are known, so the existence of protector overprints is not verified. The 1847 $50 of Toppan, Carpenter & Co. has vignettes of Washington and Franklin plus symbolic portrayals of Liberty and the Arts. (Heritage auctions) Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 95 Because the new 2-year Treasury notes traded at a premium to face value and were readily convertible into bonds, it is unlikely that any ever entered general circulation. One-year Treasury notes of the old design continued to be issued under the authority provided by the act of 28 January 1847. However, the Treasury department overprinted these notes with the act date so as to distinguish them from previous issues (Figures 19b. and 19c.). The old 1-year Treasury notes carried over from 1846 to 1847 were overprinted vertically at left “Act of 28th Jany 1847.” (Stacks-Bowers) Not So Fast Anticipating peace negotiations, President Polk appointed Nicholas Trist, chief clerk of Secretary of State James Buchanan, as his emissary to accompany General Scott in Mexico. Trist had full power to negotiate a treaty and was instructed to operate in absolute secrecy. Polk told Trist he was prepared to pay Mexico up to $20 million, or up to $30 million if Mexico would include Lower California in the deal. On May 7 Polk received a telegraph announcing a great victory by General Scott against Santa Anna on the main road from Veracruz to Mexico City. Santa Anna barely escaped, leaving behind $6,000 in coin. Four of his generals and three thousand troops were captured by the Americans. It seemed that all that remained for the government of Mexico was to negotiate peace. But no such message came from them. General Scott would have to fight his way for months through a series of battles to the doorstep of the capital. On August 8, just eight miles from Mexico City, Santa Anna placed 7,000 men and thirty cannon to halt Scott’s advance. But Scott went around them, setting up an approach from the south. Santa Anna responded by moving 20,000 troops into defensive positions south of the city. Prodding for weak points in the Mexican perimeter, 4,500 U.S. soldiers engaged 7,000 Mexicans at the town of Contreras, killing 700 and capturing 800, including four Mexican generals. Scott then launched three successful attacks near the town of Churubusco. Santa Anna lost 4,000 soldiers killed or wounded and 3,000 captured, including eight generals. Scott lost just 139 men killed and 800 wounded. On August 20 Santa Anna was forced to withdraw into Mexico City. On September 8 Scott sent 3,500 to attack Molina del Rey, a cannon foundry defended by more than 8,000 Mexican troops at the edge of the city. The Mexicans lost some 2,000 killed or wounded, with light casualties on the American side. Although vastly outnumbered, the Americans continued to advance. On September 12 they bombarded the Castle of Chapultepec, atop a hill overlooking the city. The next day Santa Anna’s army withdrew from the castle after suffering 1,800 casualties. On September 14 the city’s leaders approached Scott under a flag of truce to negotiate surrender. Santa Anna and the remains of his army had fled. Upon accepting their surrender Scott marched his troops into the central square of Mexico City, hoisted the American flag atop the National Palace and declared victory. General Scott’s army of less than 11,000 men defeated an army of 30,000 in fortified positions. Once again, Scott proved himself to be a brilliant general. The Duke of Wellington called him “the greatest living soldier” and declared his campaign to be “unsurpassed in military annals.” The War Drags On Surprisingly, the capture of Mexico City did not bring Mexico to the negotiating table. As the war dragged on into the fall and hopes for a quick peace faded, the premium on the Treasury notes steadily declined to near face value. At an October 12 cabinet meeting Polk announced that he wanted to press America’s military control of Mexico to the fullest. He would ask Congress to claim California and New Mexico as war indemnities and propose territorial governments for both. Moreover, he would offer Mexico no peace Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna suffered a series of crushing defeats at the hands of General Scott, culminating in the loss of Mexico City to the Americans. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 96 proposals but instead wait for it to sue for peace under the increasingly heavy boot of the U.S. army. His cabinet agreed on all points. President Polk sent Trist a letter with orders to cease any negotiations and return to Washington. When on November 16 Trist received his recall order, he advised Mexico’s foreign minister. Upon hearing the news, the minister wept. Santa Anna’s defeat had ushered in a new moderate government. It appointed a delegation to negotiate a treaty of peace with Trist. After consulting General Scott, Trist decided to defy the President and negotiate with Mexico, notwithstanding that he had no legal authority. After all, Scott advised, how could Polk reject a treaty if it met all the terms Polk had asked for? Throughout January of 1848 Trist met with the commissioners in Guadalupe Hidalgo, a town just north of Mexico City. Trist warned that his government was likely to physically remove him at any moment, so they must come to terms promptly or risk a much longer war and even larger losses. On February 2, Mexico signed the “Treaty of Peace, Friendship, Limits and Settlement”, later known as the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. But it would be weeks until word of the treaty reached the President. Meanwhile back in Washington, in his budget for the next fiscal year ending June 30, 1849 President Polk asked Congress for a new loan of $18.5 million on the same terms as the Act of January 28, 1847. That is to say, he wanted Treasury notes convertible into long-term bonds. It was predicated on continuing the war with Mexico and imposing no new taxes. Since the twenty-year 6% loan was so popular, why not ask Congress for bonds only, rather than Treasury notes convertible into bonds? The answer was that Walker had a plan. Mexico’s single largest export was silver and gold from its rich mines. Walker proposed that the U.S. Treasury buy Mexico’s specie with Treasury notes. The specie would be shipped to the New Orleans Mint, where it would be melted and struck into U.S. coins.23 According to the Washington Union, U.S. Treasury notes were then bringing an 8% premium in Mexico. If Congress would authorize them, Walker’s Treasury notes could buy Mexican silver and gold at a considerable discount.24 On February 17 Walker lost his bid for more Treasury notes when the House voted 105 to 104 for bonds exclusively. The next day Polk received a garbled, encoded telegraphic message. It seemed to say that Trist had reached Charleston with a peace treaty in hand. Two days later a courier delivered the treaty to Secretary Buchanan, who met with Polk that night to review it. Although Polk was angry with Trist’s insubordination, he acknowledged that the treaty complied in every way with the directions he’d given. After discussing the treaty with his cabinet, Polk sent it to the Senate. On March 10 the Senate ratified the treaty with a bipartisan vote of 38 to 14, with four abstentions. On June 9, 1848 word reached America that Mexico had ratified the treaty. Peace was established. The United States acquired 600,000 square miles of North America and an immensely valuable Pacific coastline. It was paid for with 13,780 American lives and $200 million dollars.25 On November 30, 1848 the Treasury closed its books on the Treasury notes of the Act of January 28, 1847. Including re-issues authorized under the act, a total of $25,651,100 in 2-year 6% notes and $471,000 in 1-year notes at 5 2/5% (of the old design but with the act date overprinted vertically at left) were issued. All the 1-year notes under this act were sold for specie.26 Due to the provision allowing Treasury notes to be “funded” into twenty-year 6% bonds, by 1891 $24,691,178 in Treasury notes had been converted by their owners. Of the combined total of $33,809,900 in Treasury notes issued during the Mexican War, plus nearly $134,000 in old pre-1846 Treasury notes submitted to the Treasury, almost 73% were converted into bonds.27 There is ample evidence, both in official reports as well as in contemporary press, that most of the 1- year Treasury notes issued under the Act of July 26, 1846 were used as money by the Treasury, starting with nearly $6 million paid for warrants. Polk’s war yielded a staggering 600,000 square miles to the U.S. Robert Walker was deeply disappointed that Polk didn’t seize all of Mexico for the U.S. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 97 1-Year Treasury Notes Issued Under Act of 26 July 1846.28 Sold for specie: $1,704,650 Paid out for warrants: $5,983,150 Total issued: $7,687,800 Of the above: Treasury Notes at One Mill %: $1,766,450* Treasury Notes at 5 2/5%: $5,921,350 *The Dec. 1846 Treasury report (Statement F) stated $3,853,100 in Treasury notes were issued to date. Of that, $1,766,450 were at “one mill percent on every one hundred dollars”. Since the Treasury ceased issuing one mill notes on 24 Oct. 1846 this represents the entire issue of one mill notes. By contrast, all of the 2-year Treasury Notes of the act of Jan. 28, 1847 were sold for specie to investors, brokers and banks at premiums to face value and held as investments. They were not paid out for warrants nor otherwise used as a substitute for specie by the Treasury. According to Knox the following amounts of Treasury notes issued for the Mexican War were still outstanding as of October 1, 1887: Notes Act Face Value Treasury Notes July 22, 1846 $5,900 Treasury Notes Jan. 28, 1847 $ 950 If Treasury notes lost or accidentally destroyed over the years are taken into account, it is easy to see why no notes issued under either of these acts are known to exist today. Fortunately a handful of proofs and specimens, in particular from the holdings of Alexandre Vattemare, survive for us to study and appreciate. Listing of Mexican War Treasury Notes Here is a new listing of 1846-47 U.S. Treasury notes, cross-referenced to the Hessler catalog as applicable. Act of July 22, 1846 With the declaration of war with Mexico the United States authorized a loan, Treasury Notes or both, up to $10 million. The interest rate was not to exceed six percent. Beginning August 20, 1846 the Treasury issued 1-year notes amounting to $7.7 million. $1.8 million were issued at an interest rate of one mill. Printing plates of the old designs, previously used in 1843, were resurrected, with the exception of the $50 Demand note (Hessler X-110A). The notes may be identified by handwritten dates from August 20, 1846 onward with handwritten interest rates of one mill percent or 5 2/5%. 1-Year Note at One Mill & 5 2/5% Denom Hessler# Description $50 X114A As X99A/B but overprinted “Pay to the Order of” and “Pay to Bearer” on back. $100 X108B As X99C/D “ $500 X114C As X99E/F “ $1000 X108D As X99G/H “ Act of January 28, 1847 Authorized Treasury Notes redeemable in 2 years and bearing interest of six percent. The notes were convertible at the option of the holder into 20-year 6% bonds. Issued beginning in February, 1847. $23 million were authorized but $26.1 million issued due to reissues. The first $5000 denomination was issued under this act. Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson produced new designs for the $100 and $500 notes, while Toppan, Carpenter & Co. produced the $50, $1000 and $5000 notes. Ornate orange back designs include an interest rate table and “PAY TO BEARER” for the original payee to endorse. In addition to the 2-year notes, an additional $5 million of 1-year notes of the previous 1846 type were authorized. The act added a provision that holders of these and all previously issued Treasury Notes could elect to convert them into 20-year 6% bonds. These notes are overprinted “Act of 28th Jany 1847” vertically at left (see Hessler X114B). These notes were issued with a handwritten interest rate of 5 2/5%. 2-Year 6% Notes Denom Hessler Description $50 X115A Indian maiden as America” with eagle, shield and flags; Benjamin Franklin at left. $100 X115B Eagle at center, Liberty holding olive branch at right. “100” Protector in rust red. $500 X115C Eagle at center, Minerva at left, Justice at right. “500” Protector in rust red. $1000 X115D Eagle with ships at center, Alexander Dallas and Albert Gallatin at left, Indian maiden as “America” at right. $5000 X115E Eagle on branch with ships at center, medallion of George Washington to right; woman symbolizing “Agriculture” at left, Minerva as “America” at far right. “5000” Protector in blue. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 98 1-Year 5 2/5% Note Denom Hessler Description $50 -------- As X114A but overprinted “Act of 28th Jany 1847” vertically at left $100 X114B Overprinted “Act of 28th Jany 1847” vertically at left $500 X114C “ $1000 X108D “ Footnotes 1. Shenton, Robert John Walker, p. 87. 2. Merry, A Country of Vast Designs, pp. 579-80. 3. ibid, pp. 580-583. 4. Merk, Manifest Destiny, p. 88. 5. Merry, A Country of Vast Designs, pp. 630-631. 6. New York Tribune, New York, NY, 17 Jun 1846, p. 2 7. Shenton, Robert John Walker, p. 93. 8. Baltimore Daily Commercial, Baltimore, MD, 24 Aug 1846, p. 4; The Washington Union, Washington, D.C., 8 Oct 1846, p. 3. 9. Cummings, Towards Modern Public Finance, p. 159 10. Ibid, p. 167. 11. The Tri-Weekly Commercial, Wilmington, NC 5 Nov 1846 p. 2. 12. Polk, Diary, Vol. 2, pp. 219-221. 13.“Hard Money Progress”, The Pittsburgh Gazette, Pittsburgh, PA 29 Dec 1846 p. 2. 14. Cummings, Towards Modern Public Finance, pp. 166-167. 15. The Washington Union, Washington, D.C., 24 Nov 1846, p. 2. 16. The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore, MD 22 Jan 1847 p. 4 17. New-York Tribune, New York, NY, 9 Feb 1847 p. 3 18. Shenton, Robert John Walker, p. 95. 19. The Washington Union, Washington, DC, 24 Mar 1847, p. 2. 20. Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, 1848, Table C, p. 319. 21. Weekly National Intelligencer, Washington, D.C., 17 Apr 1847, p. X 22. The Evening Post, New York, NY, 5 Mar 1847, p. X 23. Cummings, Towards Modern Public Finance, p. 246-248 24. Weekly National Intelligencer, Washington, DC, 18 Dec 1847, p. X 25. Shenton, Robert John Walker, p. 104 26. Cummings, Towards Modern Public Finance, pp. 418-424. Several attempts have been made over the years to estimate the total cost of the Mexican-American war, including treaty payments and war pensions. Cummings calculates the amount to be $213 million. 27. Cummings, Towards Modern Public Finance, pp. 250- 252; Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, Dec. 1847, Table L 28. Cummings, Towards Modern Public Finance, p. 252-253 Sources Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography 1600-1889, Vol. 6, Biographical sketch Robert J. Walker, p. 329. Biographical Dictionary of the Secretaries of the Treasury, 1789-1995, ed. Bernard S. Katz & Daniel C. Vencill, (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996) pp. 364-369. Cummings, James W., Towards Modern Public Finance: The American War with Mexico, 1846-1848, (New York, NY: Routlidge Taylor & Francis Group, 2016). Dodd, William Edward, Robert J. Walker, Imperialist, (Chicago Literary Club, 1914). Hessler, Gene, An Illustrated History of U. S. Loans; 1775-1898, (Port Clinton, OH: BNR Press, 1988). Howard, George H., The Monumental City, Its Post History and Present Resources, (Baltimore, MD: J. D. Ehlers & Co., 1873) p. 578. Johannson, Robert W., "Who is James K. Polk? The Enigma of our Eleventh President" Lecture presented in the Rutherford B, Hayes Auditorium, 14 Feb. 1999, rbhayes.org. Knox, John Jay, United States Notes, 3rd Ed. Revised, (New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1888) pp. 63-69. Lambert, Robert S., The Democratic National Convention of 1844, Tennessee Historical Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 1, March 1955, pp. 3-23. Merk, Frederick, Manifest Destiny and Mission in American History, A Reinterpretation, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ Press, 1995). Merry, Robert W., A Country of Vast Designs, (New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, New York, 2009) National Archives and Record Administration II, College Park MD, Records of the Bureau of the Public Debt, Record Group 53 (RG 53), Entry 369 (E-369), Vols 1-5. The numerical register of Treasury notes 1846-47 Newspapers.com Official Army Register for 1846, Adjutant General’s Office, (Washington, D.C., January 1846) Polk, J. K., The Diary of James K. Polk during His Presidency; 1845-1849, ed. M. M. Quaife, 4 vols (Chicago, IL: A. C. McClurg & Company, 1910). Risch, Erna, Quartermaster Support of the Army: A History of the Corps, 1775-1939 pp. 270-275 Shenton, James Patrick, Robert John Walker: A Politician from Jackson to Lincoln, (New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 1961) The United States-Mexican War, 1846-1848, peacehistory-usfp.org Walker, R. J., Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances, Dec 1846-Dec 1847 (Revised Jan. 1848). Walker, Robert J., Biographical sketch, snaccooperative.org Walker, Robert J., Biographical sketch, Wikipedia.com Woodward, G. Thomas, Revenue Response from a Tax Cut: The Walker Tariff of 1846, National Tax Association, Vol. 104, 104th Annual Conference on Taxation, Nov. 17-19, 2011, pp. 139-146. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 99 Origin of Series of 1907 $10 Gold Certificates and $5 Legal Tender Notes The officials in the U. S. Treasury were saddled with an annoying dilemma in the years immediately following the turn of the last century. They couldn’t supply sufficient numbers of low denomination notes to satisfy public and commercial demand. Their definition of low denominations was those of $10 or less. The purpose of this article is to explain the steps taken to resolve the problem. U. S. Treasurer Charles H. Treat braced Congress to take action in his 1906 annual report as follows (Treat, 1906, p. 129). CONGRESS CAN PROVIDE REMEDIES The National Government furnishes nearly three-fourths of the paper circulation, and the supply of denominations should respond to the demands of the public. The pressure from bankers and others for a larger and regular supply of small denominations of currency continues unabated, with the Treasury unable under existing law to comply with the urgent requests. The sentiment of the country seems so unanimous for a rectification of this untoward condition that it is naturally to be expected that Congress will ultimately enact the legislation that it has under consideration, which will bring full relief to Treasury conditions and add to the volume of small denominations without inflating the currency. What Treat meant by the Federal government suppling three-fourths of the currency supply was Treasury currency—legal tender notes, gold certificates and silver certificates—which were current at the time, as opposed to bank currency, which at the time consisted wholly of national bank notes. The Paper Column Peter Huntoon Figure 1. Series of 1907 $10 gold certificates, a series created to alleviate a shortage of small denomination notes in circulation, became the most widely used of the $10 Treasury currencies available in succeeding years. Heritage Auction archives photo. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 100 The recently passed Gold Standard Act of March 14, 1900, crimped the ability of the Treasury to supply small denomination currency. It along with all previous legislation authorizing the issuance of gold certificates required that they be at least $20 denominations. The Gold Standard Act also imposed guidelines for the silver certificate and legal tender issues; specifically, future issuances of silver certificates were largely restricted to $10 and smaller denominations and issuances of legal tender notes to $10 and higher denominations. These edicts were specified in Section 7 as follows. That hereafter silver certificates shall be issued only of denominations of ten dollars and under, except that not exceeding in the aggregate ten per centum of the total volume of said certificates, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, may be issued in denominations of twenty dollars, fifty dollars, and one hundred dollars; and silver certificates of higher denomination than ten dollars, except as herein provided, shall, whenever received at the Treasury or redeemed, be retired and canceled, and certificates of denominations of ten dollars or less shall be substituted therefor, and after such substitution, in whole or in part, a like volume of United States notes of less denomination than ten dollars shall from time to time be retired and canceled, and notes of denominations of ten dollars and upward shall be reissued in substitution therefore, with like qualities and restrictions as those retired and canceled. The upshot was that the future $1, $2 and $5 Treasury currency issues were going to be confined to silver certificates and past $1, $2 and $5 legal tender notes were going to be withdrawn from circulation. The total circulation of legal tender notes had been fixed at $346,681,016 when “An act to forbid the further retirement of United States legal-tender notes” was passed on May 31, 1878. The last of the Series of 1880 $1 and $2 legal tender notes had been printed in fiscal year 1896, and now, in 1900, production of the $5s ceased. Modest widely spaced printings of $20 Series of 1880 legal tenders were printed up through fiscal year 1926, and there even were printings of $1000s in 1904 and 1909 totaling 56,000 notes. However, production of all the other high denomination legal tenders ceased in 1900. Thereafter, $10s became the primary substitutes for the redeemed legal tenders as the provisions of the Gold Standard Act were carried out. It is no coincidence that the issuance of modernized $10 Series of 1901 bison legal tender note was launched as a one-denomination series. The Treasury hoped they would go a long way toward satisfying Figure 2. The Gold Standard Act of 1900 eliminated the production of $1, $2 and $5 legal tender notes and elevated $10 legal tender notes to a position of dominance in future large-size legal tender circulation in the form of these Series of 1901 bison notes. Heritage Auction archives photo. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 101 the demand for $10s. Concurrently, the production of permitted $10 Series of 1891 silver certificates was wound down to zero by fiscal year 1904, so that $1, $2 and $5s silver certificates could be substituted in their stead. The burden for supplying $1, $2 and $5 notes rested entirely on the silver certificates after the Gold Standard Act went into effect. The volume of those notes was limited by the volume of higher denomination silver certificates that could be redeemed and reissued in the smaller denominations plus new silver purchases that could be coined into silver dollars that the Treasury would stockpile to back additional issues. Treasurer Treat made it clear that the low denomination silver certificate emissions weren’t up to the task of meeting the demand. Much of his concern, which was not stated, was the Congressionally mandated limitations remained on silver purchases. The hard money Republican faction in Congress considered silver money to be inflationary because so much silver was being produced. Although they deplored monetizing silver, their compromise with the soft money crowd was to impose legislated limitations on how much of it that Treasury could purchase and coin into dollars to back silver certificates. Treasury’s pleas for Congressional relief over the small-denomination dilemma was forthcoming with passage of amendatory legislation passed March 4, 1907. The sections in that act relevant to this discussion are reproduced here with the revised language highlighted in boldface. Act of March 4, 1907 An Act To amend the national banking Act, and for other purposes. Sec. 6. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and directed to receive deposits of gold coin with the Treasurer, or any assistant treasurer of the Unties States in sums of not less than twenty dollars, and to issue gold certificates therefore in denominations of not less than ten dollars, and the coin so deposited shall be retained in the Treasury and held for the payment of such certificates on demand, and used for no other purposes. Such certificates shall be receivable for customs, taxes, and all public dues, and when so received may be reissued, and when held by any national banking association may be counted as a part of its lawful reserve. * * * That of the amount of such outstanding certificates one-fourth at least shall be in denominations of fifty dollars or less. * * * Sec. 2. That whenever and so long as the outstanding silver certificates of the denominators of one dollar, two dollars, and five dollars, issued under [Act of March 14, 1900] shall be, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Treasury, insufficient to meet the public demand therefor, he is hereby authorized to issue United States notes of the denominations of one dollar, two dollars, and five dollars, and upon the issue of United States notes of such denominations an equal amount of United States notes of higher denominations shall be retired and canceled: Provided, however, That the aggregate amount of United States notes at any time outstanding shall remain as at present fixed by law [$346,681,016]: And provided further, That nothing in this Act shall be construed as affecting the right of any national bank to issue one-third in amount of its circulation notes of the denomination of five dollars, as now provided by law. Treasurer Treat jubilantly reported passage of the Act of 1907 in his annual report for 1907 as follows (Treat, 1907, p. 135). DEMAND FOR SMALL DENOMINATION CURRENCY Recent legislation by Congress, without inflating the currency, has enlarged the resources of the Treasury for the issue of small denominations through the process of redemption and reissue. The change will be made as rapidly as possible under existing conditions. The facilities for printing the notes are limited at present, but it is expected that the output in the near future will enable the Department to respond promptly and fully to all demands for small denominations of currency. Figure 3. The annual reports by Treasurer Charles H. Treat provide the basis for our understanding of the call for and impact of the Act of March 4, 1907, that addressed a lack of small denomination notes in circulation. Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Oct 3, 1906, photo. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 102 The national banks have increased the volume of their $5 notes from $76,889,175 outstanding June 30, 1906, to $118,596,700 on October 1, 1907, and it is expected that they will continue the growth of that denomination until the limit (one-third in amount of their circulating notes) has been reached. There were three items of particular note in the 1907 legislation. First, $10 gold certificates were authorized for the first time in our history, a denomination considered to be in short supply. Second, the restrictions against the printings of $1, $2 and $5 legal tender notes in the Gold Standard Act were lifted. Third, no new restrictions were placed on the issuance of $5s by national banks, so their continued availability would help alleviate shortages of $5s. The Treasury responded immediately by putting into production two new series; specifically, Series of 1907 $10 gold certificates and Series of 1907 $5 legal tender notes. At the outset, each of these series contained only one denomination in its class similar to the Series of 1901 $10 legal tenders. However, a newly redesigned $1000 was added to the Series of 1907 gold certificates in fiscal year 1908, to replace the $1000 1882 Department Series $1000s last printed in FY 1904. No other denominations ever were added to the Series of 1907 legal tenders. The contributions of Treasury currency toward supplying the demand for low denomination notes in the ensuing decade (July 1, 1907 through June 30, 1916) were these. Series of 1899 silver certificates accounted for all the $1s and $2s; respectively, 1,605,902,600 and 250,205,000 notes. Series of 1907 legal tender notes and Series of 1899 silver certificates shared the burden for the $5s, split 183,318,000 and 209,581,000 notes, respectively. Series of 1901 legal tender notes, Series of 1908 silver certificates and Series of 1907 gold certificates accounted for 39,102,000, 8,081,000 and 99,276,800 $10 notes, respectively. Clearly, the gold certificates did the heavy lifting for the $10s. There is a subtle but important factor that is important to this discussion. In 1878, when the outstanding circulation of legal tender notes was frozen at $346,681,016, legal tender notes were the only class of currency defined as lawful money that could be used by bankers as reserves against their national bank note circulations and deposits. National currency was considered to be soft money because it was both backed by and redeemable into greenback legal tender notes, which were nothing more than circulating Figure 4. The Act of March 4, 1907 authorized the issuances of $1, $2 and $5 legal tender notes to help alleviate the shortage of small denomination notes. Only these Series of 1907 $5s were actually used until 1917. Heritage Auction archives photo. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 103 Federal debt. Hard money advocates wanted to do away with legal tender currency because they considered it to be inflationary. If they had succeeded in redeeming all of it, national currency would vanish as well. The fact that national bankers had to tie up huge amounts of legal tender notes in their reserves meant that those notes were effectively off the streets and not available to commerce no matter what their denominations. Congress already had provided a mechanism to dislodge the legal tender notes held by the bankers in an amendment to the National Bank Act dated July 12, 1882. Section 12 of that act specified that gold and silver certificates shall be counted as part of the lawful reserve of national banks. This in effect defined silver and gold certificates as lawful money for national bank reserve purposes. A careful reading of the Section 6 of the March 4, 1907, act reaffirmed the lawful status of gold certificates; specifically, “Such certificates * * * when held by any national banking association may be counted as a part of its lawful reserve.” Through this opening, bankers were encouraged to substitute gold certificates for their legal tender notes and silver certificates, and thereby release them to the Treasury so they could be converted into the needed low denominations in their respective classes. Here is where the Series of 1907 $1,000 gold certificates came in to play and the primary reason for producing them. The Treasury started printing the $1000s in FY 1908 and by the end of FY 1917, 228,000 had been printed. Those notes were not at all useful in circulation; however, they were the perfect vehicle for national bankers to use for their reserves because they were compact and easy to count. The Treasury made them available for exactly this purpose. They would dislodge the high denomination legal tender notes and silver certificates from the banker’s reserves, which Treasury could then substitute respectively for new issues of $5 1907 and $10 1901 legal tender notes and $1, $2 and $5 1899 and $10 1908 silver certificates. This is exactly what transpired. Notice here again, that the Treasury didn’t fall back to printing old design $10 Series of 1891 silver certificates, which hadn’t been printed since FY 1903. Instead, in FY 1908, they came out with an entirely new modernized silver certificate series, the Series of 1908. Once again, we had a new series that was comprised of only one denomination. Ultimately a total of 10,208,000 of them were printed inclusive of FYs 1908 and 1918 to help alleviate the shortage of $10s. Figure 5. The primary purpose for printing Series of 1907 $1000s was so they could be substituted for high denomination legal tender notes and silver certificates in national bank reserves so that an equal amount of lower denominations in those classes could be reissued for use in circulation. Heritage Auction archives photo. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 104 The provisions in Act of 1907 dealing with bank reserves seems quite arcane but notice that they created opportunities to accomplish the objective of introducing more $10 and smaller denominations into circulation. Yes, subtle, but effective. Notice that although authorized by the Act of March 4, 1907, no legal tender $1s or $2s were utilized until 1917. Silver certificates of those denominations satisfied the demand until then. The Comptroller of the Currency did his part to help the situation in 1906, as per this circular sent to every national bank note cashier in the country (Ridgely, July 23, 1906). Under authority of section 5172, U.S.R.S., relating to the engraving of plates and the printing therefrom of national bank circulation, you may order, if you desire, a plate for four $10 notes in addition to or in lieu of any plate heretofore ordered by your bank, the cost of which to your bank will be $75. The act of March 14, 1900, provided in part that no national banking association shall be entitled to receive and issue more than one-third in amount of its circulating notes of the denomination of $5; hence an association desiring to issue $5 notes must necessarily issue also notes of other denominations. Heretofore orders have been received for the printing from one plate of three $10 and one $20, but to enable the issue of as large an amount of small notes as possible, the foregoing suggestion relative to ordering a plate for four $10 is submitted. The fact is that the problem of satisfying the demand for small denomination large-size notes never was fully resolved. As but one example, the Treasury resorted to issuing legal tender $1 and $2 in 1917, using the authority to do so vested in the Act of March 4, 1907, when silver certificates couldn’t satisfy all the demand. These came out in the two-note legal tender Series of 1917. References Cited and Sources of Data Bureau of Engraving and Printing, 1906-1929, Annual reports of the Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing: Government Printing Office, Washington, FC. Treat, Charles H., 1906, Report of the Treasurer; in, Annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the state of the finances for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1906: Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, p. 107-225. Treat, Charles H., 1907, Report of the Treasurer; in, Annual report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the state of the finances for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1907: Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, p. 113-237. Ridgely, William B., July 23, 1906, Circular relative to ordering plates for $10 notes: Division of Issues, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Washington, DC. United States Statutes, various act pertaining to currency: Government Printing Office, Washington, DC. Figure 6. Another new series, the Series of 1908 silver certificates with but one denomination, a $10, were forthcoming in FY 1908 to be used to help relieve the shortage of $10s. Heritage Auction archives photo. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 105 British POW and Internee Camp Money by Steve Feller 3-pence British POW note Introduction World War II had tens of thousand of camps that served a myriad of purposes. This included prisoners-of-war (POW) camps, civilian internee camps, relocation centers, concentration camps, ghettos, industrial labor camps and more. There were thousands of POW camps on both sides. Britain itself had hundreds of POW camps as well as additional civilian internee camps. The POW camps were run by the British War Department whereas the civilian internee camps were run by its Home Office. This article will survey a few of the British camps and include details of the money as well as camp information. The website https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/nov/08/prisoner-of-war-camps-uk#data lists every WWII POW camp in Great Britain. About 400,000 POWs were housed in at least many hundreds of camps. The camps were numbered and the final number listed is 1026. However, it is not known if all numbers were utilized. Insufficient research has been done to date. However, it is known from the notes themselves that unused camp numbers were used for camps run by the British army in France. In comparison, the United States had around 500 POW camps that housed roughly 1,000 POWs each. US camps have scrip as well as can be seen here from Algona, Iowa. The British and American scrip were issued under the terms of the Geneva Convention of July 27, 1929. These were signed that day by many nations including the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, France, Germany, and Italy. Articles 27 to 34 covered labor by prisoners of war. They are reproduced here with the bolded parts specifically relating to payment of wages; the POW money was a direct result of these provisions: SECTION III WORK OF PRISONERS OF WAR CHAPTER 1 General Art. 27. Belligerents may employ as workmen prisoners of war who are physically fit, other than officers and persons of equivalent statue, according to their rink and their ability. 1-cent Algona, Iowa POW scrip Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 106 Nevertheless, if officers or persons of equivalent status ask for suitable work, this shall be found for them as far as possible. Non-commissioned officers who are prisoners of war may be compelled to undertake only supervisory work, unless they expressly request remunerative occupation. During the whole period of captivity, belligerents are required to admit prisoners of war who are victims of accidents at work to the benefit of provisions applicable to workmen of the same category under the legislation of the detaining Power. As regards prisoners of war to whom these legal provisions could not be applied by reason of the legislation of that Power, the latter undertakes to recommend to its legislative body all proper measures for the equitable compensation of the victims. CHAPTER 2 Organization of work Art. 28. The detaining Power shall assume entire responsibility for the maintenance, care, treatment and the payment of the wages of prisoners of war working for private individuals. Art. 29. No prisoner of war may be employed on work for which he is physically unsuited. Art. 30. The duration of the daily work of prisoners of war, including the time of the journey to and from work, shall not be excessive and shall in no case exceed that permitted for civil workers of the locality employed on the same work. Each prisoner shall be allowed a rest of twenty-four consecutive hours each week, preferably on Sunday. CHAPTER 3 Prohibited work Art. 31. Work done by prisoners of war shall have no direct connection with the operations of the war. In particular, it is forbidden to employ prisoners in the manufacture or transport of arms or munitions of any kind, or on the transport of material destined for combatant units. In the event of violation of the provisions of the preceding paragraph, prisoners are at liberty, after performing or commencing to perform the order, to have their complaints presented through the intermediary of the prisoners' representatives whose functions are described in Articles 43 and 44, or, in the absence of a prisoners' representative, through the intermediary of the representatives of the protecting Power. Art. 32. It is forbidden to employ prisoners of war on unhealthy or dangerous work. Conditions of work shall not be rendered more arduous by disciplinary measures. CHAPTER 4 Labour detachments Art. 33. Conditions governing labour detachments shall be similar to those of prisoners-of-war camps, particularly as concerns hygienic conditions, food, care in case of accidents or sickness, correspondence, and the reception of parcels. Every labour detachment shall be attached to a prisoners' camp. The commander of this camp shall be responsible for the observance in the labour detachment of the provisions of the present Convention. CHAPTER 5 Pay Art. 34. Prisoners of war shall not receive pay for work in connection with the administration, internal arrangement and maintenance of camps. Prisoners employed on other work shall be entitled to a rate of pay, to be fixed by agreements between the belligerents. These agreements shall also specify the portion which may be retained by the camp administration, the amount which shall belong to the prisoner of war and the manner in which this amount shall be placed at his disposal during the period of his captivity. Pending the conclusion of the said agreements, remuneration of the work of prisoners shall be fixed according to the following standards: (a) Work done for the State shall be paid for according to the rates in force for soldiers of the national forces doing the same work, or, if no such rates exist, according to a tariff corresponding to the work executed. (b) When the work is done for other public administrations or for private individuals, the conditions shall be Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 107 settled in agreement with the military authorities. The pay which remains to the credit of a prisoner shall be remitted to him on the termination of his captivity. In case of death, it shall be remitted through the diplomatic channel to the heirs of the deceased. British WD Notes The British notes are larger and more ornate than the American scrip; the dimensions of the British notes are about 140 mm x 84 mm whereas the US POW scrip was about 51mm x 24mm with more variations in size than the British notes. Shown below are the face and back of a British POW note from Nottingham, England. The camp is identified with number 166 stamped on the face of the note which in the master list of camps provided earlier was Camp 166 at Wollaton Park, not far from the present University of Nottingham. Each POW note has a large WD on the face, as well, which stands for the War Department. The notes are serial numbered. The back of the note has eight validation circles where the note would be stamped every three months. There is a plethora of stampings. Face and back of 6-pence note from POW Camp 166. This camp was located in Nottingham, England. Newspaper announcement of the formation of the Wollaton Park POW camp in Nottingham, England. Here is a photo of the camp in its heyday: Wollaton Park POW camp circa 1945. Today Camp 166, Wollaton Park, Nottingham has one last barracks building. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 108 In 1946 three prisoners escaped but were captured shortly after, though they made it 18 miles from Wollaton Park. Another Nottinghamshire POW camp issued currency. This was the one at RAF Langer, just a few miles from Nottingham. Note the back of the note with a wonderful array of purple stampings. The notes, first issued in 1943, have been known since the war. An early description of them was given in 1965 and 1966 (second edition) by Arlie Slabaugh in his classic Prisoner of War Monies and Medals. In that slim volume the British POW notes are listed as rare. Although detailed listings are absent the essential listings are correct. Beginning in 1989 Lance Campbell listed the notes in his Prisoner of War and Concentration Camp Money of the 20th Century. For camps in England the listings are: Denomination Color (Slabaugh/Campbell) Recently Observed 3 pence Blue Blue 6 pence Green Green 1 shilling Pink Pink 2 shillings Orange Orange 2 shillings 6 pence Purple Purple 5 shillings Brown Brown 10 shillings Yellow Yellow In addition, earlier in 1941, three white tokens with black lettering were issued in ½, 1, and 6 pence denomination. In France, similar notes were issued by the British forces for their POW camps but they were denominated in francs: Wollaton Park POW camp in the local newspaper. Face and back of one-shilling note from POW camp 262 near Langar, Nottinghamshire. This was part of RAF Langar. Face and back of the unissued 10-shilling British POW note. This and the two-shilling note are the rarest notes of the series. Courtesy of Harold Kroll. Half-pence British POW token 1-pence British POW tokens Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 109 Denomination Color from Slabaugh/Campbell Actual observation 50 centimes or ½-franc Blue Blue 1 franc Green Green 2 ½ francs Pink Pink 5 francs Lilac (Sl) or Orange (Ca) Lilac 10 francs Brown Brown 50 francs Yellow Yellow 100 francs unknown Orange Apparently, the camp numbering used in France were part of the list also used in England and the numbers were intermixed. In 1945 the exchange rate between the pound and the franc was 480 francs to the pound. This was a time when the pound was about $4.00. By 1949 it was 980 francs whereas the pound itself had fallen to $2.80. With 240 pence to the pound, the lowest franc issue, ½ franc was worth ¼ pence. The largest franc issue of 100 francs was worth 50 pence or a bit more than 4 shillings since 12 pence was a shilling. Thus, the French issues were roughly half the face value of their British counterparts. As mentioned, over the next few years the French POW issues further devalued against the British issues. French denominated notes for a British POW camp located in France. 10 francs note courtesy of Dave Frank. 50 and 100 francs notes for a British POW camp in France (courtesy of Dave Frank). The 100 francs note is the rarest note of the franc series. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 110 Face and back of 3 pence note from Camp 18, Featherstone, Northumberland Another camp issue was for Camp 18 in Featherstone, Northumberland and it is shown below along with some images of what’s left at the camp today: British HO Notes The Isle of Man had ten WWII Civilian Internment/POW Camps. During their run as internment camps first local paper scrip and some metal tokens were issued. Later on, Home Office (HO) notes and the POW tokens were issued of a common design for many of the camps. These designs are extremely similar to the British POW notes and it is believed served as the model for the WD notes. The first one shown below was used at the Palace Camp in Douglas. This particular note came from an original wallet made in the camp purchased on E-Bay by the author. The second note was issued in the Onchan Camp. In most cases, the HO notes are rarer than the WD notes. Isle of Man Paper Money informs us that the Hutchinson, Metropole, Mooragh, Onchan, Palace, and Peveril camps used HO notes. Unissued notes exist as well. In this book Pam West and Alan Kelly suggest that the WD notes were used on the Isle of Man after the civilian camps closed and became POW camps Camp 18 ruins. From the entryway to Featherstone Park POW Camp. Note the plaque on the left embedded into the column on the right. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 111 1-shilling HO note from the Palace Camp-Isle of Man. 3-pence HO note from the Onchan Camp--Isle of Man. What follows is a full listing of the HO notes (with assistance from Isle of Man Paper Money by Pam West and Alan Kelly) Denomination Color Denomination Color 3 pence Brown 2 shillings 6 pence Green 6 pence Red 5 shillings Light Brown 1 shilling Blue Other POW Notes There were many other POW issues in WWII. A few notes from French and German camps are shown here for comparison purposes. One-franc POW note from France 10-mark POW note from Germany Conclusions In terms of POW notes from the Second World War this is a large area of interesting notes. This article but scratched the surface. There is still much research that needs to take place in this somewhat neglected series. Acknowledgements Dave Frank and Harold Kroll are thanked for the use of scans of their notes. Bibliography Books Arlie Slabaugh Prisoner of War Monies and Medals (Second Edition) (Hewitt Brothers: Chicago) 1966 Lance Campbell Prisoner of War and Concentration Camp Money of the 20th Century Second Edition(BNR Press: Port Clinton, OH) 1993 Pam West and Alan Kelly Isle of Man Paper Money (British Notes: Surrey, UK) 2015. Websites https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/nov/08/prisoner-of-war-camps-uk#data https://www.tracesofwar.com/sights/26075/Barrack-Prisoner-of-War-Camp-Wollaton-Park.htm https://www.google.com/search?q=camp+18+POW&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjU857qgNToAhXNK80KHZ0gCM8Q sAR6BAgKEAE&biw=1489&bih=736 https://www.flickr.com/photos/45904802@N08/5442836277 https://nottstalgia.com/forums/topic/11800-wollaton-park-pow-camp/ Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Geneva, 27 July 1929 https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/INTRO/305 For note images: Pam West’s website: http://www.britishnotes.co.uk/?page=stock_list&categoryid=17 Colin Narbeth and Son Ltd. website: https://colin-narbeth.com/ Spink website: https://www.spink.com/ Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 112 50th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Ella Overby Hoard Starbuck, Minnesota This is the story of the Ella Overby hoard in Starbuck, Minnesota; probably the best documented currency hoard on record that involved a significant number of large size nationals. The hoard reached numismatic hands in 1971 and many of the non-Minnesota notes began to be offered by Hickman and Waters in their 30th fixed price list in April of that year. Minnesota was the best represented state with some 432 large size notes from 105 different banks in 84 towns (Wheeler, 1980). Another 270 notes came from 30 other states (Huntoon, 1974). The notes in Mrs. Overby’s stash totaled about $96,000, which included $35,000 that were judged to have numismatic value (Pope County Tribune, 1971). There was $18,000 in large size notes of which $7,245 were nationals numbering 702 notes using potentially incomplete data. The remaining $61,000 was deemed to have no numismatic value, so was distributed to her heirs. The composition of the hoard was particularly heavy in World War I, World War II, and later notes. A sparseness of 1930 vintage notes reflected the privations of the depression years. Ella Overby died October 26, 1970, at 86 while living alone at her home in Starbuck, Minnesota. Oliver Nygaard, a nephew of her late husband, was appointed special administrator of her estate. He had handled her business affairs since the death of her husband in 1962. Mr. Nygaard discovered the hoard while looking through her house, first $248 in old purses on the first day of his search, and the rest on the second day in an 18-inch square cardboard box (Pope County Tribune, 1970). The estate was probated by the law firm of Callaghan and Nelson in Glenwood across Lake Minnewaska from Starbuck. They in turn engaged E. N. Nordgaard, a local person with numismatic experience, to help evaluate the contents of the hoard. Mrs. Overby lived a frugal existence in a modest 2-story home on East 6th Street without plumbing or heating, although it did have electricity. The only heat she had was from a coal-burning kitchen stove, so she lived and slept in her narrow kitchen in the winter, then moved to the upstairs bedroom during the warmer months (Pope County Tribune, 1970). The Paper Column Peter Huntoon Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 113 Hickman was told that the only luxury she allowed herself was to hire the paper boy to cut the grass in her yard. The staple of her diet was the vegetables that she grew in her garden. Her primary crop was potatoes. It was said that a local grocer kept a package of wieners that he allowed her to purchase one at a time. Ella Urness was born in 1884, the youngest of eight children, on her parents’ farm that they had homesteaded in nearby Blue Mounds Township. Both of Ella’s parents emigrated with their families from the Sogn og Fjordane region of Norway, her father at age 26, about 1864, and her mother at 9 about 1851. Both families settled in Blue Mounds Township in Wisconsin, which supported a substantial Norwegian community at the time. After the two married in 1869, they moved to Pope County, Minnesota, which was on the frontier and settled there in another Norwegian community named Blue Mounds Township after the one in Wisconsin. Mrs. Overby’s father died in 1914 and mother in 1929. She continued living on their farm with two brothers and two sisters until she married in 1934, at age 49. She then moved with her husband Melchior “Mike” Overby to the house in Starbuck. According to information from the 1940 census, they were paying $10 per month rent for the house in 1940 (Ancestry). Mr. Overby was a Norwegian emigrant, three years younger than Ella, who arrived in the United States in 1904. He found employment as a farm hand in McKenzie County, North Dakota. He was hired in 1930 as a section hand for the Northern Pacific Railroad in Minnesota, a job from which he retired in 1954. Mr. Overby died in 1962, leaving Ella his small railroad pension. Mrs. Overby was the last surviving of her siblings so she ultimately inherited her parent’s 160-acre farm in Blue Mounds Township and 80 acres in New Prairie Township (Pope County Tribune, 1970). None of her seven siblings married so presumably any wealth they left funneled to her as well. Thus, she had means beyond her husband’s railroad pension, which his nephew, Mr. Nygaard, helped her manage. She maintained a bank account in The First National Bank of Starbuck, probably primarily to handle the income from the farm land. What little we know about Mrs. Overby and her hoard were second hand recollections passed on to John Hickman by those who handled her estate. These were recounted to me by John in 1971. As with all great stories, there were embellishments at each step in the retelling. Mr. Nordgaard already had sifted through the hoard and rearranged the contents so Hickman and his partners did not see it or its organization in its original state. John was told that the money was found in envelopes nicely stratified in the box from oldest on the bottom to youngest on the top. Once in the box, the envelopes were unruffled. When Mrs. Overby received money from her mother’s estate in 1929, it was duly placed in an envelope in the stack. Likewise, when she married in 1934, the money she received as wedding gifts was in the envelopes they came in (Pope County Tribune, 1970). When her husband died in 1962, she withdrew his savings from his bank account and that money was found in an envelope in chronological order. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 114 Thereafter, she would cash his pension check of $120, withdraw $15 for her monthly living expenses and deposit the pension envelope with the remaining $105 in the box. The bulk of the hoard was assembled after Mrs. Overby got married in 1934. $78,000 consisted of small size notes. That fact coupled with the observation that not much was saved during the depression years implies that most of the small size notes were added after about 1940. Probably much of it represented inheritances from her siblings. The $18,000 worth of large size notes were primarily printed in the teens and twenties, the implication being that her accumulation began in earnest circa 1910. Older notes in the hoard were few and those printed before 1900 generally were well worn. For example, the only Series of 1875 national bank notes in the hoard —two $20s—were printed circa 1896-7, so they would have been in circulation in 1900. Hickman speculated that some of the notes might even have come from a hoard started by her parents. The discovery of the hoard received publicity including sensational headlines such as $500,000 in Old Money Is Left by Widow (St. Cloud Times, Nov 7, 1970) and Heir Finds $500,000 in Old Money (Minneapolis Star Tribune, Nov 7, 1970). Dean Oakes told me by phone in August 2020 that Mort Melamed, the preeminent Minnesota national bank note collector at the time, soon got wind of the hoard and contacted him and Hickman to see if they would be interested in partnering in order to submit a winning offer for it. This they agreed to do with a three-way split. Mort would get the Minnesota nationals, Hickman and Waters the non-Minnesota nationals, and Oakes the large size type notes. In due course, their offer of $55,000 for the $35,000 that was deemed to have numismatic value was accepted (Pope County Tribune, 1971). Mort received the notes from the estate so Hickman and Oakes drove up to Mort’s house in St. Paul where they carved up the hoard. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 115 The large size type notes were circulated, although many $5 1899 silver certificate Indians were exceptionally nice. There were a few gold certificates. However, none of the type notes had a face value greater than $20, and there were no outstanding rarities among the lot. There were no $1, $2 or $50 notes of any type or series in the hoard. There was one $100, an 1882 date back national. There were a few gold and silver coins, which amounted to about $300 face, most of which was gold. The large size nationals comprised the most spectacular part of the hoard and represented 31 states. As expected, Minnesota notes dominated, and of those some 158 Series of 1902 blue seals were issued by The First National Bank of Starbuck a few blocks from the Overby’s house. Among the Starbuck notes were gem uncirculated cut sheets. The most distant bank represented was an 1882 date back $20 in very good condition from The First National Bank of Hawaii at Honolulu. As expected, the notes from nearby states were more plentiful than distant locations. For example, there were 40 large size North Dakota notes, a group that contained previously unheard-of rarities. Other rarities included a few notes from Montana. One, which is illustrated here, is an 1882 date back $10 from Kalispell in spectacular condition. The two Series of 1875 $20s were from The First National Bank of Homer, New York, and The First National Bank of Le Mars, Iowa. They graded g-vg and f-vf respectively. Series of 1882 brown backs and 1902 red seals were represented, but not in quantity. There were some great rarities among the 37 red seals. Contemplate, for example, the following: $20 Grand Valley National Bank of Grand Junction, Colorado; $10 First National Bank of Sandpoint, Idaho; $20 First National Bank of Meridian, Mississippi; $10 First National Bank of Sheyenne, North Dakota; and $5 First National Bank of Medical Lake, Washington. John Hickman Dean Oakes Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 116 Reconstructed Breakdown of the Large Size Nationals in the Hoard Non-Minnesota nationals by series (Huntoon, 1974): $5 $10 $20 $100 Series of 1875 2 Series of 1882 brown backs 2 12 6 Series of 1882 date backs 6 8 2 1 Series of 1882 value backs 1 1 2 Series of 1902 red seals 4 25 11 Series of 1902 date backs 3 65 18 Series of 1902 plain back 26 52 23 Minnesota nationals by series (Wheeler, 1980): Series of 1882 brown backs 3 3 1 Series of 1882 date backs 9 1 Series of 1882 value backs 3 Series of 1902 red seals 2 13 2 Series of 1902 date backs 11 28 1 Series of 1902 plain backs 154 149 52 Mort Melamed was one delighted collector. He added 60 Minnesota notes to his collection from the hoard (Wheeler, 1980). Unfortunately, a comprehensive listing by note does not appear to have been made for the hoard. By the time the hoard came in, Hickman was compiling census data on cards or photocopies trimmed to the size of large size notes and annotating them with pedigrees. It is certain that virtually all of the non- Minnesota notes were recorded in this fashion. However, the only way he could have gotten the Minnesota data would have been if Mort had provided it to him because Mort took those notes at the time of the split. This was unlikely because Mort just wasn’t the type to take time to compile such information. Instead, Mort let his good friend Jim Wheeler compile the summary provided here. A caveat is warranted with respect to the Minnesota data in the table. The totals reported don’t jibe with the census data that is now available. There are now many more Series of 1902 date backs recorded from the hoard just from the Starbuck bank than listed on the table from all of Minnesota by Wheeler. Clearly Wheeler did not see all of the Minnesota notes and probably not all the Starbuck notes. To reconstruct a list of at least the non-Minnesota’s, one would have to sift through the more than 150,000 individual paper records in Hickman’s census file, which resides at the Higgins Museum in Okoboji, Iowa, and look for the Overby hoard pedigree. A lingering question surrounds the purchase. What was in the $17,000 in face of small size notes that Melamed, Hickman and Oakes received? These were deemed by Mr. Nordgaard to possibly have some numismatic value so were set aside, whereas the $61,000 in other small size in the hoard was considered to have no numismatic value and was distributed to the heirs. Dean Oakes recalls that when Mort received the notes, Mort quickly determined that the small size had no particular value so he banked them to free up their capital. However, there had to be some small size nationals in this group, which have gone under the radar in people’s memory, including mine. They were pulled but they were not plentiful owing to the fact that Mrs. Overby was not adding much to the hoard during the depths of the depression. Evidence that there were some was found by Iowa specialist James Ehrhardt, who along with Steven Sweeney, maintains the Iowa national bank note census. While compiling the census from Hickman’s data cards at the Higgins Museum, Ehrhardt observed that John used the code EO-HW (Ella Overby-Hickman & Waters) for notes entered into his data base during the spring of 1971. He was then able to isolate records for 16 large size and one small size Iowa notes from the hoard. The small size record Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 117 was for a $10 from The First National Bank of Thompson, charter 5054, bearing serial F000319A. At the time Hickman and Waters took delivery in 1971, I was living in Lincoln, Nebraska, having recently been hired at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Hickman called saying he had just picked up the notes so I should come over to have a look. He made it clear that they hadn’t worked the notes into their inventory so none were for sale, and besides, they only would be offered through their price lists. I was over like a shot. We met in Waters’ basement at his home in Van Meter just west of Des Moines on April 3, a Saturday. When I arrived, they could hardly contain themselves. They proceeded to show me the notes one at a time, expressing obvious delight at each interesting item. This took almost an hour of hurried looking through those 270 virgins. Two things stood out to me, a perception also shared by Hickman and Waters. Large city banks were very poorly represented. Most of the notes were from small rural banks regardless of state. Also, the average grade of the notes was noticeably high for hoard notes. Personally, I was somewhat disappointed to learn that there were no Arizona or New Mexico notes among the lot, but this would have been highly unlikely in a cache assembled so distant from those states. When the smoke cleared, they did send me home with a $10 1902 from Petersburg, North Dakota, for my Peter-town collection and the $10 1882 date back from The Conrad National Bank of Kalispell. There was a third note that consumed an inordinate amount of negotiating, the low grade $20 Series of 1882 brown back from Joliet illustrated here. I didn’t spot it until fairly late in the evening as it went by a second or third time. I nonchalantly pulled it out and asked “Why don’t you sell me this note?” They didn’t even bother answering. This note was clearly not the type of thing I bought, and it was low grade to boot. I had been selling them this type of material for years, so both knew something was up. Hickman turned to Waters, who also was eyeing the note with suspicion, saying “He sees something Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 118 we don’t, what do you think John?” Hickman went over the note in meticulous detail, finally reaching into the drawer for a magnifying glass to get an even closer look. I felt my chances were rising when after some ten frustrating minutes he handed the note to Waters who was also at a loss for my interest in it. I knew the 1882 boldly splashed across the back of the note had escaped them, so I reached for the note and asked for a price. Simultaneously a chorus went up from the two of them. “You’re not getting it until we see what you see!” Hickman snatched the note from my hands and continued to study it for maybe another ten minutes, scanning it, feeling the paper, comparing every detail to other $20 brown backs, and even smelling it. Finally, an expression of utter delight crossed his face, and with an ear-splitting roar he exclaimed “Waters, the charter number and series are the same!” Hickman was practically rubbing the back in Waters face now. As you can imagine, the price negotiations took another half hour. They let me off for $55, which seemed like a lot of money to me for such a note in those days, Needless to say, their lists at the time were unmatched in scope and depth with this virgin material. They were judicious in their handling of the flaming rarities, offering them only on a trade basis for similar quality material. One from this elite group that I eventually negotiated in May was the $20 Grand Junction red seal. When that deal was consummated, I felt like I had been stretched on the rack. Acknowledgment, References Cited and Sources of Data Mark Drengson helped immensely by pulling together newspaper articles and genealogical data. Richard Radick pulled together other genealogical data and developed valuable insights pertaining to the incompleteness of the Minnesota summary published by Jim Wheeler that is reproduced here. Ancestry.com, Ella Urness Overby; Mike Overby. Drengson, Mark, current, Https://banknotehistory.com/wiki/The_Ella_Overby_Hoard,_Starbuck,_MN Hickman, John, and John Waters, Apr 1971, 30th fixed price list: 8 p. Huntoon, Peter., Apr 1974, The Paper Column (Overby Hoard): Bank Note Reporter, v. 2, p. 2. Pope County Tribune, Nov 12, 1970, $100,000 found in Starbuck home. Pope County Tribune, Mar 11, 1971, Overby money sold to Iowa currency firm. St. Cloud Times, Nov 7, 1970, $500,000 in old money is left by widow, p. 2. Minneapolis Star Tribune, Nov 7, 1970, Heir finds $500,000 in old money, p. 5. Starbuck Times, Nov 12, 1970, Fortune in old currency found in Starbuck home. Wheeler, Jim, Jul-Aug 1980, Thank you, Ella Overby for a Minnesota nationals hoard! Paper Money, v. 19, p. 206-208. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 119 Thomas Macdonough, Naval Hero by Terry A. Bryan Plattsburgh, New York has a magnificent stone tower monument to Commodore Thomas Macdonough’s victory in the War of 1812. To our The Plattsburgh, N.Y. Macdonough Battle Monument overlooks Lake Champlain. British enemies, this war was a side issue arising out of the war with Napoleon and France. Hostilities at the expanding western frontier, the northern border with Canada and at sea resulted in more American casualties than British. However minor to the British, the War of 1812 resulted in a philosophy of American preparedness and expansion that continued for decades. The events are thought to be an early hint of the United States’ progression to a world power. Lake Champlain is a huge watery highway used in Colonial times as a link between the St. Lawrence River and the Hudson River along the New York-Vermont border. Its strategic importance was noted during the Revolution. Ships built on the Lake fought battles and the forts on the banks changed hands as the Americans fought to expel the British from the area. With a similar strategy in the War of 1812, the British sought to cut off New England from the rest of the United States by invasion from the Canadian end of the Lake by land and by water. Shipbuilding and conversion of the freshwater fleet of merchant vessels created powerful fleets on both sides by September of 1814. This last attempt by the British to invade the northern states was foiled on land by Brigadier General Alexander Macomb (1782-1841) and defeated at sea by Lt. Thomas Macdonough, Junior (1783-1825). Thomas Macdonough was the son of a physician who farmed in New Castle County, Delaware. His father was a Revolutionary War officer who had been recognized for bravery by Washington. His crossroads birthplace was later named “Macdonough” in his honor. It is referred to as “near Middletown” [Delaware], creating confusion in some sources with Middletown, Connecticut, an important location in Macdonough’s later life. Young Thomas went to sea as a Midshipman at age 16, following in the example of an older brother, who returned to Delaware maimed from a sea battle. Around 1799 he changed the spelling of his name from McDonough. Thomas evidently showed promise aboard ship. Within two years, he had participated in naval actions against France and was assigned to the Mediterranean cruise of the USS Constellation against Tripoli. Intensive education in the fighting navy continued on other ship assignments. His actions in the forefront Stephen Decatur’s mission in Tripoli harbor resulted in his promotion to [acting] Lieutenant in 1804. Further service with Decatur and on other ships brought Macdonough to Middletown, Connecticut. He was in charge of building a fleet of gunboats. These small craft were usually armed with one naval cannon, sailed with sloop rigging on one mast, often augmented by oarsmen. They are sometimes referred to as “galleys” when used on Lake Champlain. His contacts with the shipbuilding industry and familiarity with the necessities of fitting out small ships was vital to his later experiences on Lake Champlain. By 1808, Macdonough had cruised in command of the USS Wasp. This ship figured prominently in the War of 1812, commanded by another Delaware naval hero, Jacob Jones (1768- 1850). Jones was born near Smyrna Delaware, 12 miles south of Macdonough. (see PM Vol. LIX, #5). Commodore Thomas Macdonough in a mature engraved portrait. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 120 Macdonough was one of the most experienced junior officers in the Navy when he came back to Connecticut in command of the gunboat fleet. He met his future wife in Middletown [CT]. A two- year leave allowed him to captain in merchant service in 1810 during a downsizing of the Navy. Return to active duty in 1812 saw Lt. Macdonough and the Chesapeake Bay fleet bottled up by the British wartime blockade. He received more active assignments in coastal New England, finally being put in charge of the fleet at Lake Champlain. The hostilities had mostly gone against the United States during Macdonough’s buildup of his freshwater lake fleet. One exception was Jacob Jones’ naval battle in 1812, which heartened the American public. Lake Champlain region military headquarters were located at Burlington, Vermont and Plattsburgh, New York. Up a creek off the main water was Vergennes, Vermont where now Master Commandant Macdonough centered his shipbuilding activities in 1813-1814 counteracting similar industry by the British at the Canadian end of the Lake. Merchant vessels were converted to warships. A large Ship- Sloop of War [French = Corvette in the rather confusing naval designations in different countries] was also built in four months by imported Connecticut shipwrights. Macdonough had to defend his little naval yard against British attacks. British strategy was to invade by land down the west bank of the Lake. The army troops were to be supported by the fleet on the Lake and later supplied by boat in their march down the Hudson River, cutting through a vital part of the United States. There was no intention of returning captured territory to the U.S. A considerable army advanced toward Plattsburgh in late summer of 1814. Aware that the British fleet was completing preparations, Macdonough brought his fleet into Plattsburgh Bay on the west side of the Lake. Thorough knowledge of local conditions and seamanship mandated placing the ships at anchor, causing the British to fight contrary winds and sandbars to sail among the Americans. The British brought more firepower and men, but there were disadvantages. The British fleet commander was killed early. The flagship was hastily completed; crews were largely new arrivals and uncoordinated. Naval actions were, and are, terrible. The men on deck working the guns were exposed to appalling danger and horrible carnage. Macdonough was knocked down twice, once briefly unconscious by being struck by a sailor’s body parts. He aimed guns when his crew was thinned by enemy fire. By adroit maneuvering at anchor, Macdonough was able to bring guns to bear on the damaged enemy. The British were at the mercy of the wind for their aim. The superior British fleet’s larger ships were captured or destroyed. The numerous gunboat galleys retreated to Canada. Macdonough’s sea victory and General Macomb’s repulse of attacks on Plattsburgh defenses are credited with preserving our borders. It was the last major invasion of the continental United States by a foreign country during wartime. This last major battle on the northern front in the War of 1812 put the British at a disadvantage in the subsequent treaty negotiations. Macdonough concluded his illustrious career as Captain in command of several of the United States’ largest warships. His final command was the USS Constitution; this ended in 1825 when worsening lung disease made him step down. Returning home on a small navy ship, he died of tuberculosis at age 41. He is buried in Middletown, Connecticut. He was the most famous naval hero of his “little” war, perhaps surprisingly, greatly praised in Great Britain. Referred to by the honorific “Commodore”, Captain Macdonough, his officers, and Macomb were voted Congressional Gold Medals for their heroism. Artist Moritz Furst made the Macdonough dies for the Mint in 1818. Silver and bronze medals were struck for several years. In the 20th century, the Mint sold copies of the medals from new dies. Different Macdonough commemoratives were made by Whitehead- Hoag Company and Contemporary rendering of the Battle of Lake Champlain. U.S. Mint medal obverse of Macdonough: “Defeated the Royal British Fleet on Lake Champlain”. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 121 others for the battle centennial in 1914. A sesquicentennial medal was done in 1964. A Decautur/Macdonough U.S. Commemorative Stamp was issued in 1937. The Mint medal shows Macdonough in distinguished profile. The reverse is an artist’s conception of the Battle of Plattsburgh. The town is aflame on the right, the ships centered in clouds of gunsmoke and numbers of oared galleys line up at the edges of the action. The battle was pictured in many media, including British publications and chinaware. Monuments were raised to Macdonough in Plattsburgh, NY, Vergennes, VT and Middletown, CT. Several states awarded him gold, silver and land. Macdonough’s family achieved prominence in Delaware and Connecticut. Some banks traded on his famous name by printing or writing it on the payee line of their Obsolete Notes. This is thought to be merely riding on the coattails of prominent men, rather than any direct connection to the celebrities. Perry, Decatur and Porter are also found on the “pay to_____ or bearer on demand” text on notes of 1814 and 1818. Known “Macdonough” notes are the $3 Bank of Plattsburgh, N.Y. of 1818 (Haxby NY2240- G22), and $2 and $10 of Manufacturers Exchange Company of Bristol, Connecticut in 1814 (Haxby CT65-G4, G10). In the 1850s Danforth, Wright and Company engraved a portrait of Thomas Macdonough for bank note use. The portrait is taken from an engraving by John Jarvis originally published in a naval history volume. Known uses for Macdonough’s portrait under the DW and ABNCo. imprints are for the Bank of Vergennes, Vermont, $1 (Haxby VT250-G12) and the Bank of New England at Goodspeed’s Landing/East Haddam, Connecticut, $2 (Haxby CT110-G18 etc.). Battle Centennial medal obverse from Macdonough County, Illinois from 1914. Plattsburgh, New York Battle Sesquicentennial medal from 1964. Vergennes, Vermont built a classic monument to Macdonough and his little shipyard. U.S. Mint medal reverse: “Beaten on one side, he fearlessly turns the other”. Bank of Plattsburgh, N.Y. $3 of 1814, counterfeit. Macdonough is payee. [Newman Numismatic Portal] Manufacturers Exchange Bank of Bristol, CT, $2 of 1818, counterfeit. Macdonough written in as payee. [Newman Numismatic Portal] Bank of Vergennes, VT, $1 of 1862 with the Macdonough portrait. [Heritage Auctions]. Bank of New England $2. Bank Note Vignette by Danforth, Wright & Company, 1850’s. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 122 Commodore Thomas Macdonough is remembered as a tall, serious man of strong religious beliefs. He was a product of healthy rural family life, matured in the early United States Navy. His seagoing education and experience were outstanding and recognized by his colleagues. He was a good husband and father and greatly respected by his neighbors in Connecticut and by his extended family and acquaintances in Delaware. The major ships that he served on had their names immortalized on ships of the modern U.S. Navy, and he had four Navy ships named for him. Two towns, a county, many streets and an island have carried the name “Macdonough”. Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed him the “greatest figure in our naval history” prior to the Civil War. References: Burdick, Virginia. Captain Thomas Macdonough. Delaware Heritage Press, 1991. Haxby, James A. United States Obsolete Bank Notes. Krause, 1988. Hessler, Gene. The Engravers’ Line. BNR Press, 1993. Julian, Robert W. Medals of the United States Mint: The First Century, TAMS, 1977. Millard, James P. Macdonough’s Shipyard, Vergennes at www.historiclakes.org Muller, Charles. The Proudest Day. Curtis, 1960. Muller Charles. Hero of Two Seas. McKay, 1968. Neuzil, C. in E-Sylum, June 14, 2015 concerning famous payees on bank notes. Roberts, Jerry. The British Raid on Essex. Roman & Littlefield, 2020. Scharf, Thomas J. History of Delaware. Richards, Philadelphia, 1888. Delaware Public Archives. Newman Numismatic Portal and Heritage Currency Auctions archives. www.eBay.com for Macdonough items. Thanks to Macdonough enthusiast Kenneth Swab for encouragement and advice. Macdonough’s birthplace “The Trap” in Macdonough, Delaware. Macdonough’s Victory plate by Wood. The Commodore was much admired in England. Bank of New England, East Haddam, CT, $2, 1850’s, a common remainder with the famous portrait. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 123 The Second National Bank of Chestertown, Md., Charter #4327 by J. Fred Maples The bank was chartered in May 1890 with James A. Pearce, president, and W. Bradford Copper, cashier. While another national bank existed in Chestertown at that time, it was simply called The National Bank of Chestertown, not First National. So despite there being no First National, founders of this bank felt the name Second National was appropriate. This bank opened as a tenant in the town’s Masonic Temple, before erecting its own High Street building early in 1891. This bank initially deposited $12,500 in bonds, and issued 90% of those bonds in $50 and $100 national currency Brown Backs. Several years later the bank purchased additional bonds and increased its circulation to $50,000. This bank prospered and as featured in the Chestertown Transcript in 1891: “The Second National Bank of Chestertown has entered upon its second year. The first year has been a most successful and satisfactory one, and the bank today is in a more flourishing condition than at any time since its organization one year ago, its discounts amounting to $125,000 and deposits $122,454.” The bank’s success was largely based on its officers and directors. President Pearce, son of a U.S. senator, was a respected lawyer, state's attorney, appeals court judge, church law authority, school board commissioner, and college teacher. Copper, son of a farmer and overseer of the poor, was a state senator, school board commissioner, orphan's court judge, county political leader, and former store clerk. Figure 1: $50 and $100 1882 Brown Back proof, approved June 7, 1890. The Second National Bank of Chestertown, Md. operated from 1890 to 1910. This bank issued 914 sheets of $50 and $100 1882 Brown Backs between 1890 and 1909. Later this bank issued 264 sheets of $50 and $100 1882 Date Backs. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 124 Oddly the bank’s directors let its charter expire in 1910, and it was immediately succeeded as The Third National Bank (#9744) with the same officers. Chestertown finally got its out-of-order “First National” in 1933 when the Third National was succeeded by The First National Bank (#13798). Proof Sheet While there are no known surviving notes from this bank, Figure 1 shows a wonderful $50 and $100 1882 Brown Back proof from the Smithsonian National Numismatic Collection. The layouts of $50 and $100 1882 Brown Backs are stunning in every way. Sheets from this plate included just two notes -- a single $50 and a $100. The $50 includes a beautiful vignette on its left called “Washington Crossing the Delaware”, engraved by Alfred Jones after the 1851 painting by Emmanuel Leutze. This Revolutionary War scene shows Washington and his men, late in 1776, while crossing the dangerous Delaware River through drifting ice to reach the New Jersey shore. The $50’s right side shows “Washington at Prayer”, with three goddesses and a banner inscribed VICTORY above them, which was engraved by Luigi Delnoce, who reportedly used his three daughters as models. The $100 features an equally stunning vignette named "Commodore Perry's Victory on Lake Champlain", which depicts Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry leaving his flagship, the Lawrence, during the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813. On the $100’s right is an angelic depiction of Liberty, seated by a bundle of rods representing the union of states, along with the message “MAINTAIN IT!” burst in sunlight. Finally note the handwritten notations in the bottom selvage, which defines the plate’s certification on June 7, 1890 by William M. Meredith, initialed as “Wm M M”, as chief of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Bureau Chief William Morton Meredith was born in 1835 in Centreville, Indiana, the son of Samuel C. Meredith and his wife Margaret. Meredith attended a year in college, but left school to work in his father’s printing office. Meredith later worked at the Indianapolis Journal newspaper. Meredith served in the Union Army during the Civil War under the command of future president Benjamin Harrison, and as Indiana’s state commissary-general -- a military post. After the war, Meredith worked as a printer in several cities, becoming foreman at newspapers in Indianapolis and St. Louis. He later worked at the Western Bank Note Company in Chicago as superintendent of plate printing. Meredith was appointed Chief of the Bureau in 1889 largely through his past association with Harrison. After leaving the Bureau in 1893, he returned to the Western Bank Note Company. In 1900 Meredith was reappointed Chief of the Bureau – this time by President McKinley – which made him the only person to hold the top position twice. He left the Bureau in 1906, assuming another position within the Treasury Department, where he remained until he died of pneumonia in 1917. Chestertown History This bank operated in Chestertown, Md., which is a historic town on the Chester River, in Kent County. Chestertown took its name from the river, which took its name from the walled cathedral city of Chester, England. Chestertown was established as a colonial port in 1706 under the British Act for the Advancement of Trade and the Erection of Ports and Towns. The Act spurred town growth and diversification by exempting skilled craftsmen from taxes for four years if they moved into the town. By the mid-18th century Chestertown was Maryland's second leading port, only trailing Annapolis. A growing merchant class brought riches to the town, which was reflected in the many brick mansions and townhouses that rose along the waterfront. During the Revolutionary War period, the most traveled highway between the north and south went through Chestertown, with George Washington making eight known visits between 1756 and 1793. Interestingly from the 1790 census, Chestertown was the geographical center of population of the United States. Chestertown is second to Annapolis in its number of 18th century homes, and known for the Chestertown Tea Party Festival, which celebrates its colonial heritage with a re-enactment of the legendary protest of May 1774. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 125 Young Selma Entrepreneur Madison Jackson Williams and His Alabama Paper Money by Charles Derby Madison Jackson Williams was a renowned citizen of Selma during his brief life of 35 years. He was an editor and owner of a newspaper as well as a job printer in Selma, Alabama, during the 1850s-60s who, like other in his professions, also printed paper money during the Civil War. Williams established business ties with many highly interesting and influential associates and became wealthy and influential himself. This article chronicles his short life, his associates, and most importantly, the scrip that he produced. His Life Madison Jackson Williams was born on July 8, 1837, in Greenville (Butler County), Alabama, of modest means. His father, James Williams, was a farmer who died in the year of his birth, leaving Martha, his mother, to care for Jackson, as he was called then, and his six siblings. Madison moved to Selma in 1854 at the age of 17 and became a printer and newspaperman. He worked at the Selma Reporter, owned by Nathaniel W. Shelley. At the age of 21 (1858), he so impressed Shelley that he was invited to become co-owner and editor of the newspaper. An early publication by Williams with Shelley was a medical pamphlet in 1860. Shelley died suddenly in 1860, and Williams became sole owner of the Selma Reporter. He soon partnered with John Cussons (Fig 2). Cussons was one year younger than Williams and quite an adventurer, moving from his native England to the USA in 1855 and spending four years in the West including living with the Sioux Indians on the Great Plains. He moved to Selma in 1859 and became co- owner and editor of The Selma Reporter and the job printing company with Williams. But this association was brief because Cussons enlisted in the Civil War early in 1861 while Williams stayed in Selma. Cussons went on to lead a full life. During the War, he was scout and sharpshooter for the Army of Northern Virginia, captured at Gettysburg but released to fight with Nathan Bedford Forrest in the West. After the War, Cussons returned to publishing, but he did much more than that: he owned and operated a large hunting lodge in Virginia and was an officer of the United Confederate Veterans until his death in 1912 at age 74. After Cussons left Selma, Williams became sole proprietor of the Selma Reporter, which he continued to publish until it closed at the end of the Civil War. Figure 3 shows the front page of the July 1, 1862, issue of the Selma Reporter. From his modest roots, Williams rose to become a prominent and influential citizen of Selma during the late 1850s and 1860s. He translated his occupation as newspaper and job printer into a political life. He was elected and served as City Printer in 1862 to 1864 and on City Council in 1863 to 1867. On May 3 rd of 1865, he was elected Mayor for a one-year term. Fig. 1. Madison Jackson Williams, ca. 1865. Courtesy of Selma City Government. Fig. 2. John Cussons Fig. 3. Selma Reporter from July 1, 1862 (above), with an expanded view of the upper right corner, showing publisher (below). From US Newspaper Directory Search. Library of Congress/ Chronicling America/Search/ Newspaper Directory Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 126 His personal life knew joy and tragedy. He married Sophia Philena Sturdevant (Fig 4), but she died in 1864, leaving Williams with two young children. Madison married Clara Elizabeth Haralson the next year. Clara came from a prominent and wealthy family in Selma: the Haralsons were farmers with a wealth in 1860 ($137,350) that is equivalent to ca. $4 million in 2015. The marriage brought Williams financial advantages and personal happiness including three children. His public standing in Selma is exemplified by his purchase in 1863 of Grace Hall (Fig 5). This mansion was built in 1857 at the then exorbitant cost of $29,000. The mansion has a notable history in the Civil War. Brig. Gen. James H. Wilson (Fig 5) and his Union Army Cavalry Corps had orders to destroy Southern manufacturing facilities including those in Selma. Wilson was opposed by a much smaller force under Confederate Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. From the front porch of Grace Hall, Williams encouraged Confederate troops to resist the occupation. Two days later, on April 2, 1865, Gen. Wilson captured Selma, in “Wilson’s Raid.” Williams and most other men in Selma were briefly imprisoned in a wet stockade, after which they were paroled. General Wilson took over Williams’ house as his headquarters and Williams never returned. His Money Williams was involved in the production of at least four sets of currency, listed in Table 1. These notes differ in many respects – different print dates, printer imprints, and so on – but they all have in common Williams playing a central role in their production. Rail Road scrip, 1862 One set consists of 11 notes printed in January and June of 1862 and issued by two rail road companies based in Selma: the Alabama & Tennessee River Rail Road and the Alabama & Mississippi River Rail Road. They have the imprint of “Selma Reporter Print.” or “Reporter Print, Selma, Ala.,” referring to the Selma Reporter newspaper of which Williams was sole owner at that time. Some examples of these notes are shown in Figure 6. Williams had ties to the Alabama & Tennessee River Rail Road Co. since the 1850s through his job printing company with William Shelley and with the printing facility at the Selma Reporter. For example, in 1859 to 1860, Shelley & Williams Book and Job Office printed the annual report of the president and directors of the Alabama & Tennessee River Rail Road Co. to the stockholders of the operations of the company (Annual Report of the American Historical Association, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1898). Earlier annual reports (1850, 1852, and 1857) were printed by the Selma Reporter job office. Thus, it is not surprising that Williams and his newspaper printed this scrip for these rail road companies. Fig. 4. Sophia and Arthur, Williams’ first wife and son, ca. 1863. Courtesy of Anne Knight. Fig. 5. Grace Hall, ca. 2000 (left) and Gen. James Wilson, ca.1865 (right). Courtesy of http://ahc.toursphere.com and Library of Congress. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 127 Table 1. Notes Associated with M. J. Williams Name (Gunther & Derby ID) / Town Date  Vignettes  Imprint  Set 1 - Railroad Scrip Ala. & Tenn River RR (AO-412) / Selma 5 cents (AO-412-$.05a) January, 1862. Justice (L), Train heading right (C) REPORTER PRINT, SELMA, ALA. 10 cents (AO-412-$.10a) January, 1862. Justice (L), Train heading right (C) REPORTER PRINT, SELMA, ALA. 10 cents (AO-412-$.10a) January, 1862. Justice (L), Train heading left (C) REPORTER PRINT, SELMA, ALA. 25 cents (AO-412-$.25a) January, 1862. Justice (L), Train heading right (C) Reporter print, Selma, Ala. 25 cents (AO-412-$.25b) January, 1862. Justice (L), Train heading left (C) Reporter print, Selma, Ala. 50 cents (AO-412-$.50a) January , 1862 Train (L), Train heading right (C) Reporter print, Selma, Ala. $1 (AO-412-$1a) June, 1862. Justice (L), Train headed right (C) [SELMA REPORTER PRINT.] $2 (AO-412-$2a) June, 1862. Justice (L), Train headed right (C) [SELMA REPORTER PRINT.] $3 (AO-412-$3a) June, 1862. Justice (L), Train headed right (C) [SELMA REPORTER PRINT.] Ala. & Miss. River RR (AO-411) / Selma 25 cents (AO-411-$.25a) January, 1862. Justice (L), Train heading right (C) Reporter print, Selma, Ala. $2 (AO-411-$2a) June, 1862. Justice (L), Train heading right (C) [SELMA REPORTER PRINT.] Set 2 - Alamaba Merchant Scrip J. M. Denson (AO-342) / Montevallo 5 cents (AO-342-$.05a) Feb. 1862. Blue plant Selma Reporter Print. Morgan & Worthington (AO-343) / Montevallo 10 cents (AO-343-$.10a) Jan. 1862. Blue ship Selma Reporter Print. 25 cents (AO-343-$.25a) Jan. 1862. Blue eagle Selma Reporter Print. Unknown Issuer (AO-344) / Montevallo (cut plate) 5 cents (AO-344-$.05a) Feb 1862. Red ship Selma Reporter Print. 10 cents (AO-344-$.10a) Feb 1862. Red flowers Selma Reporter Print. 25 cents (AO-344-$.25a) Feb. 1862. Red eagle Selma Reporter Print. 50 cents (AO-344-$.50a) Feb. 1862 Red dog with safe and key Selma Reporter Print. 75 cents (AO-344-$.75a) Feb. 1862 Red flowers Selma Reporter Print. M. Pettibone (AO-148) / Claiborne 25 cents (AO-148-$.25a) Feb. 1862. Blue ship Selma Reporter Print. T. Lawrence (AO-404) / Randolph 5 cents (AO-404-$.05a) April 1862. Red pineapple Selma Reporter Print. 25 cents (AO-404-$.25a) April 1862. Red eagle Selma Reporter Print. 50 cents (AO-404-$.50a) April 1862. Red dog with safe and key Selma Reporter Print. N.P. Reeves (AO-163) / Columbiana 50 cents (AO-163-$.50a) Sept. 26th, 1862. Blue train Selma Reporter Print. $1 (AO-163-$1a) Sept. 26th, 1862. Train heading right (no imprint) McClanahan & Elliott (AO-162) / Columbiana $1 (AO-162-$1a) [same as Reeves $1] Sept. 26th, 1862. Train heading right (no imprint) Set 3 - Charles Lewis Scrip / Selma 10 cents (AO-423-$.10a) July 12, 1862. Ship (L), without "10" in red (no imprint) 10 cents (AO-423-$.10b) July 12, 1862. Ship (L), with "10" in red (no imprint) 25 cents (AO-423-$.25a) July 12, 1862. Ship (L), without "25" in red (no imprint) 25 cents (AO-423-$.25b) July 12, 1862. Ship (L), with "25" in red (no imprint) 50 cents (AO-423-$.50a) July 12, 1862. Ship (L), without "50" in red (no imprint) 50 cents (AO-423-$.50b) July 12, 1862. Ship (L), with "50" in red (no imprint) $1 (AO-423-$1a) July 12, 1862 Indian (L), Ship (C) M. J. Williams, Selma. $1 (AO-423-$1b) Nov. 1, 1862 Indian (L), Ship (C) M. J. Williams, Selma. $2 (AO-423-$2a) July 12, 1862. Indian (L), Sheaf (C) M. J. Williams, Selma. $5 (AO-423-$5a) July 12, 1862. Justice (L), Cotton plant (C) M. J. Williams, Selma. Set 4 - City of Selma Scrip 5 cents (AO-416-$.05a) Oct. 1 st , 1865 Train ABNCo (signed by M.J. Williams) 10 cents (AO-416-$.10a) Oct. 1 st , 1865 Steamboat ABNCo (signed by M.J. Williams) 25 cents (AO-416-$.25a) Oct. 1 st , 1865 Farm implements ABNCo (signed by M.J. Williams) 50 cents (AO-416-$.50a) Oct. 1 st , 1865 Commerce & Industry, State seal ABNCo (signed by M.J. Williams) Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 128 Alabama merchant scrip, 1862 The second set consists of 14 fractional notes printed in January, February, April, and September of 1862 and issued by merchants in four towns in Alabama, all within 80 miles of Selma: Claiborne, Columbiana, Montevallo, and Randolph. These notes have the imprint of Williams’ newspaper at the time, “Selma Reporter Print.” Examples of these notes are shown in Figure 7. Another note is likely part of this series, though it lacks the “Selma Reporter Print.” imprint. This note, shown in Figure 8, is similar to the Reeves & Wallace 50 cent note shown in Figure 7, in being signed by Reeves (though not Wallace), is from Columbiana, is dated September 26 th , 1862, and has the same text (“will pay the bearer in current funds, when the amount of is presented”). It is also similar to Williams’ Alabama & Tennessee River Rail Road notes, shown in Figure 6, in bearing the same black “train heading right.” Fig. 6. Alabama rail road scrip; clockwise from top left: $2, 50 cents, and 25 cents notes from Alabama & Tennessee River Rail Road, and $2 note from Alabama & Mississippi River Rail Road. From Heritage Auctions. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 129 Fig. 7. Alabama merchant scrip, 1862. From Heritage Auctions. Fig. 8. Note likely printed by Williams but without the “Selma Reporter Print.” From Heritage Auctions. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 130 Charles Lewis & Co., Bankers, scrip, 1862 A third set, shown in Figure 9, is a series issued by Selmian banker, Charles Lewis. The $5, $2, and $1 notes differ from the previously described sets by having the imprint “M. J. Williams” rather than his newspaper name. Most of these are dated July 12, 1862, but some $1 notes are dated Nov. 1, 1862. Apparently, the $1 notes were popular and a second printing was made. The fractional notes lack a printer’s imprint, but given the same print date and other similarities as the other notes, Williams likely printed these. Examples of the fractional notes have a red protector, as shown in Figure 9. The issuer of these notes, Charles Lewis, was born in 1806 in Culpepper County, VA, and became a wealthy banker and influential citizen of Selma. Williams and Lewis must have known each other well in business, politics, and personally. Lewis served on Selma City Council when Williams was City Printer and just before Williams joined the Council. He was Cashier for the Bank of Selma from its establishment in 1857 to July 1859. Just before the war, according to the 1860 census, Lewis owned $42,000 in real estate and $77,500 in personal estate. In that census, his occupation was listed as retired banker, but this changed by 1862, when he had his own company, Charles Lewis & Co., Banker, which yielded these notes. City of Selma scrip, 1865 The fourth set, shown in Figure 10, is a four denomination series of post-war fractional scrip from the City of Selma. These were 5, 10, 25, and 50 cent denominations, printed by the American Bank Note Company on Oct. 1st 1865. These bear the imprinted signature of “M. J. Williams” as post-war mayor and a blank line for adding the serial number. Hardy’s 1879 book on the history of Selma tells the origin of these notes, mostly through reports of the City Council. In May 1865, as Williams became mayor of Selma, the city was in dire financial condition. The city’s coffers consisted of $9,253.20 in Confederate $5 bills and $10,000 in Confederate bonds. But this was worthless, as the war was over, the city was under federal occupation, and the city officers were instructed not to receive anything but U.S. money in payment of city dues. City officials devised a plan to secure fractional currency for city business, and U.S. officials approved the plan. They ordered a total of $20,000 in notes of 5, 10, 25, and 50 cent denomination to be printed by the American Bank Note Co. in New York. If an equal number of each Fig. 9. Charles Lewis & Co., Banker, scrip 1862. From Heritage Auctions. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 131 denomination were printed, this would be 22,222 sheets or 88,888 individual notes. They paid John M. Parkman, former Cashier of the Bank of Selma and President of the First National Bank of Selma, $1050 to travel to New York, secure the necessary plates, and have the notes printed. When Parkman returned with the notes, he had them deposited in equal amounts with three financial institutions – the Planters and Merchants Insurance Company, Keith & Co. (M.J.A. Keith, Banker), and the First National Bank of Selma – and subject to be drawn upon by the city. Records indicate that by November 1865, all of the shinplasters were in circulation. We have seen only one note (in Rosene 1984) with a serial number. It is reasonable to conclude that after receipt of the notes, city officials concluded that the task of numbering and tracking this many notes was so expensive and overwhelming that serial numbers were not assigned. It is also worth noting that a number of cities were allowed to issue scrip after the War, and while most notes had printed “By Authority” or “By Military Authority,” these from the City of Selma did not. Checks from the Bank of Selma Williams, through his Reporter job print company, printed other numismatic material, including checks for the Bank of Selma. Figure 11 shows an example. Fig. 11. Check printed by MJW and his “Reporter Print.” The check is dated May 2nd, 1862, in the amount of $300, to Mr. J. E. Partridge, from the Shelby Co. Iron Manufacturing Company (aka Shelby Iron Works), A. T. Jones, President. Fig. 10. City of Selma, scrip, Oct. 1865, with M. J. Williams’ printed signature as mayor of Selma. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 132 Williams’ Brief Life after the War After the war, Williams was instrumental in moving the county seat from Cahaba to Selma. In 1865, he founded a new newspaper, the Selma Times, which was associated with the Democratic Party. Williams began as publisher and editor, with Richard H. English as associate editor. Soon thereafter and until 1868, Robert McKee and Col. Frank E. Burke became editors and in 1868, McKee was sole editor. By this time, Williams had acquired a national reputation, and he was offered a position at the New York Times. But he declined moving to New York, and instead, in 1870 he sold his Selma Times, and in February 1871, purchased the Montgomery Mail. In May 1871, the Mail was bought and consolidated within the Montgomery Advertiser, with Williams as co- owner/publisher with W.W. Screws.William’s career was in its ascendancy, but his health was deteriorating. His descendants attributed this to a persistent illness he first contracted when he was imprisoned in the wet stockade during the Battle of Selma. He took out a $10,000 life insurance policy in May 1871 from the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., with his wife Clara as the beneficiary. His health continued to decline. On August 29, 1872, he died at the health resort of Shelby Springs, at the age of 35. He was buried in Selma’s famous Old Live Oak Cemetery, under a tombstone bearing the epitaph, “War Editor, Founder of Selma Morning Times.” Acknowledgments. Anne Knight, historian for the Selma-Dallas County Public Library and great-granddaughter-in-law of M.J. Williams, was an invaluable source of information and inspiration. She provided documents and conversation that helped shape the research and presentation of ideas in this article. Bill Gunther also provided extremely helpful feedback during the research and writing of this article. Literature Appleton & Co. 1873. The American Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events. Memorial Record of Alabama: Herbert, H.A. Alabama in Federal politics. Cochran, J. The medical profession. Clark, T.H. Judicial history. Screws, W.W. Alabama journalism. Clark, T. H. Religious history. American Historical Association. 1898. U.S. Government Printing Office: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~alshelby/ShelbySprings.html Clarke, Daniel. 2012. John Cussons. The Confederacy’s Lincolnshire Scout. Daniel Clarke. Gunther, William, and Derby, Charles. 2020. A Comprehensive Guide to Alabama Obsolete Notes 1818-1885. Gunther & Derby, 286 pp. ISBN 978-1-64945-680-9. Hardy, John. 1879. Selma; Her Institutions, Her Men. Times Book and Job Office: Selma, AL. Hoober, Richard T. 1983. Railroad notes and scrip of the United States, the Confederate States and Canada. Paper Money XXII, No. 5, Whole No. 107, pp. 195-203. https://archive.org/stream/selmaherinstitut00hard/selmaherinstitut00hard_djvu.txt. https://archive.org/details/selmaherinstitut00hard http://blog.al.com/strange-alabama/2012/06/the_old_shelby_hotel_was_first.html Jones, James Pickett. 1976. Yankee Blitzkrieg: Wilson’s Raid Through Alabama and Georgia. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press. Owen, Thomas McAdory, History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. Spartanburg: The Reprint Company Publishers, 1978 (1921), IV, 1515-1517. Rosene, Walter, Jr. 1984. Alabama Obsolete Notes and Scrip. SPMC. Rowell, George. 1870. The Men Who Advertise: An Account of Successful Advertisers. Nelson Chesman, NY. Thalimer, Carol and Dan. 1999. Recommended Bed & Breakfasts the South. Globe Pequot. The Shelby Guide, Columbiana, Alabama, Thursday, September 5, 1872. The Shelby Sentinel, Columbiana, Alabama. Thursday, August 17, 1882 U.S. Censuses of 1840, 1850, and 1860. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 133 “New Site” was a Damn Sight better than the Old Site: The Story of New Site, Alabama by: Bill Gunther It continues to surprise me that so much interesting history can be learned from a tiny surviving piece of Alabama scrip from the 1800s. Although scarce, the notes from the town of New Site, Alabama hardly attract much attention from collectors since they do not contain elaborate vignettes or other visual elements. They are the essence of simplicity in banknote design. But when closely examined, they reveal the story of Alabama’s relatively unknown gold rush days twenty years before the discovery of gold in California! This is the story of how the town of New Site came to be and who issued the notes. The Notes Let’s begin by examining the rather unremarkable four notes known to exist from the town of New Site, Alabama. The first three notes shown below are signed by Cooke and Allen. The 5-cent note is dated June 1, 1862 while the 10 and 50-cent notes are dated March 1, 1862. It would appear that these individuals needed the 10 and 50-cent notes before they needed the 5-cent note. The only real difference appearing on the June notes is the listing of the numerical values. There are no vignettes or printer imprints on any of the notes suggesting that these notes were likely produced locally and inexpensively. (All the images are courtesy of Heritage Auctions) Gunther-Derby 376-$.05a. New Site, Alabama. Cook and Allen, 5 cents, June 1, 1862. Gunther-Derby 376-$.10a. New Site, Alabama. Cook and Allen, 10 cents, March 1, 1862. Gunther-Derby 376-$.50a. New Site, Alabama. Cook and Allen, 50 cents, March 1, 1862. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 135 The fourth note from New Site, a 50-cent note shown below, is somewhat similar in design to the 5-cent note, but notice that it is signed only by a “J.C. Allen”. Rosene assigned a different catalog number to this 50-cent note as if it was a different merchant.1 However, as we shall see, it appears that all the notes are from same merchant, “Cook and Allen”, but with “Cook” absent from the June 1862 50-cent note signature line. Cook and Allen, Grocery Merchants James D. Cook, the oldest of the two gentlemen, was born in 1821 in Laurens County, South Carolina. He attended school in South Carolina but by 1850 had relocated to Chambers County, Alabama.2 Cook was living in a boarding house operated by William W. Carlisle, a farmer, and his wife. There were five boarders in the Carlisle household, including Cook who listed his occupation as “grocer”. Others in the household included a tailor, a shoemaker, a cabinet maker and a carpenter. Cook married Mary Elizabeth Leverett in Chambers County on April 26, 1853. “Lizzy” as she was known, was 13 years younger than James and they only had one child, a son named George G., born in 1855.3 In 1860, Cook was living in Milltown, Chambers County, and listed his occupation as a “farmer”. Milltown was a short distance (15 miles) from New Site in Tallapoosa County. It was not uncommon for individuals to move in and out of farming as an occupation while at the same time holding a different occupation, like “grocer”. On May 15, 1862, Cook enlisted in the 37th Alabama Infantry as a Private.4 At that time, the Confederate conscription rule only extended to men up to the age of 35, although by September of 1862 it was raised to age 45.5 Cook was not required to enlist, but did so voluntarily. His service was cut short when he died on July 3rd, 1862 in Milltown.6 It is not clear if his death was in anyway service related. But here we find the answer to our question: there were not two different companies (grocers), Cook and Allan, and Allen, as Rosene had assumed, but one company that dropped one signature (Cook) when one of the partners died. Joshua C. Allen was born in 1831 in Georgia but his family appears to have relocated to Tallapoosa County, Alabama, by 1849 when he was 18.7 No 1860 Census record for Joshua C. Allen could be located, but he married Mary E. Cook on December 25th, 1862 in Chambers County.8 Since Cook was his business partner, it is possible that Mary E. Cook was related to James D. Cook, although no relationship could be found. Joshua C. Allen, at age 32, enlisted in the Home Guard (nearby Russell County) on August 13, 1864 as a Private.9 By enlisting in the Home Guard, Allen would be able to devote some time to his farming activities and provide for his family. Following the end of the Civil War, Allen maintained his occupation as a farmer in 1870 and 1880. An interesting side note is that George Cook, the son of James D. Cook, was living with the Allen family. It is not clear if Elizabeth Cook was alive at that time. No information on Allen for 1900 was found, and by February 28, 1909 he had died, an “old soldier” living in the Soldiers Home in Chilton County Alabama.10 In the death record, he was listed as widowed. To summarize, Cook and Allen was a grocery merchant located in New Site, Alabama and when Cook died in 1862, it appears that Allen carried on the business at least for a short time. In the Beginning Strange as it may seem, gold was discovered in Alabama almost twenty years before it was discovered in California. An article in the Mobile Commercial Register reported on May 9, 1831 that gold was discovered in Chilton County, about 50 miles due south of what is now Birmingham (Birmingham was not founded until forty years later on January 26, 1871).11 Gunther-Derby 376-$.50b. New Site, Alabama. J. C. Allen, 50 cents, June 1, 1862. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 136   In 1842, more gold was discovered in Tallapoosa County, about 50 miles to the east of Chilton County.12 The result of these discoveries was the arrival of thousands of “get-rich quick” miners pouring into the area and the creation of several mining towns including, of course, one named “Goldville” in Tallapoosa County. Goldville received its official charter from the Alabama legislature in 1843. By 1845, the population of Goldville was estimated to be 3,000 which would have made it one of the largest towns in Alabama.14 The miners most likely lived in tents and shacks near their steam-side “claims.” When they came into town, they were looking for supplies and relaxation which was provided by as many as fourteen merchants, seven saloons, brothels and two hotels, but no church. Miners and other residents of Goldville were apparently quick to write home with stories of their adventures with the result that the temporary post office reportedly handled more mail in a day than New York City!15 At its peak, the population of Goldville reportedly grew to almost 5,000. In early 1849, a growing number of the more “moderate” residents of Goldville became disenchanted with conditions in the town. They sought to find a quieter, more moral, place to live and began to search for a “new site” for their town. Not more than 3 miles to the south of Goldville they came across a “quiet, wooded and peaceful area” which they immediately declared would be the “New Site” of their town. That name stuck and to this day the town is known as New Site (officially the name is New Site Town).16 What Goes Around, Comes Around In a bit of irony, it was gold that created Goldville and gold which quickly led to its demise. Gold was discovered in California in early 1848 but it was not until late that year that news reached the east coast and even later before the news reached such remote places as Goldville, Alabama.17 But when the news finally arrived, the exodus to California began and quickly decimated the town. One observer noted that miners left so quickly that they did not put out their campfires.18 The town that many had grown to hate was emptied and “went dormant” as the combination of exiting miners to California and other residents moving to “New Site” sealed the fate of Goldville. New Site grew modestly over the years and in 2010 recorded a total population of 773. Goldville, by comparison, never recovered and recorded a total population of only 55 in 2010.19 Footnotes 1Walter Rosene, Alabama Obsolete Notes and Scrip (Society of Paper Money Collectors, 1984), p. 103. 2James D. Cook, Census of 1850, Ancestry.com. 3Marriage Records, Ancestry.com 4James D. Cook, U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1860-1865, Ancestry.com. 5“Confederate Conscription Acts of 1862-1864,” Wikipedia.org. 6James D. Cook, Find-a-grave, Ancestry.com. 7Joshua C. Allen, Public Family Trees, Ancestry.com. 8Alabama, U.S. County Marriage Records, Ancestry.com. 9Joshua C. Allen, U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1860-1865, Ancestry.com. 10J. C. Allen, Alabama Deaths and Burials, 1881-1952, Ancestry.com. 11“Town of Goldville Lures Would-Be-Gold Prospectors”, www.tuscaloosa news.com, July 18, 2005. www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20050718/NEWS/507180324?p=2&tc=pg 12Joe Waters, “Gold Mining History of Tallapoosa County, Alabama”, www.jovikri.tripod.com/public-index.html 13“Goldville, Alabama,” Wikipedia.com. 14Joe Waters, “Gold Mining History.” 15“Goldville, Alabama,” Wikipedia.com. 16See www.townofnewsite.com. 17 “California Gold Rush,” Wikipedia. 18Joe Waters, “Gold Mining History.” 19See www.censusviewer.com/city/Al/newsite and www.censusviewer.com/city/Al/goldville.    Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 137 The First National Bank of Forest City – Charter #5518 by Michael Saharian “There were monster hemlock trees, some of them of beautiful symmetry lifting their magnificent proportions to an altitude of nearly 100 feet.” This was the description by William Pentecost, when he first settled in the Forest City area in 1864. Forest City is located in Susquehanna County in the mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. The First National Bank of Forest City was organized June 4, 1900 and chartered July 26, 1900. The first president of the bank, charter #5518, was V. L. Petersen. He was born in Copenhagen, Denmark on February 8, 1862 and immigrated to Scranton, PA at the age of 20. Shortly after arriving, he received a job as clerk with the Hillside Coal and Iron Company. Late in the nineteenth century, he was named general manager of that company. Mr. Petersen served as president of The First National Bank of Forest City until 1901. He died suddenly of a heart attack on March 24, 1934 in Factoryville, PA at 72 years of age. The first cashier of this bank was T. A. Surdam (left). An article appeared in the Carbondale Daily News, Carbondale, PA, on July 11, 1900. The paper stated “Truman A. Surdam, of Scranton, has been elected cashier of the First National Bank of Forest City. Mr. Surdam has had several years’ experience in the Third National Bank at Scranton and comes highly recommended. The bank will commence business about the first of August.” The note pictured below was signed by T.A.  Surdam  and  V.  L.  Petersen.  What  makes  this  note  interesting  is  that  Surdam was  able  to  secure  it  for  his aunt. On October 6, 1900 he penned a letter on bank letterhead (below), addressed to “My dear Aunt Jane” and enclosed the $10 national bank note. In the letter, Mr. Surdam states “I had to resort to diplomacy to get the first bill though, because the president and most of the directors had an idea that they ought to have it.” He goes on to explain to his aunt where on the bill the serial #1 is located, writing “I have it myself, as you will see by the figure one which you will find immediately under Ben Franklin’s son?” Seemingly unsure if that is Franklin’s son, l had the luxury of being able to Google the June 15, 1752 kite experiment, and yes, that is his son, William. Interestingly enough, William was born February 22, 1730, so he was 22 and not a child, as depicted on the $10 note. A steadfast loyalist throughout the American Revolutionary War, William was the last colonial governor of New Jersey. Mr. Surdam continues “This is the first bill issued by the bank and if you ever have to part with it, kindly send it to me and I will try to reimburse you for it”. It’s hard to believe that you would have to “try to reimburse” someone for $10. However, to put that into Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 138 perspective, $10 in 1900 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $307 in 2020. Makes one wonder what a financial burden it must have been to collect higher denominations of currency in these earlier times. It is the first national note issued by the bank, as it’s not only serial #1, but the plate position is A. In Mr. Surdam’s letter he explains to his aunt that the first sheet contains four notes, consisting of three $10 bills and one $20 bill. All the notes have the same serial number, but each $10 bill is differentiated by a single letter. He goes on to tell her where on the note the letter appears. Truman Arnold Surdam was born in Middletown, New York on December 24, 1878. He started his career as a bank messenger and was the first cashier for The First National Bank of Forest City from 1900-1904. Before going into business for himself he had been associated with J. H. Brooks and the J. E. Weissenfluh Company, both investment firms. Per Mr. Surdam’s obituary, which appeared in The Scranton Times on May 18, 1951, “Surdam and Company was formed in May 1929, from the old Weissenfluh and Company, following the retirement of Mr. Weissenfluh”. He married May Francis Albro (1879-1965) on October 15, 1903. Mr. Surdam died on May 18, 1951 at the age of 72 in Scranton, PA (Dunmore cemetery). The First National Bank of Forest City issued 1,800 sheets of 1882 Brown backs, 8,300 sheets of 1882 Date and Value backs, and 6,807 sheets of 1902 Plain backs. All of the sheets consisted of (3) $10 notes and (1) $20. No other denominations were issued. 67,628 large national notes were issued, totaling $845,350. 13,905 small size national notes were issued, totaling $166,295. Track and Price lists 18 large Forest City nationals known for charter #5518 and 41 small national notes. Although this bank issued a small number of $5, $10 and $20 type 2 nationals, all 41 known are type 1. In general, finding uncirculated notes from this charter can prove rather challenging. Specifically, T + P documents (2) 1882 $10 Brown backs known. The note pictured in this article, along with serial number 876. Both notes are signed by cashier Surdam, but serial number 876 is signed by President J. J. Walker. In 1902 James J. Walker became the 2nd bank president of The First National Bank of Forest City, after having been active in its organization and being elected a director of the institution. Mr. Walker was born in Carbondale, PA on September 29, 1866. In 1884 he became connected with the Hillside Coal and Iron Company working as chief clerk. In 1892 he married Winifred Fleming. After T. A. Surdam resigned at the end of 1904, James J. walker relinquished the bank presidency to John Lynch and on January 1, 1905 became cashier. Mr. Walker remained cashier of the bank until early 1926. He died suddenly on March 29, 1926 at 59 years of age in Forest City. Most of Mr. Walker’s information was collected from his obituary, which appeared in The Tribune newspaper in Scranton on March 30, 1926. Following the sudden death of J. J. Walker, Thomas P. McCormick became acting cashier and on June 17, 1926 was officially elected cashier. Mr. McCormick was born on August 13, 1865 in Silver Lake, NY and moved to Forest City in 1888. He was postmaster of Forest City during the Woodrow Wilson administration, and in addition to being cashier, was a member of the firm T. P. McCormick and Brother, Forest City Grocers. He served as cashier of the bank until 1928, before becoming ill and passing on August 7, 1928 in Carbondale, PA at the age of 62. John Lynch became president of the bank on January 1, 1905 and served in that capacity until 1927. In 1928 he became cashier until the banks closing. Mr. Lynch was born in 1860 and was a native of Wales. He came to the US as a young man and first settled in Carbondale, where he operated a general store for many years, before moving to Forest City to join the bank. Mr. Lynch died on December 20, 1952 in Carbondale. Atty. William John Maxey was the last president of the bank. He was born July 22, 1863 in Lansford, PA. He moved to Forest City in 1886, where he was borough solicitor and also served as justice of the peace, before being named sheriff of Susquehanna County in 1900. He had also assumed proprietorship of the Forest City News in October 29, 1896. Atty. Maxey was president of the Vandling Silk Throwing Co. and was an organizer and president of The First National Bank of Forest City, serving from 1928, until the banks closing. Mr. Maxey died in Carbondale on November 28, 1946 at the age of 83 and is buried in Forest City. Much of Mr. Maxey’s information was gathered from his obituary, which appeared in the Standard-Speaker newspaper in Hazleton, PA on November 30, 1946. William Pentecost first settled in the Forest City area in 1864 when he opened a lumber mill by the Lackawanna River. Lumbering was the largest industry in the area until 1872, when an outcropping of coal was discovered. The Hillside Coal and Iron Company bought large tracts of land, and by 1872 the first commercially profitable coal mining enterprise Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 139 was established. In 1888, the borough of Forest City became incorporated. By 1900, when the bank opened their doors, the population of Forest City rose to over 4,000 inhabitants. By the onset of the twentieth century, silk manufacturing had also become a chief industry in the area. By the Roaring Twenties’ the US Census had determined the resident population of Forest City to be over 6,000. However, the Great Depression hit the town hard, as the primary sector of the economy, lumber and coal, were hardest hit. The population slowly declined, as coal mining came to a halt. Currently, the population is 1,800. Sadly, The National Bank of Forest City did not fare well after the depression either, going into receivership on August 10, 1934. In the balance of T.A. Surdam’s letter to his aunt, he talks about the current coal strike in the area. He writes, “In regards to the strike, although our deposits are larger than they would be if there was no strike, (owing to the fact that people are laying their money aside and not spending much of it), we have been rather slow about making investments until things get a little more settled.” Mr. Surdam is upset at how the political cartoons in the New York papers depict poor coal miners sitting in front of their broken-down houses with his wife and kids dressed in rags. Mr. Surdam tells his aunt “The miners have really quite respectable looking houses and their wives and children are far from being in rags. I enclose a cartoon which shows how the miners do not live.” In researching, the United Mine Workers union struck on September 17, 1900 for wage increases and better working conditions in the anthracite coal district. The mine owners, under pressure from Republican leaders fearful of losing the White House, reluctantly made concessions and the strike ended on October 29, 1900. On November 6, 1900 republican William McKinley defeated his democratic challenger, William Jennings Bryan. After a speech on September 6, 1901 in Buffalo, McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist named Leon Czolgosz. He was executed the following month. Mr. Surdam ends the letter to his aunt by writing “I am getting to feel quite at home and I feel encouraged over the business”. Signing the letter “Your loving True”. Appreciation goes to T. A. Surdam for having the foresight to secure the very first national note from this bank in the quaint town of Forest City and to his family for preserving it in pristine condition, along with the letter, for future generations of collectors to enjoy. Building from where The First National Bank of Forest City ran its operations. Today it is home to a liquor store. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 140 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 The SPMC Bank Note History Project (Part 2)  By Mark Drengson  Project Overview  The Bank Note History Project is sponsored by the Society of Paper Money Collectors as part of its mission  to promote the study and appreciation of paper money and related financial history. The purpose of the  project  is  to  collect  and  organize  historical  information  related  to  U.S.  bank  notes  issued  during  the  National Bank Note Era (1863‐1935) and Obsolete Bank Note Era (1782‐1866). The 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.  The Bank Note History Project consists of two online components: The Banks & Bankers Database and the  Bank Note History Wiki.  The Banks & Bankers Database includes historical data on all 14,348 National Banks that were chartered  between 1863 and 1935. It also includes all of the bank Presidents & Cashiers listed in the OCC reports  from 1867‐1935, as well as many other potential bank note signers (VPs & Asst Cashiers). Many Obsolete  Banks and Bankers from 1782‐1866 are also available with more being added over time. A Search web  page provides an easy‐to‐use search interface into the data.   The Bank Note History Wiki  is a public, crowd‐sourced website (very similar to Wikipedia) for creating  and organizing historical information on the National and Obsolete Banks & Bankers from 1782‐1935. The  primary content in this wiki is Bank Histories and Banker Biographies for bank note signers, which can be  linked to the Banks & Bankers Database and other on‐line resources.  Introduction  In Part 1 (in the May/June 2020 Paper Money Journal), we went over in detail how to use the National  Bank search procedures in the Banks & Bankers Database, and showed you the information available for  each bank. We also gave you a brief overview on how to use the Bank Officer Search. In this Part 2 article,  we will provide an overview of the Bank Note History Wiki, and let you know how you can help us out  with historical content for the Wiki and Database.  How to View the Bank Note History Wiki  On the SPMC website home page (spmc.org), click on the Bank Note History Project panel to go to the  Project’s home page, and then click on the Bank Note History Wiki link to take you to the wiki’s Main page  as shown in Figure 1.  You do not need to  login  to the SPMC website to view the Bank Note History Wiki  (like you do when  viewing the Banks & Bankers Database). This is a Public wiki, so anyone can view the information. Users  who have set up an account on our wiki are allowed to Add new pages or Edit existing wiki pages.    Tip: As a shortcut, you can also get to the wiki’s Main page by just browsing to banknotehistory.com.   Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 142 Figure 1. Bank Note History Wiki Main page (partial)  As you can see looking at the Main page, the layout of our wiki is very similar to Wikipedia.  Notice three important navigational aids in Figure 1 above:  * The Contents box provides an outline with links to each topic section on this page. * The Sidebar panel to the left is included on every page in this wiki, and provides links to other primary pages in this wiki, as well as other useful links.  * You can use the Search box in the upper right corner of every page to search and list links to all pages in this wiki that contain your search text (for example a Charter#) in the page title or page content.  Sidebar Links  The links on the Sidebar panel are organized into four sections:  * The first section has Primary links to other important pages in this wiki. We’ll go into more detail on these links in the next section.  * The Tools section has links useful to wiki administrators, and also to users when editing wiki content. * The Project Links section has a link to the Bank Note History Project Home page on the SPMC website, and also a link to the Banks & Bankers Database Overview page.  * The Sponsorship section has a link to the SPMC website (spmc.org). Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 143 Primary Sidebar Links  * Main page: The Main page gives an overview of the Bank Note History Project components and how you can help with contributing content for the wiki. It also explains how the content licensing works and  has a link to the Acknowledgments & Sources page. From any page in the wiki, you can click on the Main  page link (or the icon in the upper left corner) to go directly to the wiki’s Main page.  * Project News: The Project News page will be updated periodically with the latest news on the Bank Note History  Project. News  topics will  include  new  features, major  data  imports  into  the  Banks & Bankers  Database, and other relevant news.  * Featured Notes: A Featured Bank Note is highlighted on the Main Page, as well as each State's Home page, with links to the Bank History page and Banker Bio pages for the note signers. The featured bank  notes will be changed periodically, to highlight new content on the wiki. The Featured Notes sidebar link  will bring you to a page showing current and past featured notes.  * State Home pages: State Bank History Home pages can be set up that focus on each State's National and Obsolete Banks, Bankers and Banking History. They also highlight new wiki  content  for  the State,  along with National Bank Stats & Graphs, Famous Banks & Bankers, and helpful Research Resources.  Figure 2. Minnesota State Home page (partial)  Tip: If you are primarily interested in one state’s Banks & Bankers, you can set up a Favorites link to that  State’s home page in your browser.  Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 144 County Bank Note History home pages can also be set up to provide information on the Banks, Bankers  and Bank Notes for that county during the National Bank Note Era (1863‐1935), and also the Obsolete  Bank Note Era (1782‐1866) (if applicable for that county). County home pages are listed on their State  home page for easy access. Your local County Historical Society/Museum may be interested in adding a  link on their website to their County's Bank Note History home page in our wiki.  * Bank Histories (Index page): The Index for the Bank History pages in this wiki is organized by State, and then alphabetical by Town. See Figure 3 below for an example of a Bank History page.  Figure 3. Bank History page (partial) for the First National Bank of Iona, MN.  Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 145 * Banker Biographies (Index page): The Index for the Banker Biography pages  in this wiki  is organized alphabetically by Last Name. See Figure 4 below for an example of a Banker Bio page.  Figure 4. Banker Biography page (partial) for Peter A. Gushurst, President, First National Bank, Lead, SD.  * Other Articles: This index page is organized by State, and has links to other Bank Note History related articles that don’t fit into the Bank History or Banker Bio topics. See Figure 5 below.  Figure 5. Other Articles index page (partial)  Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 146 How You Can Help with the SPMC Bank Note History Project  The Bank Note History Project  is a  long‐term project, and our overall goal  is  to provide a good online  framework to gather and organize this historical data and make it easily available to users…and easy for  users  to  add more  bank  note  history  over  time.  If  you  would  like  to  help  us  with  this  project,  your  assistance would be greatly appreciated!  There are three primary areas where you can with help the Bank Note History Project:  1. Help us gather Basic Banker Information for as many bankers as possible, including Full Name (instead of initials) and Birth & Death dates. This helps us tie together multi‐bank bankers and also provides a good  starting point for further Banker biographical research.   2. Identify Other National Bank Note Signers not in the Database, including VPs and Asst Cashiers as well as Presidents and Cashiers that were not listed in the OCC reports.  3. Help us add more Bank Histories and Banker Bios to the Bank Note History wiki. Administrator utilities are available that use templates to automatically create Bank History and Banker Bio pages in the wiki,  including relevant data from the Banks & Bankers Database. This basically just leaves uploading images  (bank  postcards,  banker  photos  &  bank  notes),  expanding  the  Bank  History/Banker  Bio  section,  and  'cleaning up' the rest of the page text as needed. Remember, this is a wiki, so a page doesn’t have to be  perfect to start with! Additional Bank History and Banker Bio information can be added over time, by you  or other users, as it becomes available. Also, you don’t have to worry about making a mistake, or ‘breaking’  anything, since it is easy to undo any changes that have been made.  Note: We have recently upgraded the wiki software to the latest version. One of the new features is the  Visual Editor, which works  like a word processor  (i.e. Microsoft Word),  rather  than directly editing  the  wikitext source like before. This makes it much easier for users to edit wiki pages and upload images. The  'old' way of editing using the wikitext editor is still available when needed for more advanced editing.  For detailed information on how you can help us, see the How You Can Help link on the wiki sidebar.  If you have any questions, or want to help us with the Bank Note History Project, please contact me via  email at admin@banknotehistory.com. Thanks!  Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 147 Robert Calderman Collectors had a very rare opportunity this January when Heritage offered the ultimate five- dollar red seal Legal Tender variety as part of this year’s FUN currency auction. If you call yourself a true five dollar small size variety collector, this note is the ultimate trophy! A 1928E Fr.1530 H- A Mule featuring back plate 629 graded Fine 12 by PMG. A note that in a not so savvy coin dealer’s junk bin might have a price tag of around $10, this treasured rarity sold for the incredible bargain price of $1,020.00!!! How does a five dollar note that looks like this sell for over one thousand dollars? How can that possibly be considered a bargain price!?! The three little digits on the back of the note that comprise the plate serial number hold the secret. Back plate 629 is the ultimate prize for five-dollar variety collectors. Plate #629 was certified on Dec. 29th, 1933(a) it was the last back plate of the old gauge era and was kept solely for reference. An out of date format that had been retired, the last old gauge plate that was used prior was Bp.575. Plates 576- 628 were produced yet never used, ultimately cancelled in the Spring of 1937 (b). In an effort to reduce spoilage, “New Gauge” plates were produced in order to increase left and right vertical margin space between subjects. The very first use on the presses of a new gauge plate was plate #630 on January 11th, 1936 (c). At this point in time, old gauge plates were ancient history never to be seen again in production. It was by complete happenstance that while the infamous Bp.637 was being reentered for refurbishing, Bp.629 was taken out of the vault and put to press on November 17th, 1947 (d). Nearly twelve years after the last old gauge plate Collecting Notes that Shouldn’t Even Exist! Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 148 was on the press, miraculously 629 snuck into action for the first time! An unexpected blunder provided nearly three months on the press producing 35,225 twelve subject sheets. These would ultimately become the rarest 422,700 five dollar mules ever to exist! Since backs are always printed first, these 629 sheets marinated for a time anticipating their future faces. The stars were aligned in heavenly proportions to somehow gift collectors with three different seal color varieties! Bp.629 can be found on Silver Certificate blue seals, Legal Tender red seals, and even Federal Reserve note green seals! This rare plate number is most often seen on series of 1934C $5 Silver Certificates on the N-A block. While these are considered type notes for the variety, they are not at all considered common notes with a just 14 examples currently certified in all grades by PMG. Likely as many as 50-75 N-A block examples have survived circulation allowing the realistic possibility for collectors to add an example to their holdings. The 34C SC M- A block is a different story entirely with only 2 examples certified by PMG on this rare block! Just a single 1934C silver certificate star is known, it is the only star to have ever surfaced! No other stars have been discovered for any of the three possible types. For red seals, Bp.629 can only be found on series of 1928E H-A block Legal Tenders. PMG has certified only 4 examples in all grades making our featured note pictured here an amazing trophy note regardless of its well-loved condition! Federal Reserve notes are also extreme rarities for Bp.629. They can be found only on series of 1934C Feds and are possible on all twelve districts, yet incredibly in over 50yrs on collector’s radar only four individual districts have been observed comprising a total of only 9 notes in the current census. If you previously have not been on the lookout for Bp.629 burn these three numbers into your brain my friends and go hunting! 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 Sources: (a)(b)(c)(d) Huntoon: The enduring allure of $5 Micro Back Plates 629 and 637 (Paper Money Sep/Oct 2015 Whole No. 299. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 149 The Obsolete Corner The Blackstone Canal Bank by Robert Gill Hello paper money lovers. By the time you read this article Spring time will almost be upon us. The previous year will definitely go down in this earth's history as one that was quite devastating to mankind. But hopefully, all of us will rebound from what we have had to go thru. But one thing is for sure, it was a good year for me as far as my paper money desires go. I was able to acquire a few very nice, rare sheets to help quench my desire to add to my collection. I'm hoping that during this year each of us will be able to achieve our goal that we set for our wonderful hobby. And now, let's look at the sheet that I've chosen to share with you in this article. In this issue of Paper Money, I'd like for us to go to the state of Rhode Island and look at a sheet that I was very fortunate to acquire several years ago. And that is on The Blackstone Canal Bank. As I've went to shows and searched the auctions that have been conducted over the years, notes on this institution seem to be virtually non-existent. And in sheet form, I thought I would never see one. I was quite surprised when it came my way. Because local merchants had profited greatly from expanded trade with towns around the area, and throughout the County of Worchester, Providence, Rhode Island, realized the need for another bank in the area. The Blackstone Canal Bank was organized by some of the city's most prominent businessmen, including members of the Brown and Ives families. It received its charter on January 18th, 1831. Nicholas Brown served as the institution’s first president, and Thomas B. Fenner was cashier. In 1841, John Carter Brown succeeded his father as president. The Bank was to infuse much needed capital into the newly constructed Blackstone Canal. The waterway project, which ran forty-five miles from Providence to Worcester, had cost much more than the $400,000 originally projected, and its toll receipts were low. Initially, half of the Bank’s $250,000 capitalization was to be invested in the stock of the canal, and canal stockholders were given the privilege of investing in the new banking institution. However, by 1833, the Bank began distancing itself from its financially-stricken partner. And in 1834, the Directors were given permission by the General Assembly to sell off its shares of canal stock. In 1836, the Bank moved into the former offices of The Bank of the United States in Providence. And in 1850, it moved into a newly constructed edifice at 20 Market Square, known as the What Cheer Building. Some of the structure’s foundation stones were taken from the canal itself. It appears in historical records that the Bank occupied this address for the rest of its existence. In 1865, The Blackstone Canal Bank was granted Federal Charter #1328, and reorganized as The Blackstone Canal National Bank of Providence. So there's the limited amount of history that I have been able to uncover in my research of this institution's activities. If anyone has any more information, I sure would like to hear from you. As I always do, I invite any comments to my cell phone (580) 221-0898, or my personal email address robertgill@cableone.net So, until next time.... HAPPY COLLECTING. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 150 Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 151 The front of the Type-40 Treasury note endorsed by Capt. Griff P. Theobald, Assistant Quarter Master image: W. Crutchfield Williams, II Capt. Griff P. Theobald, AQM Enterprise, Mississippi An extremely rare endorsement (R14, two known) initially appeared to be an ordinary Assistant Quartermaster doing his job at his post in Enterprise, Mississippi. But Mississippi is not a monolithic culture as many Northerners might assume, and it has a fascinating history. Some of that history came to life with the blue ink endorsement of Capt. Griff P. Theobald, AQM, which reads: “Paid out Nov 29th 1862 G P Theobald AQM CSA” History converged on Enterprise, Mississippi, in unexpected ways with famous Southerners and a Northern businessman as characters in this story. The history of Captain Griff Theobald and Private Newton Knight are interleaved in surprising ways. 1861 THEOBALD: The story begins at Camp Burnett on September 14th, 1861 with Griff P. Theobald, aged 32 years, as he was elected by the men of Company D to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. This was the 4th Regiment of the Kentucky Mounted Infantry. By October 19th he had been appointed as Capt. & AQM of the regiment, a likely testament to a good education. KNIGHT: On August 17th Newton Knight, aged 25 years and born in Jones County, Mississippi, enlisted as a Private, reporting to Capt. James L. Sansom’s Company H in the 8th Regiment Mississippi Volunteers.1 1862 THEOBALD: At the end of March Theobald spent $10.50 on a sabre for his personal use, purchased from Lt. Moses Hannibal Wright, an ordnance officer at the Nashville Arsenal in Tennessee. A man of deep devotion to the common good, as Theobald would also prove to be, Lt. Wright would soon move this arsenal to Atlanta, Georgia, The back of the Type-40 Treasury note with the November 29th, 1862 endorsement by Capt. Griff P. Theobald, AQM. image: W. Crutchfield Williams, II The Quartermaster Column No. 17 by Michael McNeil Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 152 and become its commander, eventually rising to the rank of Colonel. The record for Theobald is sparse until August 22nd, 1862, when Gen’l Braxton Bragg issued Special Order No. 160 at Chattanooga, Tennessee, assigning Theobald to duty at Enterprise, Mississippi. A voucher for postage and the expenses of his quarters confirmed that Theobald had arrived in Enterprise in September. The illustrated Treasury note was endorsed by Theobald in late November. KNIGHT: On May 13th at Quitman, Mississippi, Knight joined Company F as a 4th Sergeant in the 7th Battalion Mississippi Volunteers and was detailed in September and October as a Provost Guard (a guard of prisoners).2 Knight was later reported “absent without leave, lost on retreat from Abbeville” following the defeat at the Second Battle of Corinth in October.3 1863 THEOBALD: The Quartermaster General’s office in Richmond sent questionnaires to their post quartermasters in an effort to maintain some control. A quartermaster assigned to a post did not accompany a unit into battle; they managed the production of military goods. Theobald’s response to one of these questionnaires opens a window on the activities of a post quartermaster. On September 12th at Enterprise he wrote: I was first assigned to duty at this post by Gen’l Bragg and assumed the duties on 1st Sept. 1862. ...I have under my charges a wagon shop making ten wagons and four ambulances per week, a shoe shop making one hundred pairs shoes per week, a hat shop making, when material can be had, about two hundred hats per week. I have also been manufacturing clothing.... I can make one thousand suits per week in addition to the duties named within. I do all things appertaining to this dept which comes before me for the good of the Service. Take careful note of that last phrase “...for the good of the Service.” Theobald here means that he is not engaged in other private business, a practice sometimes seen with other quartermasters. By itself it is not all that remarkable, but we will see that it fits the character of a man who puts aside his self interest for the common good of the Confederacy, a true public servant. KNIGHT: In March Knight’s unit reported that he was “present, in arrest.”4 And by June 30th he was reported “absent without leave.”5 On October 5th Major Amos McLemore was shot and killed at Ellisville, Mississippi, Jones County, very likely by Newton Knight and his band of civilians and military deserters after having suffered death and destruction to their homes and community by the Major’s command. On October 13th civilians of Jones, Jasper, Covington, and Smith Counties, under the leadership of Newton Knight, formed a military unit named the Jones County Scouts, seceded from the Confederate States, pledged their loyalty to the Union, raised the Unon flag over the Jones County Courthouse at Ellisville, and named it the Free State of Jones. From late 1863 to early 1865 they fought fourteen skirmishes with Confederate forces.6 1864 THEOBALD: In February Union advances forced the abandonment of 15,000 bushels of corn and 35,000 feet of lumber in Enterprise, all due to a lack of transportation, and these supplies were destroyed or taken. Vouchers in Theobald’s file confirm that he returned to his duties in Enterprise in March. The War Department issued a circular in mid-1864 which required officers to describe their qualifications and duties. Responses to these circulars sometimes yield the only good information we have Newton Knight image: By Unknown photographer – Mississippi History Now, Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26462823 Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 153 about some of the quartermasters. Capt. Theobald responded with some notable comments on July 18th: 1st [By what authority were you assigned to duty] By order of Gen’l Bragg, and continued by Lt. Gen’l Pemberton. Now acting under order of Major S. Mims Chief Qr Mr State of Miss. Order of Lt. Gen’l Pemberton and Maj. L. Mims lost in retreat on approach of Enemy in Feby last. 2nd [Duties performed] Depot Purchasing. Post and Transportation duties. In the purchase & exchange of cotton yarns & domestic for wool. The purchase of leather, shoes, jeans and all other stores pertaining to Quarter Master’s Dept. I would further state that in past six weeks I have obtained in my district thirty thousand pounds of wool by purchase and exchange. District composed of the following Counties, viz, Clarke, Jasper, Smith, Covington, Jones, Perry, Wayne, Green, Hancock, Harrison, & Jackson (eleven). 3rd [Employees] Report Form 3 enclosed.... 4th [Contracts...] ...I would respectfully state that I have only the Shoe Contracts amounting to fifteen hundred pairs shoes per month. 5th [Prices paid for all supplies, whether procured by impressment or in open market] All supplies received by exchange and by purchase in open market, regulated by the Scale of Prices adjusted by State Commissioner. 6th [Office hours for self & employees] From May 1st to Sept. 30th from 7am to 6pm; from Oct. 1st to April 30th from 8am to 4pm about ten hours occupied in performance of duties. 7th [Number of horses to each staff officer and employee to which Forage is issued – whether there are any which have been impressed for Government use in possession of officers, if so, when and how obtained, by whose authority....] Forage issued for one staff officer for one horse Capt. Josh Bartlett ACS. No horse has been impressed for the use of or been used by any GOVT officer or employee at this post. (emphasis by Theobald) In submitting the above I would respectfully state that if funds could be promptly furnished much now could be accomplished in the way of purchases. But the people have been greatly imposed on in this State. Agents pretending to be acting for the Govt have done much to destroy the confidence of the people and in many instances they refuse to take vouchers [in lieu of cash], whereas a prompt payment by the officers of the Govt would bring about a feeling of confidence which would be of infinite service to the Govt. Much more would be...obtained which now goes into the hands of speculators.... Note my emphasis of the phrases in red italics. All four counties in the Free State of Jones were a part of the district managed by Capt. Theobald. He cannot have been ignorant of the 1863 act of secession by Newton Knight, and he does not mention it but rather appears to plead the case to address the issues which brought about the act of secession. This is a remarkable document which I shared with Professor John Stauffer, the Chair and Professor of History of American Civilization at Harvard University. Stauffer served as a mentor to Gary Ross, the director of the recent movie, Free State of Jones, 2016. Ross relates that Stauffer insisted that he learn how to do original research in addition to reviewing the existing literature in preparation for the movie, and Ross immersed himself in this research. In its quest for historical accuracy, this movie is rare treat from Hollywood. Theobald’s own emphasis of his words stating that no horses had been impressed for government use is also remarkable. In a letter of instruction dated July 23rd, 1864 to Maj. Angus Quaite, Chief Purchasing QM, Maj. L. Mims, the Chief Quartermaster for the State of Mississippi, advocated for impressment and military force:7 I am informed that there are large quantities of leather & wool to be procured, all of which you will endeaver to get, by purchase if possible, otherwise by impressment. ... If it be necessary at any time to have an armed force to assist you in procuring any quantity of supplies sufficient in these localities to ask for it, it is believed it will be allowed furnished on your application to the officer Comdg the nearest body of troops. 1865 THEOBALD: The last record for Theobald at his post was a report from him dated January 1865 in Enterprise, Mississippi. He was paroled at Meridian, Mississippi, on May 13th. Although the Journal of the Confederate Congress lists Theobald with the rank of Major,8 no documents signed by him up to and including his parole document bear any other rank than Captain. He may have been appointed, but his rank not confirmed by the Congress before the end of the war. Theobald’s keen focus on the value of behavior which benefits the community, not just the individual, is displayed in a letter of recommendation dated August 12th, long after the end of the war, and Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 154 addressed to Union Col. Henry M. Whittlesey, Chief QM Dept. of Mississippi: Colonel, I take pleasure in introducing to your acquaintance the bearer Maj. G. P. Theobald late Quartermaster of the late CSA. In my intercourse with the major while receiving the Q.M. property for which he was accountable I found him working for the best interest of the U. S. Govt in his desire to carry out the terms of the surrender of this Department. Any favor which you can do him will be highly appreciated and reciprocated. Mid-1870s KNIGHT: Newton Knight separated from his white wife, Selena, and married Rachel, a former black slave owned by his grandfather. The children from both wives intermarried. Knight supported three interracial communities and built a school to educate them. 1922 KNIGHT: Newton Knight died in Jasper County, Mississippi, at the age of 92 on February 16th, and contrary to Mississippi law, he was buried next to Rachel. The altruistic epitaph on his grave reads: “He Lived For Others” Theobald and Knight both clearly believed in the value of the community interest and rejected self- interest. In their own way, they both served their communities well. The tension between the common good of the community and individual liberty is a defining feature of American society to this day. Enterprise, Mississippi N. B. FORREST: In December of 1864 Gen’l Nathan Bedford Forrest, a man with a profound understanding of human nature, defeated a Union artillery battery and released its commanding officer and the men of his unit on their own recognizance and honor within Enterprise, Mississippi. The Union commander wrote many favorable anecdotes of the time he and his men spent in the homes of Enterprise citizens. After the war, the Union commander brought his family to live in Enterprise, but later returned to the North after his wife died of malaria. That Union commander would go on to found the pharmaceutical giant which today bears his name – Ely Lilly. ◘ carpe diem Notes and References: 1. National Archives files for Newton Knight, 8th Regiment Mississippi Volunteers, page 2. 2. National Archives files for Newton Knight, 7th Battalion Mississippi Volunteers, pages 2 and 3. 3. Ibid, page 4. 4. Ibid, page 5. 5. Ibid, page 6. 6. There are two excellent modern accounts of the Free State of Jones: Jenkins, Sally, and Stauffer, John. The State of Jones, Anchor Books, New York, 2010. Bynum, Victoria E. The Free State of Jones, The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2001. 7. Quartermaster Column, Paper Money, January/February 2021, Maj. Angus G. Quaite, Chief Purchasing QM in Mississippi. See also The State of Jones, p. 187, referring to “The rebel quartermaster for Mississippi and east Louisiana [Mims?]....” 8. Wyllie, Arthur. Confederate Officers, PDF published by Arthur Wyllie, 2007. Rachel Knight image: By Unknown photographer – Mississippi History Now, Herman Welborn Collection, courtesy Martha Doris Welborn Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 155 Thoughts of a Vaccine Spring As winter snows melt into spring, a lusty man’s thoughts drift in sweet anticipation towards … Covid vaccines. Like many other people in the United States, I’m languishing on some eligibility list set up by my state government. Somehow, it’s like being stuck in a very crowded airport terminal where the gate attendant is droning on over a bad PA system: First Class, Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro, OneWorld Blah Blah—then on to the group numbers from one to infinity. Meanwhile, I can only sit and wait. For the last year and a half, I’ve played by the rules. I’ve masked up, kept socially distant, even dealt with my in-laws over Zoom (now that wasn’t so hard, was it?). But when vaccine time finally comes, I swear I will cook that stuff in a spoon myself and it shoot it up in a Walgreen’s bathroom stall if I have to. I just want my life back. Surveying the wreckage wrought by the pandemic is like inspecting the damage inflicted by a tornado here in Oklahoma: you may encounter a row of pulverized houses, but then one street over everything looks fine. The global pandemic has pounded the economy here and elsewhere, but in very specific ways. The results can feel disorienting. I know that millions of people have lost their jobs, while others adapted well enough to working from home, clothed at least from the waist up in front of their webcams. Yet financial markets have continued to rise as if nothing was amiss, buoyed by a sea of government-provided liquidity. Likewise has it been for hobbyists. At first, collecting seemed to shudder to a halt last spring when the full implications of the pandemic became clear: show after show was cancelled, club meetings postponed, exhibitions closed to the public. Oh, you could still enjoy your hobby all right, if only by gazing forlornly at your albums in the safety and desperate isolation of your own home. If you were a punk who felt lucky or otherwise harbored a death wish, you could always venture out to those very local coin and currency shows that were still soldiering on. If that was the new normal, it was a distinctly depressing one. Still, people adapted in various and innovative ways. Virtual meetings and presentations by Zoom or Webex have become part of that new normal, and will certainly endure after the pandemic recedes. Last summer, the usual presentations of the Kansas City IPMS went virtual. Through its new Educational Program, the International Bank Note Society now records monthly lectures and presentations and makes them available on its YouTube Channel. The ANA’s eLearning Academy is rapidly building out an impressive catalog of webinars. Last but not least, by the time this column appears your very own SPMC will have gotten into the game by hosting its first online program on February 27. So, like the larger economy, the collectibles business has chugged along. Though confined at home, people still had money to spend. And spend they did! Auction houses reported healthy volumes and higher prices. An otherwise ordinary $20 bill with a Del Monte sticker in the wrong place sold for an astounding 400 grand. At any time, an army of Redditors may discover the collector’s equivalent of “stonks.” And, if you can sort through the dross, eBay is always there for collectors of any budget. If there are proverbial canaries in this coal mine, it has to be the economic fortunes of the two major grading conglomerates, Collectors Universe (CLCT) and Certified Collectibles Group (CCG). Both are doing fine. CLCT, a publicly-traded company, saw its share price jump six-fold since February 2020, making it a juicy buyout target for private equity investors led by, of all people, a sports card fanatic. To a certain kind of numismatic snob, this has got to be a galling prospect. Yet this wasn’t a one-off thing: CCG, its privately-held competitor, has most recently established a new affiliate, Certified Sports Guaranty (CSG) to grade and authenticate your stray Honus Wagner cards. At a certain level, this is all just biz, but the question still remains: is it healthy for collecting that all of this is even possible in the midst of a pandemic? Like the equities markets, which have thrived even as the real economy has tanked, is there not an unsettling disconnect between the robust auction results at Stack’s Bowers or Heritage, and the reality that, for everyday collectors, their hobby is in a quarantined-induced coma? Once fortified with vaccines, we may return to in-person gatherings, and the year 2020 will recede in our memories as a traumatic, but temporary interlude. Temporary, that is, as long as we are nimble enough to stay one step ahead of a mutating virus. Chump Change Loren Gatch Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 156 The Society of Paper Money Collectors was organized in 1961 and incorporated in 1964 as a non-profit organization under the laws of the District of Columbia. It is affiliated with the ANA. The Annual Meeting of the SPMC is held in June at the International Paper Money Show. Information about the SPMC, including the by-laws and activities can be found at our website-- www.spmc.org. The SPMC does not does not endorse any dealer, company or auction house. MEMBERSHIP—REGULAR and LIFE. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and of good moral character. Members of the ANA or other recognized numismatic societies are eligible for membership. Other applicants should be sponsored by an SPMC member or provide suitable references. MEMBERSHIP—JUNIOR. Applicants for Junior membership must be from 12 to 17 years of age and of good moral character. A parent or guardian must sign their application. Junior membership numbers will be preceded by the letter “j” which will be removed upon notification to the secretary that the member has reached 18 years of age. Junior members are not eligible to hold office or vote. DUES—Annual dues are $39. Dues for members in Canada and Mexico are $45. Dues for members in all other countries are $60. Life membership—payable in installments within one year is $800 for U.S.; $900 for Canada and Mexico and $1000 for all other countries. The Society no longer issues annual membership cards but paid up members may request one from the membership director with an SASE. Memberships for all members who joined the Society prior to January 2010 are on a calendar year basis with renewals due each December. Memberships for those who joined since January 2010 are on an annual basis beginning and ending the month joined. All renewals are due before the expiration date, which can be found on the label of Paper Money. Renewals may be done via the Society website www.spmc.org or by check/money order sent to the secretary. WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS! BY FRANK CLARK SPMC MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR NEW MEMBERS 01/05/2021 15204 David Clayton, Website 15205 Roger Gudith, (C), Website 15206 Richard Melamed, Website 15207 Guyon Turner, Website 15208 Robert Mitchell, Tom Denly 15209 Marvin Mericle, Website 15210 Joseph Alonso, Website 15211 Tim Frisch, Website 15212 David O'Hanlon, Website 15213 Neil Marron, Pierre Fricke 15214 Glenn J. Meredith, Website REINSTATEMENTS None LIFE MEMBERSHIPS None NEW MEMBERS 02/05/2021 15215 Jeff Culver, Robert Calderman 15216 James Callinan, Website 15217 Linwood Watson, Tom Denly 15218 Allen Martin, Tom Denly 15219 Hrvoje Miljan, Website 15220 James Birdsall, Don Kelly 15221 Eron McCormick, PMG 15222 John Heberger, Bill Litt 15223 Rex Nelson, Frank Clark 15224 Michael Kisner, Tom Denly 15225 James Beauregard, Tom Denly 15226 Robert Pfaff, Website 15227 Todd Hirn, Don Kelly 15228 David Corcoran, Website 15229 Mohammad Saeed Iqbal, Website 15230 Tom Goffigon, Website 15231 David Verdine, Website 15232 William D. Choate, Gary Dobbins REINSTATEMENTS None LIFE MEMBERSHIPS None Dues Remittal Process Send dues directly to Robert Moon SPMC Treasurer 104 Chipping Ct Greenwood, SC 29649 Refer to your mailing label for when your dues are due. You may also pay your dues online at www.spmc.org. Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 157 U N C O U P L E D : PAPER MONEY’S ODD COUPLE Joseph E. Boling Fred Schwan More from Warrington In the four issues that we have been looking at the Warrington faker’s inventions, he has come up with more than fifty new ones (counting both the artistic overprints and the outright frauds—catalog-numbered notes that he is replicating). That does NOT count the fake polymer errors that he has been creating with whatever solvents he is using. Never buy a polymer “error” note from this seller—they are made in his lab. He is still selling as citygroundhero-6, using the name Irvin Santiago in Leicester, England; he is still taking payments through PayPal into the account of Sameir A’lseyuote, and he is still shipping from S. Alseyo in Warrington, where he has now been perched for several years. He must be having a hard time restocking. He still runs about 105 lots a week, but instead of salting them with 7-9 false pieces, he is now running 19-23 illegitimate pieces weekly. I will resume numbering at 100, following figure 99 that closed my last column. Figures 100 and 101 are two more overprints on modern Algerian notes. 100 was labeled “National Liberation Front Commemorative.” The listing for 101 named the president, who does not appear on the note. Figure 102 is a fictitious WWII Bermuda emergency issue. Either he had a damaged five- shilling note, or we will see the other half of this piece in a later sale. He has bisected the note and added a two shillings six pence overprint, while obliterating the 5- shilling counters. As a member posted on the IBNS Forum, who believes that a colonial governor would bisect the king’s head to make such a piece? See Boling page 161 Ration checks It was a long time ago. I think it was in the mid-1980s at a Cherry Hill, New Jersey paper money show. I was making my normal reconnaissance pass around the floor when I saw it. An item that I knew from the first moment would go home with me. It could be neither rare nor expensive. I had never before seen one and I wanted it. It was a spectacular, large, color World War II magazine advertisement proclaiming “Phoney Money!” and featuring images of Japanese invasion money (JIM). Even then I had a small collection of what I call World War II numismatic advertising. This would certainly be the highlight of my collection. The object of my desire was at the table of a friend of mine. That seemed like an advantage. Wrong. Probably he had me in mind when he packaged it and took it to the show. Perhaps he even had me in mind as his target, er customer when he bought it. Certainly he had me in mind when he sealed it tightly with a piece of cardboard so that I could not determine the publication without buying it. I hardly said hello before I asked to see the advertisement from his back table. I was stunned when he told me the price. Clearly, I had to decline. It was a crazy price for an advertisement. What could I do? I think that you know what I did. Bought it. Within a minute I removed the wrapping and found that the advertisement was from Fortune. I hardly noticed the advertiser. It was the graphic image of the JIM that I liked. Jump forward to the Internet age. The advertisement is even better than I had first recognized. The advertiser was George La Monte & Son. George La Monte was the inventor of check safety paper and the company was the largest manufacturer of such! Now I Figure 100 Figure 101 Figure 102 Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 158 am a collector of World War II George La Monte & Son advertising. The company ran an extensive series of advertisements during the war. As far as I can tell, the advertisements appeared exclusively in Fortune. Of course they are all of interest to us, being by a company that manufactured check paper, but in addition to “Phoney Money,” a few of them feature images and information of interest for this series on World War II checks. I have been waiting a long time to come up with an excuse to introduce you to La Monte advertising! The first advertisement in the series was on the occasion of the firm’s 70th anniversary. It featured an aerial view of the factory in Nutley, New Jersey and a brief history of the company. In 1871 Safety Paper was invented and introduced by George La Monte. At that time “check raising” was a serious menace to the development of the checking system which was to play so important a part in the growth of American banking. » » » Then, and through the intervening years, La Monte Safety Papers have met and overcome the menace of check forgery. They have provided the protection so necessary to the free circulation of checks throughout the nation. » » » Through constant research, experimentation, and improvements in formulae and manufacturing methods, La Monte Safety Papers have kept pace with increasing demands for protection, and have been brought to their present high standards of efficiency. » » » Today, La Monte Safety Papers are recognized as “the standard of protection” for checks and other negotiable instruments. They are used and endorsed by business institutions from coast to coast, including more than 75% of the nation’s leading banks. » » » When you specify La Monte Safety Paper you are selecting a product which was not only the first in the field but which has maintained its leadership over a period of 70 YEARS. » » » For samples of La Monte Safety Papers made with distinctive individual designs for banks and corporations, have your secretary write: GEORGE LA MONTE & SON, Nutley, New Jersey. I now have more than 20 pieces (advertisements) in my collection. They all came at much lower prices than the first! Indeed, the cost of “Phoney Money” would just about cover the cost of all of the others. All of the others that is except one—the most recent that I have purchased. Just as with “Phoney Money,” when I saw this most recent one, I had to have it. Indeed, I had to have it for this column! The subject of the advertisement AND of the column is World War II ration checks. I could not believe it when I saw that piece on eBay. In the several years that I had been pursuing George La Monte advertising, I had never seen this one. There is no reason that any particular advertisement should be substantially more scarce than any other, yet there was one I had never seen and that I must have. These advertisements are not expensive when you buy them on eBay these days. Ten dollars is a high price, and of course there is always the problem of shipping charges, but still there is always a selection at modest prices. Usually they are available “buy it now.” When they are sold by auction, there is never a second bidder. Of course you know what happened. We had a bidding war on the La Monte ration checks advertisement. Compared to national bank notes, gold certificates, and even military payment certificates, it was a modest price, but it was still 400% of the starting price! Nonetheless, I am happy to present it to you here. If you want one of these, I am confident that you can find one on eBay by waiting and that you can get it for less than I paid. The seller of the one that I bought is a well-known collector of everything related to rationing, which obviously is why he had the advertisement in the 1st place. I expect that the surprised underbidder wanted it for the same reason. Are there any other George La Monte Company collectors out there? We should start a club. The bonus for me is that the description of the ration banking system in the advertisement summarizes the system not only better than I could, but also provides a great image of a set of checks and of La Monte paper! RATION BANKING—a Vital New War-Time Service Since Pearl Harbor, AMERICA’S BANKS have put in millions of man-hours for Victory! » » And though they have lost hundreds of thousands of trained employees [to the armed services], they have done an outstanding and indispensable job on War Production Financing, War Bond Sales, Victory Fund Drives, and Payroll Handling for War Industries and our Armed Forces. » » And now, Uncle Sam has turned to this nation’s Banks for assistance in expediting the handling of America’s far-reaching Plan for the rationing of essential commodities. » » The result is RATION Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 159 BANKING—a procedure which is of inestimable value to Retailers and Wholesalers and goes far toward keeping the entire Ration Plan running smoothly and efficiently. » » This new service is of vast magnitude. It involves the setting up within the Bank of an entirely separate system of credit and audit control and the collecting, recording, and safeguarding of BILLIONS of Ration Stamps and Coupons. » » Under this new system, stamps and coupons are banked like money and Ration Checks are drawn against deposits—just as Commercial Checks are drawn against dollar deposits. » » And because these Ration Checks require the same degree of protection against alteration as dollar checks, they are, in most instances, lithographed or printed on La Monte Safety Paper! Checks were issued for fuel oil, shoes, processed foods, coffee, gasoline, and sugar. How many banks issued ration checks? How many banks were there in the United States? How many merchants had ration bank accounts? Thousands of banks by tens of thousands of merchants is a big number. Who collects World War II ration checks? Good question I think. Certainly members of the Society of Ration Token Collectors, but members of the Society of Paper Money Collectors? Even to the extent that SPMC members collect checks, do they collect ration checks? I only know one person who would characterize himself as a ration check collector. I doubt if he has more than a hundred pieces, but I must say all are really nice. I collect national bank notes of Ottawa County, Ohio. There were only three national banks in the county. I have some checks from all three banks, but no ration checks. I would love to have even one. What would be a complete set? Oh my. A collection of just one check from each of the then forty-eight states would be a great and impressive collection. Alaska and Hawaii checks were certainly issued, but I have never seen or heard of any. Do you want more? Canada had a very similar system. I have not really looked for those yet, but I do have one from Nova Scotia. I would have liked to save the Canadian idea for another column, but I doubt I could fill a column with what I could learn about Canadian ration checks. I do have a few ration checks in my collection. Nothing special. You can find ration checks on eBay for about the same price as a George La Monte & Son advertisement! I do know one place that you can get a very cheap check to get you started. For a self- addressed stamped envelope (132 E. Second St., Port Clinton OH 43452), I will send you a free First National Bank of Portland, Oregon ration check. Alternatively, send me a dollar via PayPal (fredschwan@yahoo.com) and I will do the same. One of my favorite La Monte advertisements combines war bond drives with a La Monte check. The text from the advertisement tells you most of what you need to know. FIGHTING DOLLARS LAUNCHED THIS SHIP When the people of Atlanta learned that their proud namesake cruiser, the U.S.S. Atlanta, had been sunk in the Solomons, they not only saw red—they saw Red, White and Blue. » » That very day, they set out to raise the money for a bigger and better “Atlanta.” They organized a War Bond Drive which will go down in history. In less than 60 days they raised over $63,000,000 going way beyond their quota, with enough left over to build two destroyer escorts to accompany the new Atlanta. » » The climax of this spectacularly successful War Bond Drive—initiated by the people Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 160 of Atlanta and participated in by other loyal Georgians—was the presentation to Secretary of the Navy Knox of a token check for $63,397,897.50 by John L. Conner, Chairman of the “New Atlanta Cruiser Committee.” » » And it’s not surprising that this historic check was on La Monte Safety Paper for a great majority of the Banks in the State of Georgia use this product to safeguard against alteration and counterfeiting the checks they themselves issue and those they supply to their depositors. Of course there is at least a small twist to the story. The committee issued an attractive certificate to participants in the New Atlanta program. These certificates are reasonably available and even modestly priced. The certificate and advertisement make a great pair in my collection. Boling continued Figures 103-104 are created on obsolete Burmese notes. The first is a poorly rendered image of an apparent freedom fighter holding a flag and a torch. The second is a coat of arms celebrating agriculture and industry (grain stalks and part of a cogwheel). I have not identified the building. Figures 105 and 106 are from Cambodia. The first bears a coat of arms with seven soldiers, police, and civilians, and was labeled “commemorative issue.” The second was labeled “Khmer Republic Commemorative.” The seals are identical in form except for the replacement of the seven people with a monumental building. Why anyone would commemorate the Khmer period of Cambodian history (remember the killing fields?) is beyond me. As I have observed before, Mr. A’lseyuote does not seem to have read his history lessons very closely. For figure 107 he has printed the Ceylon coat of arms used before 1972 onto the watermark window of a 1977-dated note. Any time you see an obliterated watermark window from this seller, steer clear. Figure 105 Figure 106 Figure 107 Figure 103 (upper) Figure 104 (left) Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 161 Figures 108-111 are Chinese fantasies. In the 1930s several notes from Western printers were overprinted for use by other banks. Figures 108 and 109 attempt to piggy-back on that practice. 108 (below)is a note of the Bank of Communications overprinted (in inkjet—not around in the 1930s) for the National Industrial Bank of China. In addition to the technology error, the text of the overprint runs the wrong direction for the period in which it was allegedly used. The overprint of 109 is illegible. The listing says “Central Bank of China,” but that is the underlying note. The new title is not mentioned, and the inkjet fluid has run together so badly that only three characters are barely legible— not enough to establish what the overprint was supposed to accomplish. Figures 110 and 111 are more obliterated watermark windows—one with Chairman Mao and the other with Sun Yat Sen. Figure 112, on a Colombian note, is another coat of arms. This guy loves coats of arms— maybe because you can copy an appropriate one right out of Wikipedia. The overprint on figure 113 is subtle. The underlying note is from the Austro-Hungarian empire, which was shattered by World War I. The overprint says HIC MANE BIMUS O-PTIME. This is a fractured (because of the overprint layout) rendering of a Latin phrase “Hic manebimus optime,” or “Here will we stay, optimally.” It has come to have the meaning “This will do,” or “We’ll be comfortable here,” such as one might say to an innkeeper upon being shown a room. It turns out that the Italians occupying Fiume used the expression, indicating that they were not planning to go away. I have never seen nor heard of it used on a note in that context, so I don’t know whether Warrington dreamed up this use. Seems unlikely. Figure 114 was labeled “Military commemorative issue.” It is a hand waving the French Tricolor. Figure 110 Figure 111 Figure 109 Figure 108 Figure 112 Figure 113 Figure 114 Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 162 Figure 115 sports another coat of arms over the watermark window of a note from Ghana. Figures 116-118 are a new batch of inkjet fantasies on Greek notes. There were a few instances following WWII in which Greek cities and regions issued local currencies. Warrington has invented three more of them, obliterating the main heading of a national issue and inserting another name—in these cases Kerkyra, Kalamata, and Peloponnesos (using a letter (H) that does not exist in Greek). Of these three, only Kalamata issued regional notes. No such notes, from any jurisdiction, were overprinted on national issues. Figure 119 shows another coat of arms decorating a watermark window—on a Guinea-Bissau note. Figure 120 hides its watermark with a portrait of Saddam Hussein, somewhat more handsome than earlier ones from this source. Figure 121 is an Italian note with a propaganda message presumably supporting Giuseppe Mazzini’s concept of an Italian republic. Mazzini was a 19th century pre-unification politician who promoted such a government. Since this note was circulating during WWII, we might assume it was an anti-Fascist message. If such a note existed then, it was not printed using Warrington’s particular shade of inkjet maroon. Any note from this seller with this color overprint is going to prove spurious. He especially likes to use it for false “specimen” markings. Figure 115 Figure 116 (left) Figure 117 (middle) Figure 118 (bottom) Figure 119 Figure 120 Figure 121 Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 163 Figure 122—you guessed it. Another coat or arms, from Jamaica. Figures 123-128 are all copies of propaganda leaflets, mostly of Allied origin, originally dropped on Japan or Japanese-occupied territories. In no case did the Allies print such messages over existing notes. All such leaflets, if they had any connection at all to money, were printed on clean paper on one side with the note image on the other side. I am not familiar with the messages of figures 126-7, but since they are inkjet products, they cannot be genuine. Having never been reported in the numismatic literature, I presume they never existed with a banknote image on one side. Figure 128 did. Here it is printed on the back of a Malayan $100 late-war JIM note; the original had an image of an earlier Malayan $10 JIM note on the other side. That is enough for now. I did not expect this series to last a full year, but the guy in Warrington is prolific. Figure 122 Figure 124 Figure 123 Figure 125 Figure 126 Figure 127 Figure 128 Paper Money * March/April 2021 * Whole No. 332 164 OUR MEMBERS SPECIALIZE IN NATIONAL CURRENCY They also specialize in Large Size Type Notes, Small Size Currency, Obsolete Currency, Colonial and Continental Currency, Fractionals, Error Notes, MPC’s, 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 OVER 100 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 a FREE copy of the PCDA Membership Directory listing names, addresses and specialties of all members, send your request to: The Professional Currency Dealers Association PCDA • Hosts the annual National Currency and Coin Convention during March in Rosemont, Illinois. 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 June at the International Paper Money Show, 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 in the Membership Directory or on our Web Site. • Is a proud supporter of the Society of Paper Money Collectors. Or Visit Our Web Site At: www.pcda.com Bea Sanchez – Secretary P.O. Box 44-2809 • Miami, FL 33144-2809 (305) 264-1101 • email: sol@sanchezcurrency.com Paul R. Minshull 441002067; Heritage Numismatic Auctions #444000370. BP 20%; see HA.com. 60254 DALLAS  |  NEW YORK  |  BEVERLY HILLS  |  SAN FRANCISCO  |  CHICAGO  |  PALM BEACH LONDON  |  PARIS  |  GENEVA  |  AMSTERDAM  |  HONG KONG Always Accepting Quality Consignments in 40+ Categories Immediate Cash Advances Available 1.25 Million+ Online Bidder-Members U.S. CURRENCY PLATINUM NIGHT® & SIGNATURE® AUCTIONS April 21-27, 2021 | Chicago | Live & Online Now Accepting Consignments to Our Official Central States Auction Deadline March 1 For a free appraisal, or to consign to an upcoming auction, contact a Heritage Consignment Director today. 800-872-6467, Ext. 1001 or Currency@HA.com Fr. 341 $100 1880 Silver Certificate PMG Very Fine 30 New York May 31, 1709 5s Province of New Hampshire December 25, 1734 Portsmouth Merchants’ Note 12d Fr. NH-38.1. PMG Choice Very Fine 35 From The Colonial Valley Collection Continental Currency May 10, 1775 $20 CC-9 PMG About Uncirculated 55 From The Colonial Valley Collection Fr. 1255a Milton 3R10.5 10¢ Third Issue Choice About New From The Tabacco Family Collection Fr. 1352 Milton 3R50.8a 50¢ Third Issue Justice PCGS Banknote Choice Uncirculated 64PPQ From The Tabacco Family Collection Fr. 2221-K $5,000 1934 Federal Reserve Note. PMG Choice About Uncirculated 58