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Table of Contents
Hawaiian Series Currency--Lee Lofthus
1861 Fantasy Corporation Notes—Charles Derby
When Treasury Silver Collided w/Physics--Peter Huntoon
Series 1929 Overprinting Plate--Peter Huntoon
Stoddard B. Colby-Register of the Treasury--Rick Melamed
Groundhog Day for Numismatists--Lee Lofthus
official journal of
The Society of Paper Money Collectors
World War I Emergency Money
Hawaii Notes
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 ? Philadelphia ? New Hampshire ? Oklahoma ? Hong Kong ? Paris
SBG PM NovBalt21 PR 211201 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
The Stack?s Bowers Galleries
November 2021 Baltimore Auction
T-1. Confederate Currency. 1861 $1000.
PMG Very Fine 20 Net. Restoration, Stains.
Realized: $28,800
Fr. 247. 1896 $2 Silver Certificate.
PMG Superb Gem Uncirculated 67 EPQ.
Realized: $38,400
Fr. 2200-G. 1928 $500 Federal Reserve Note.
Chicago. PCGS Banknote
Superb Gem Uncirculated 67 PPQ.
Realized: $31,200
Fr. 41. 1862 $2 Legal Tender Note.
PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ.
Realized: $28,800
Fr. 374. 1890 $20 Treasury Note.
PMG Superb Gem Uncirculated 67 EPQ.
Realized: $81,000
Fr. 1957-LmH. 1934A $5 Federal Reserve
Mule Star Note. San Francisco.
PMG Extremely Fine 40.
From the Laguna Coast Collection Part 1.
Realized: $8,100
Fr. 96. 1869 $10 Legal Tender Note.
PMG Superb Gem Uncirculated 67 EPQ.
Realized: $66,000
Fr. 1132-I. 1918 $500
Federal Reserve Note. Minneapolis.
PCGS Banknote About Uncirculated 50.
Realized: $50,400
Now Accepting Consignments for
the Spring 2022 Showcase Auction
Auction: April 5-8, 2022 ? Deadline: January 28, 2022 ? Costa Mesa, CA
PRICES REALIZED
a_oM_om
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25
Hawaiian Series Currency--Lee Lofthus
1861 Fantasy Corporation Notes?Charles Derby
When Treasury Silver Collided w/Physics--Peter Huntoon
Stoddard B. Colby-Register of the Treasury--Rick Melamed
Series 1929 Overprinting Plate--Peter Huntoon
49
6
36
44
56 Groundhog Day for Numismatists--Lee Lofthus
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
1
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
Forrest Daniel
Martin Delger
William Donlon
Roger Durand
C. John Ferreri
Milt Friedberg
Robert Friedberg
Len Glazer
Nathan Gold
Nathan Goldstein
James Haxby
John Herzog
Gene Hessler
John Hickman
William Higgins
Ruth Hill
Peter Huntoon
Don Kelly
Lyn Knight
Chet Krause
Allen Mincho
Clifford Mishler
Judith Murphy
Dean Oakes
Chuck O?Donnell
Roy Pennell
Albert Pick
Fred Reed
Matt Rothert
Herb & Martha
Schingoethe
Hugh Shull
Glenn Smedley
Raphael Thian
Daniel Valentine
Louis Van Belkum
George Wait
D.C. Wismer
From Your President Robert Vandevender 3
Editor Sez Benny Bolin 4
New Members Frank Clark 5
Uncoupled Joe Boling & Fred Schwan 59
Chump Change Loren Gatch 64
Quartermaster Column Michael McNeil 65
Cherry Pickers Corner Robert Calderman 68
Obsolete Corner Robert Gill 70
Small Notes Jamie Yakes 72
Stacks Bowers Galleries IFC
Pierre Fricke 1
Vern Potter 23
Higgins Museum 23
PCGS Currency 24
Fred Bart 42
Denly's of Boston 42
Lyn Knight 43
Richard Whitmire 48
Evangilsti 63
FCCB 73
Bob Laub 73
ANA 75
PCDA 83
Heritage Auctions OBC
Fred Schwan
Neil Shafer
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
2
Officers & Appointees
ELECTED OFFICERS
PRESIDENT
rvpaperman@aol.com
VICE-PRES/SEC'Y Robert Calderman
gacoins@earthlink.net
TREASURER Robert Moon
robertmoon@aol.com
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Mark Anderson mbamba@aol.com
Robert Calderman gacoins@earthlink.net
Gary Dobbins g.dobbins@sbcglobal.net
Matt Drais stockpicker12@aol.com
Mark Drengson markd@step1software.com
Pierre Fricke
aaaaaaaaaaaapierrefricke@buyvintagemoney.com
Loren Gatch lgatch@uco.edu
William Litt Billlitt@aol.com
J. Fred Maples
Cody Regennitter cody.regennitter@gmail.com
Wendell Wolka
APPOINTEES
PUBLISHER-EDITOR
Benny Bolin smcbb@sbcglobal.net
ADVERTISIN
Wendell Wolka purduenut@aol.com
LEGAL COUNSEL
Megan Reginnitter mreginnitter@iowafirm.com
LIBRAIAN
Jeff Brueggeman
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR
Frank Clark frank_clark@yahoo.com
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Shawn Hewitt
WISMER BOOk PROJECT COORDINATOR
Pierre Fricke
From Your President
Robert Vandevender II
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Paper Money * July/August 2020
6
jeff@actioncurrency.com
Welcome to a new collecting year and I trust everyone had a
nice holiday. I would like to thank the various Past Presidents and other
contributors who helped to make our Nov-Dec 60th Anniversary Paper
Money issue special by providing their memories of how the society has
progressed throughout the years.
At the time of this writing, plans are in place for the SPMC to
have a table at the Florida United Numismatist (FUN) show in January
with several members volunteering to staff the table. At the show, the
SPMC will also participate in the ANA?s Treasure Trivia Program where
children can stop by our table, find the answer to a trivia question about
paper money, and then be given a small prize. The theme this year will
be about why some banknotes have a star in their serial number.
Speaking of star notes, I recently saw a Canadian Devil?s Hair
replacement star note $1 bill come up at auction. Although I didn?t bid
on this one, I thought that would be an interesting item to own someday.
A good friend of mine, Alan Bailey, bought a very nice one years ago
and enjoyed showing it off after the purchase. I do have a few notes
from countries other than the United States but it is a small group mostly
consisting of special serial numbers, replacement notes, or another
attribute that caught my eye.
I was recently looking at items for sale at an online bidding site
and was surprised to see how many old Department of Agriculture food
coupons ?food stamps? were for sale. At one time, it was not legal to
own food stamps unless one was entitled to be on the program. In 2009,
food stamps were demonetized and are now available to collect. Since
food stamps were printed at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, had
serial numbers just like currency, and they also produced replacement
star issues, the collecting of food stamps was a natural draw for some
collectors. One challenge was to find a good example that hadn?t been
torn out of the book but was fully intact. I recall being at many shows
and seeing small groups of stealthy collectors sneaking around in the
shadowed corners swapping items which I can neither confirm nor deny
were food stamps. Today they are legal to own and collect and can
readily be found online. I own only one food stamp so far, a $5 star
replacement. I rarely see them offered at numismatic shows; perhaps not
enough of them were saved to create a widespread collector base. If you
are interested, in the May/June 2011 Paper Money magazine, Peter
Huntoon and Tom Conklin wrote a very informative article on the
subject.
With the help of Governor Mark Drengson, the SPMC is
working on the development of and sponsorship of a ?Collecting Paper
Money? wiki website. As the project proceeds, we will be seeking help
from our membership to contribute to the content development. If you
are interested in helping with the development of this exciting new
project, please drop me an email. There is more to come on this topic!
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
3
Terms?and?Conditions?
The?Society? of? Paper?Money? Collectors? (SPMC)? P.O.?? Box?7055,?
Gainesville,?GA??? 30504,?publishes??? PAPER??? MONEY?(USPS?? 00?
3162)? every? other? month? beginning? in? January.? Periodical?
postage? is? paid? at? Hanover,? PA.? Postmaster? send? address?
changes? to? Secretary? Robert? Calderman,? Box? 7055,?Gainesville,?
GA? 30504.??Society? of? Paper?Money? Collectors,?Inc.? 2020.? All?
rights? reserved.? Reproduction? of? any? article? in?whole? or? part?
without?written?approval? is?prohibited.? Individual?copies?of? this?
issue?of?PAPER?MONEY?are?available? from?the?secretary? for?$8?
postpaid.?Send?changes?of?address,?inquiries?concerning??? non??? ????
delivery??? and??? requests??? for??? additional?copies?of?this?issue?to?
the?secretary.?
MANUSCRIPTS?
Manuscripts?????not?????under??????consideration??????elsewhere?and?
publications? for? review?should?be?sent? to? the?editor.?Accepted?
manuscripts? will? be? published? as? soon? as? possible,? however?
publication? in? a? specific? issue? cannot? be?guaranteed.?Opinions?
expressed? by? authors? do? not?necessarily? reflect?those? of? the?
SPMC.???Manuscripts?should?be? submitted? in?WORD? format? via?
email?(smcbb@sbcglobal.net)? or? by? sending?memory?stick/disk?
to? the? editor.? Scans? should? be? grayscale? or? color? JPEGs? at?
300?dpi.?Color? illustrations?may?be?changed?to?grayscale?at? the?
discretion? of? the? editor.? Do? not? send? items? of? value.?
Manuscripts?are? submitted?with?copyright?release?of?the?author?
to? the? editor? for? duplication? and? printing?as?needed.?
ADVERTISING?
All?advertising?on?space?available?basis.?Copy/correspondence?
should?be?sent?to?editor.?
All?advertising?is?pay?in?advance.??Ads?are?on?a??good?faith??
basis.? Terms?are??Until?Forbid.??
Ads? are? Run? of? Press? (ROP)? unless? accepted? on? a? premium?
contract?basis.?Limited?premium?space/rates?available.?
To?keep?rates?to?a?minimum,?all?advertising?must?be?prepaid?
according?to?the?schedule?below.??In?exceptional?cases?where?
special? artwork? or? additional? production? is? required,? the?
advertiser? will?be?notified? and? billed?accordingly.? Rates? are?
not?commissionable;?proofs?are?not? supplied.? SPMC? does?not?
endorse?any?company,?dealer,? or? auction? house.? Advertising?
Deadline:?Subject?to?space?availability,?copy?must?be?received?
by? the? editor? no? later? than? the? first? day? of? the? month?
preceding? the? cover?date? of? the? issue? (i.e.? Feb.? 1? for? the?
March/April? issue).?Camera?ready?art?or?electronic?ads? in?pdf?
format?are?required.?
ADVERTISING?RATES?
Editor Sez
Benny Bolin
Welcome to 2022! Well, I thought a good intro would be ?it
can?t get any worse than last year!? But on reflection, that is what I
thought coming into 2021 from 2020. Also, just as the year was
wrapping up and looking better?Bam, Ka Pow! Omicron hits! At
least from all indicators this strain, while seemingly more easily
spread has little to no effects for most. Oh well. I hope you are all
doing well and staying well. It seems that vaccinations are the way to
go and I, from a healthcare provider standpoint encourage all to get
vaccinated.
On to bigger and more fun topics?FUN! Hopefully if
all fell into place from the effects COVID has/had on our printer to
the mail service and holiday schedules, you will be reading this
before or at FUN. For the first time in a long time, I will be attending
it on Friday and Saturday as well. Shows before this have been very
successful & it will be great seeing people and looking for wares (i.e.,
spending $).
As we start out the new year, lets try to join together to make
this hobby better. Think about sharing your experiences and your
experience/knowledge with others through writing an article, doing
an exhibit, giving a talk to your local coin club, or just mentoring a
new collector. If we all work together, we can make this hobby the
best it has ever been.
I hope you enjoyed and maybe learned a lot of the SPMC
history in the last issue. It was fun to put it together and I appreciate
the input from our past presidents and others. It is amazing how much
we have progressed in the last 60 years.
This issue has several large articles in it. I normally don?t like
to have too many large articles, but these were great. I have been to
Pearl Harbor twice and it was very interesting learning about the
WWII Hawaii notes. Mr. Lofthus is to be commended for such in-
depth research?I hope you enjoy it. In that same vein, Rick
Melamed found a lot of back information on S.B. Colby, whom we
all know from his signing the notes. And finally, I am a big collector
of South Carolina notes and of the notes Mr. Derby showed in this
article, I had never seen before. And of course, Peter Huntoon?s
article?need I say more. Congratulations to all our authors on a job
WELL DONE!Required?file??? submission?format??? is??? composite??? PDF?v1.3?
(Acrobat?4.0???compatible).???If???possible,?submitted?files?should?
conform?to?ISO?15930?1:?2001?PDF/X?1a?file?format?standard.?
Non?? standard,? application,? or? native? file? formats? are? not?
acceptable.?Page? size:?must? conform?to?specified?publication?
trim? size.? Page? bleed:? must? extend?minimum? 1/8?? beyond?
trim?for?page?head,?foot,?and?front.? Safety?margin:? type? and?
other? non?bleed? content?must? clear? trim?by?minimum?1/2?.??
Advertising?c o p y ? shall?be?restricted?to?paper?currency,?allied?
numismatic?material,?publications,???and???related???accessories.???
The?SPMC? does? not? guarantee?advertisements,? but? accepts?
copy? in?good?faith,? reserving? the?right? to? reject?objectionable?
or? inappropriate? material? or? edit? ? ? copy.? The? ? ? ? ? SPMC??
assumes????? no????? financial?????? responsibility?for? typographical?
errors? in? ads? but? agrees? to? reprint? that?portion?of?an?ad? in?
which?a?typographical?error?occurs.?
Benny
Space?
Full?color?covers?
1?Time?
$1500?
3?Times?
$2600?
6?Times
$4900
B&W?covers? 500? 1400? 2500
Full?page?color? 500? 1500? 3000
Full?page?B&W? 360? 1000? 1800
Half?page?B&W? 180? 500? 900
Quarter?page?B&W? 90? 250? 450
Eighth?page?B&W? 45? 125? 225
4
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 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 11/05/2021
15347 John Laney, Robert Vandevender
15348 John Shofner, Website
15349 Edward Stewart, Website
15350 Bernie Fleming, ANA Ad
15351 Lothar Maelzner, Website
15352 Joe Barringer, Robert Calderman
15353 Christopher McGugan, Andy
Timmerman
15354 Phil Agee, Website
15355 Luigi Ferdinandi, Website
15356 Michael Luiz, Website
REINSTATEMENTS
None
LIFE MEMBERSHIPS
LM457 James Merritt, ANA Ad
MEMBERS 12/05/2021
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.
15357 Alan Rosenberg, Tom Denly
15358 Mark Coughlan,Tom Denly
15359 John Babb, Robert Calderman
15360 William Seager, Tom Denly
15361 Ali Mehilba, Facebook
15362 David Parrish, Website
15363 Kelley Selph, Tom Denly
15364 Pretom Chakraborty, IBNS Member
15365 John Lostys, Baltimore Coin Show
15366 C. Roger Holland, Tom Denly
15367 Ryan Lam, Website
15368 Robert Powell, Robert Calderman
15369 Jack Klaus, Robert Calderman
15370 Thomas Mendenhall, Rbt Calderman
15371 Steven Moore, Robert Calderman
REINSTATEMENTS
None
LIFE MEMBERSHIPS
LM458 T. Wayne Edgeworth, member 10578
LM459 Stephen King, member 15040
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
5
Hawaiian Series Currency
Creation of the WWII Hawaii Overprint Notes
Lee Lofthus
June 2022 will mark the 80th anniversary of the introduction of the Hawaii overprint
currency. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, U.S. officials took steps to
protect American financial assets in the Territory of Hawaii in the event the Japanese returned and
invaded the islands. Hawaiian authorities worked with Treasury officials to create specially-
marked notes that could be easily identified and declared worthless if they fell into the hands of
the enemy. Variously referred to as WWII Emergency notes, Hawaii overprints, and Hawaiian
dollars, they were officially called the Hawaiian Series upon release by Treasury Department,
Federal Reserve and Territorial officials.1 This is the story of the Hawaiian overprint notes and the
officials who created them.
Keeping Dollars from the Axis
?Keeping Dollars from the Axis? was the Treasury Department?s 1945 look-back
description of its global efforts to keep U.S. dollars out of the hands of the enemy in World War
II. The Treasury?s ?Invasion Currency? report went on to say:
?Even before we entered the war, this Government, through the Foreign Funds Control of the
Treasury Department, took steps to prevent the Axis from using American currency which it
looted when it overran the countries of Western Europe and other territories. * * *. After the
attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii became a danger spot in our defense, and we could not be blind
to the possibility that the Japanese might attempt to invade the Islands, as, indeed, they evidently
intended to do when we stopped them at Midway. As a defensive measure, we introduced the
Hawaiian dollar, which is simply regular United States currency with the word ?Hawaii?
overprinted in large letters. We exchanged all regular dollar currency in Hawaii for Hawaiian
dollars, and we were then ready for the Japanese from the point of view of money. Had the
Japanese conquered Hawaii, the distinctive Hawaiian currency would have made it possible to
take appropriate measures to prevent the enemy from using this currency to any advantage.?2
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Martial Law Declared
Martial law was declared in Hawaii by Territorial Governor Joseph B. Poindexter
immediately after the December 7th attack.3 General Walter C. Short, then military commander in
charge of Hawaii?s defense, and Lt. Colonel Thomas H. Green, went to see Poindexter at the
governor?s office at Iolani Palace at approximately 10:30 a.m. on the morning of the attack.
Honolulu was in chaos. The military men and the governor conferred on how to respond to the
urgent situation. Hawaii?s territorial legislation in the form of the Hawaii Civil Defense Act of
1941?known by Green?s term as the ?M Day Bill??permitted Poindexter to declare martial law.
M stood for mobilization.
Sporadic firing was still occurring. After some discussion, Poindexter kept to himself for
several minutes. He then told Short, ?General, I have thought it through. I feel that the situation is
beyond me and the civil authorities and I think the safety of the Territory and its citizens require
me to declare martial law.? Poindexter was a former Federal judge. Green later described the
governor?s tone as ?if he were pronouncing a death sentence.?4
Poindexter asked Short if he concurred with the decision. General Short agreed. Green
stayed with Poindexter and several attorneys from the governor?s staff to work out the details of
the announcement. Green had worked on the M Day protocols and anticipated a need like this may
Figure 1. Photograph taken by a Japanese pilot during the attack on Pearl Harbor. A
Japanese dive bomber appears immediately in front of the aircraft taking the photo. Library
of Congress, Prints and Photographs Section, Library of Congress Control Number (LCN)
2002695213.
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come. By afternoon on December 7, Green?s work had established the Office of the Military
Governor.
Poindexter phoned President Franklin D. Roosevelt with his decision, confirming the
discussion with a telegram. Roosevelt formally replied on December 9th with the following
radiogram.5
The Honorable Joseph B. Poindexter
Governor of the Territory of Hawaii
Territory of Hawaii:
Your telegram of December seventh received and your action in suspending the writ of habeas
corpus and placing the Territory of Hawaii under martial law in accordance with USC Title 48
Section 532 has my approval.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
General Short was appointed Military Governor of the Territory of Hawaii upon the
declaration of martial law. In the first ten days of martial law, the Military Governor issued thirty-
one directives, addressing the closing of civilian courts; rationing gasoline; prohibiting the sale of
liquor; prohibiting radio broadcasts in foreign languages; requiring blackouts and the dark painting
of automobile headlights; and, most importantly, prohibiting retribution against the alien Japanese
Figure 2. Territorial Governors meet at the U.S. Capitol before the war. Joseph B.
Poindexter of Hawaii is at left, Gov. Blanship Winship of Puerto Rico is center, and
Gov. Lawrence W. Cramer, Virgin Islands, is at right. It was Poindexter who declared
martial law in Hawaii Territory on the afternoon of December 7, and later helped the
military authorities carry out the Hawaiian Series currency plans. Library of Congress,
Prints and Photographs Section, LCN 2016872169.
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population in Hawaii. The same standard was applied to prevent abuse of Americans of Japanese
ancestry. The majority of thirty-one orders were based upon drafts written by Lt. Colonel Green
before hostilities erupted.6
Short was relieved of his post on December 17, 1941, recalled to Washington as the
military sought to assign blame for allowing the U.S. military to be caught by surprise by the
Japanese attack. General ?Hap? Arnold replaced Short with General Delos C. Emmons.7
Short spent his remaining years trying to clear his name after being found to be derelict in
his duty by a Presidentially-appointed fact-finding commission at the end of January, 1942 (the
Navy?s Admiral Kimmel was similarly found derelict). Neither Short nor Kimmel was formally
court-martialed. Short retired in February 1942, returned to active duty briefly in 1945/6, and died
of heart disease in 1949. In 1999, the U.S. Senate passed a non-binding resolution that exonerated
Short and Kimmel on the grounds they were not provided critical intelligence prior to the Pearl
Harbor attack.
Figure 3. General Emmons and his aide Lt. Colonel Thomas Green in Hawaii. Emmons was the Military
Governor and endorsed Green?s bold plan to protect the U.S. currency in the territory by replacing it
with specially marked bills. Photograph courtesy of Densho.org, from Hawaii War Records Depository
hwrd1001, Archives & Manuscripts Department, University of Hawaii at Manoa Library.
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Emmons became Military Governor of the Territory of Hawaii after Short was relieved so
he was governor during the battle of Midway. Emmons is credited with resisting calls for the mass
removal of resident Japanese in the islands, often clashing with senior Navy officials, the Interior
Department and the U.S. Attorney. He supported the formation of the 100th Infantry, the noted
battalion of mainly Hawaiian ?Nisei,? i.e., Americans born to parents of Japanese immigrants.
Emmons served in Hawaii until June 1943, at which time he went to the Presidio in San
Francisco and assumed command of the Western Defense Command. Martial Law in Hawaii
remained in effect until October 27, 1944.8
Governor Poindexter served until August 24, 1942, long enough to issue the currency
replacement orders, but was himself replaced when Roosevelt appointed long-time island
Democrat Ingram Stainback to the position after Poindexter clashed with influential Department
of the Interior Secretary Harold Ickes over the martial law declaration. Poindexter incurred Ickes?
wrath when he went directly to Roosevelt with the declaration, an act that doomed his chance to
continue as governor.
Emmons and Green
On December 17, Short departed Hawaii, and General Emmons took over as Military
Governor. Lt. Colonel Green continued as Executive in the Office of the Military Governor, thus
affording Emmons the experience and expertise he brought to the job. Together, Emmons and
Green issued 181 general orders through which they ?collectively controlled much of civilian life
and criminal law enforcement in Hawai'i until mid-1943.?9
Thomas H. Green was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1889 and served in WWI in
France. After WWI he obtained his Master of Laws degree from George Washington University
in Washington, D.C. He became a military lawyer and was assigned to Hawaii in 1940 as Judge
Advocate General. He was a legal advisor to General Short before the Pearl Harbor attack, and
was a vital aide to General Emmons as Emmons took over. Green later became a brigadier general
in May 1942 and later served as a Judge Advocate General in Washington, D.C.10 Green retired as
a major general.
Green?s invaluable personal papers yield a first-hand account of the Hawaii currency
replacement plans at their creation.
Green?s Idea for ?Emmons Money?
Green was an articulate attorney with a knack for administration. His first-person account
after the Pearl Harbor attack ?Martial Law in Hawaii, December 7, 1941?April 4, 1943,? resides
in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.11 Green wrote:
With the coming of the Blitz [as the December 7th attack was then called in Hawaii], it was
presumed the Jap[anese] would follow up their advantage and that they would soon be coming
up the beaches in force. * * * The fighting off and defeat of the Jap[anese] forces was the problem
of the Army and Navy staffs, but the problem of preventing the invaders from getting anything
of value, if they succeeded in landing, was mine [emphasis added]. If the invaders were
successful, their first move would have been to loot the banks and thereafter sweat out of the
local citizenry their funds, and their securities. It was my responsibility to see to it that should an
invasion be successful, there would be nothing of value left which would be negotiable. My first
plan contemplated that all money and securities would be destroyed at the first sign of imminent
attack.
The need for destroying currency was not fanciful. On the contrary, it was a matter of grave
importance. For example, when the Jap[anese] caught the British at Singapore, they took over
the entire British currency in the banks and upon the persons of the vanquished. Also, in Manila,
the Filipinos were able to send out of the country one submarine load of gold. * * * The remainder
of the metal money and currency in Manila was dumped into the local harbor. When the
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Jap[anese] invaded, one of their first projects
was to compel the Filipinos to dredge for that
money. * * * A considerable amount of this
submerged money was recovered and used by
the Jap[anese] to augment their war chest. * * *.
I was obsessed with the idea that
something further must be done in the interest of
security [for the currency]. I finally came up with
the idea of exchanging United States currency
for some other form of legal tender which, in the
event of invasion, could be outlawed as legal
tender and therefore defeat its use by an invader.
I appreciated that any such plan would have to be
approved by the United States Treasury. I began
discussing the idea with my staff and decided
upon a substitute paper money which would be
red in color instead of green. I began calling it
?Emmons money.? I took up the matter with
General Emmons who scoffed at the idea of
calling the substitute money ?Emmons money?
but he told me to go ahead. I then consulted
Governor Poindexter who was the direct
representative of the Treasury Department in the
Territory. He heartily approved the idea and gave
me advice on how to proceed.
We were fortunate in having in Honolulu
Alfred B. Tree, a Treasury agent who had an
unusual knowledge of United States currency.
He was a brilliant young man. * * * We gave him
the task of convincing the Treasury Department
of the necessity for our plan on substitution of
money. It was not that the Treasury Department
was expected to resist, but from my experience
in the War Department I knew that one familiar
with the procedures of a Department * * * can
get fast action. Mr. Tree had whatever it took
because the Treasury promptly approved the
plan in principle and action to implement it
started at once.
The First Currency Problem & General
Orders No. 51
The first problem Poindexter, Emmons
and Green faced wasn?t replacing the U.S.
currency, it was having any currency at all.12 In
the aftermath of December 7, Hawaiians
withdrew their money out of the banks to protect
it, fearing the Japanese would invade and, as they
did in other conquered areas, seize the banks and
all the currency. Commerce was threatened as the
availability of currency dried up in the Islands.
Hawaiian?Currency???
Key?Events?Timeline?
? December?7,?1941???Pearl?
Harbor?Attack?
? January?9,?1942???Emmons?
issues?General?Orders?No.?51?to?
stop?currency?hoarding?
? March?4,?1942???failed?second?
attack?on?Honolulu?by?Japan?
? Early?March?1942???Treasury?
officials?from?Washington?visit?
Hawaii?to?finalize?currency?
replacement?plans??
? June?4?7,?1942???U.S.?Navy?
defeats?Japanese?carrier?fleet?in?
the?Battle?of?Midway??
? May?and?June?1942???BEP?
prepares?Hawaiian?Series??
? June?25,?1942???Green?and?
Poindexter?issue?orders?
requiring?replacement?of?
regular?currency?with?Hawaiian?
Series?overprints?
? July?15,?1942???deadline?for?
exchanging?regular?U.S.?
currency?for?Hawaiian?Series?
notes?
? October?21,?1944???Treasury?
announces?the?revocation?of?
the?Hawaiian?currency?
regulations?
? September?2,?1945???formal?
surrender?ceremony?marking?
the?end?of?WWII?in?the?Pacific.??
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Hawaiian residents withdrew their money in great quantities. The problem was exacerbated
by the fact the banks also had to satisfy the large demand for paying the sailors on the ever-arriving
U.S. Navy ships. Green described how the sailors would all too quickly spend their pay in Hawaii,
but the business owners secreted the cash away, avoiding the banks.
In the first week of January 1942, Green was visited by a group of alarmed Hawaii bankers
who were desperate to replenish the cash supply on the Islands. The bankers told Green they felt
there was plenty of cash in the Territory, but it was being hoarded. They asked Green to get the
Army and Navy to assist in flying over loads of cash.
Green responded that the Army and Navy needed their flights for military purposes, but
that he would think the problem over and reply in the morning.
Green?s idea the next morning initially ?frightened and astonished? the bankers. He
proposed that the Military Governor issue an order prohibiting the withdrawal of more than $200
per month and forbid the holding of cash in excess of $200 per person, with exceptions for certain
businesses and other special circumstances. This became General Orders No. 51, issued January
9, 1942, effective January 12, 1942.
General Orders No. 51 had what Green called an instantaneous response. Between the 9th
and the 12th of January, over $1.5 million in cash was returned to the banks. Green described daily
queues as locals lined up to redeposit their cash so very quickly over $20 million had been
redeposited. In Green?s words, ?Some of the money deposited was in the form of gold certificates
long outmoded by the Treasury, and much of the money was moist and even wet, indicated it had
recently been excavated.?
While Green noted that some of the compliance with Orders No. 51 was based on fear of
punishment, Green credited the overall compliance with the Order to the public?s trust in the
?integrity and intelligence? of General Emmons.
With the circulation problem in the Islands temporarily solved, Green turned his attention
to his currency replacement idea along with the myriad other administrative details of organizing
Hawaii?s life during wartime.
Japan?s Second Hawaii Attack
Despite the destruction wreaked by Japan?s December 7th attack on Pearl Harbor, in early
1942 the Japanese military recognized the U.S. was quickly rebuilding its Pacific fleet and that
key shipyard repair facilities and fuel reserves were left undamaged in the first attack. America?s
industrial might was on full display as shipyards quickly mounted an all-out repair campaign to
get damaged Navy ships back in action and make the Pearl Harbor naval station and docks
serviceable again.
To put the American navy base truly out of action, the Japanese military audaciously sent
two long-range seaplane bombers, Kawanishi H8Ks, on a 4,800 round trip flight to bomb key Navy
targets on Oahu. The attack was known as Operation K.13 The planes took off from the occupied
Marshall Islands and were refueled by submarines northwest of Hawaii. They reached Oahu in the
pre-dawn hours of March 4, 1942.
The planes carried four 550-pound bombs each. U.S. radar spotted the planes and sent
fighters to intercept them, but the seaplanes evaded interception in the pre-dawn darkness. Sending
just two planes hardly duplicated the massive December 7th attack, but with their 550-pound bombs
they could have done major damage to the U.S. shipyards and repair efforts. But the darkness and
poor weather made it impossible for the Japanese pilots to locate their military targets. One plane?s
bombs landed in the Honolulu hills while the other was believed to have dropped its bombs in the
harbor or ocean without doing any damage.
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The significance of the second attack was two-fold. Militarily, it disclosed key Japanese
intentions and tactics, information the U.S. Navy took advantage of in planning its next actions,
including the Midway campaign. And, relevant to the Hawaiian Series currency story, it was a
stark reminder to Emmons, Green, and the U.S. Treasury that Hawaii remained vulnerable to
Japanese attacks and that a potential Hawaii invasion was very real.
Green picks up the timeline again at this point: ?Early in March 1942, a Treasury detail
came to Hawaii from Washington to close the deal with us whereby regular currency would be
exchanged for specially printed paper money. The agreement was consummated and some twenty
million dollars of regular currency? was to be exchanged for the specially marked bills. The fresh
news of the second attack had to be front and center in the minds of Green and the visiting Treasury
officials as they made their plans.
Figure 4. Japanese Kawanishi H8K ?flying boat? bomber in process of being shot down in 1944.
Two similar H8K seaplanes were used by Japan on March 4, 1942 to attack Pearl Harbor a second
time. The attack failed when the planes failed to locate their military targets due to poor weather
and visibility. Photograph courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration via Naval
History and Heritage Command, Hampton Roads, VA.
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Back in Washington
In Washington D.C., Treasury officials were mobilizing to get the new Hawaii currency
ready. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, in his Annual Report in 1942, described how
?the new series for Hawaii? carried ?the distinctive overprint ?Hawaii? in bold-face type.?
Morgenthau reported that ?The Hawaiian currency replacement program resulted from the careful
study of Hawaiian currency problems by the Treasury, War, Navy, and Interior Departments in
collaboration with Hawaiian civil and military authorities.?14
Bureau of Engraving and Printing and Federal Reserve Actions
The wartime Treasury Department, despite Green?s creative idea for printing red-inked
?Emmons money,? opted for a simpler currency replacement solution. The Bureau of Engraving
and Printing had its hands full with the demands of the war, working overtime printing war bonds
and new war savings stamps, not to mention printing billions of pieces of new currency as the
economy expanded during the war. The BEP had no time to prepare expensive new currency
plates.
The BEP?s plight was severe enough that the Federal Reserve Board discussed the
situation, noting that the BEP ?is having great difficulty in obtaining personnel with adequate skill
to produce the large volume of the various securities now needed by Treasury and the increasing
volume of paper currency needed to meet the demands of the public.?15
In addition to worrying about BEP capacity, Treasury wanted an economical Hawaii
solution as well, given the tremendous burden of financing the war in both Europe and the Pacific.
Ever-responsive, BEP director Alvin Hall discussed the solution in his annual report for
1942, saying ?In the latter part of the [fiscal] year (i.e., Spring 1942) special orders were received
for the overprinting of silver certificates and Federal Reserve notes with the word ?Hawaii? on the
back and face. Large skeleton type was used for the back overprinting, which was in black ink,
and small type for each end of the face, also in black. The serial numbers and seal were printed in
brown ink.?16
By using existing currency types and opting for overprinted Hawaii markings and brown
seals, BEP inexpensively accomplished the government?s goal of producing visually distinctive
currency that could be isolated and demonetized if seized in an invasion. Having decided to use
existing currency types with overprints, the next Treasury decision was what denominations were
needed to support the circulation in the Territory. The workhorse Series 1935A silver certificates
Figure 5. Treasury officials approached the Federal Reserve Board to discuss
use of FRNs for the needed higher denomination notes for Hawaii. Ultimately,
$5, $10, and $20 FRNs were issued, all from the Federal Reserve Bank of San
Francisco. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions.
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would do the job for $1 bills, while Treasury officials approached the Federal Reserve Board to
propose use of Federal Reserve notes for the higher denominations.
On Tuesday, May 26, 1942, the Federal Reserve Board met in Washington, D.C. On the
agenda was discussion of the Hawaii currency replacement. George Barnes, Assistant to the
Treasurer of the United States, had informed the Federal Reserve officials that ?the military and
civil authorities in Hawaii are anxious that steps be taken to withdraw all paper currency now in
circulation and replace it with currency which would have distinctive markings. The Treasury has
considered the suggestion and proposed to over-print the word ?Hawaii? in outline letters across
the reverse side of the currency, and the word ?Hawaii? in bold face type at each end on the face
of the currency.?17
Barnes said that Treasury had proposed printing $3,000,000 in Hawaii $1 silver certificates,
and asked the Board if it was agreeable to printing $5 million in $5 Federal Reserve notes, $6
million in tens, and $11 million in twenties, all on the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The
San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank officials concurred via telephone.
The closing text of the Board?s minutes reveal a last surprise. Board Governor Menc S.
Szymczak, who had previously met with Barnes, advised the Board that ?A sample of the $10
Federal Reserve note of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco with the proposed over-
printing is now in my possession and I shall be glad to show it to interested members of the Board.
?
Figure 6. In Washington, Alvin Hall, BEP Director, left, readied the new overprinted designs in May
and June, 1942. Federal Reserve Board Governor Menc S. Szymczak, right, met with Treasury
officials regarding the use of Hawaii overprinted Federal Reserve notes for the high denomination
need in the Territory. Szymczak raised the matter at the Board of Governors meeting May 26, 1942.
Images courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Collection, LCN 2016862146
and LCN 2016872460.
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The military authorities in Hawaii are particularly anxious that this proposed exchange of currency
be kept strictly confidential until the exchange is actually made.?
Hall reported that ?On June 8, 1942, a special order for $5.00, $10.00, and $20.00 notes
for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco overprinted ?Hawaii,? comprising $22,000,000
valuation, was received from the numbering section and delivered to the Treasurer of the United
States.? This was the first order for the high denominations, as proposed by Barnes to the Federal
Reserve Board in late May.18
Fiscal year 1942 ended June 30, 1942. Hawaii Series $1 silver certificates delivered that
year were 250,000 12-note sheets of Series 1935, or 3,000,000 notes.19 These were the first $1
Hawaii overprints; specifically, the Y-B block notes numbered Y68 628 001B to Y71 628 000B.
Green?s Reaction
Back in Hawaii, upon viewing the newly arriving Hawaii overprints, Green said ?When
the new paper money arrived I was disappointed as I hoped that it would be red in color and have
?Emmons? written all over it. The new bills were similar to the ordinary bank note except that the
seals and the numbers were printed in brown ink instead of green and the bills bore the word
?Hawaii? in black on both sides. It was explained to me that the printing of red money would
require prohibitive changes in normal Treasury practice and processes. The new bills worked out
well, in fact there was an immediate demand for the new currency and the transfer from the old to
the new was made without incident.?20 Actually, as we will soon see, the ?without incident?
observation omitted the Hawaii authorities dealing with some unexpected issues.
The Hawaiian Series Currency Orders ? the Money Exchange Begins
On June 25, 1942, Green, now a brigadier general, in his capacity as Executive to the
Military Governor, signed General Orders No. 118. The Orders granted Territorial Governor
Poindexter the authority to issue regulations regarding the issue of U.S. currency in Hawaii
Territory. Anyone convicted of violating the regulations could be fined not more than $5,000 or
imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.
Green?s order set in motion a series of follow-on orders and regulations, most notably Poindexter?s
Hawaiian Territory Executive Order of June 25, ?Regulations Relating to Currency.? (See Figure
7). ?Effective at once, all United States currency now in circulation in the Territory of Hawaii will
be withdrawn from circulation and will be replaced with new United States currency prepared for
the Territory of Hawaii by the United States Treasury Department.? Going on to describe the
overprints, Poindexter stated ?Such currency will be referred to in these regulations as ?United
States currency, Hawaiian Series.?
Regular U.S. currency was to be exchanged at banks at no cost to the holder by July 15,
1942. Coordinating bulletins were issued by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department in
Washington issued a press release highlighting the new Hawaiian currency exchange program.
In Hawaii, Green was quoted, saying ?As I see it, this program is an additional step in the
defense of Hawaii, and it seems a logical corollary to the other defensive measures which have
been and are being undertaken. One of its great merits is that the distinctive markings will make
the currency easily identifiable and readily accessible in the event of emergency.?21
Destroying the Exchanged U.S. Currency
Part of the mass currency replacement plan was sending the exchanged regular U.S.
currency back for redemption and destruction in Washington. However, officials soon thought that
plan both too risky and too costly. Air transportation was needed for troops and materiel, and fears
over a ship carrying tens of millions of dollars being captured by the enemy outweighed the desire
to follow the usual Treasury redemption process in Washington.
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Figure 7. First page from Territorial Governor Poindexter?s currency order of June 25, 1942.
Residents of Hawaii had until July 15, 1942 to exchange their currency for the new overprint notes.
From the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, District Notice, July 1942, Dallas, Texas. Image courtesy of
Fraser, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
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Given the risks, Green worked to obtain Treasury?s approval to destroy the currency on
Oahu. Once approval was obtained, the problem then was how to destroy the regular U.S. currency.
In Green?s words, ?As the old bills came into the banks they were exchanged for new bills and
then bundled up and destroyed in the incinerators of mortuaries. All of this was done with the full
cooperation of Governor Poindexter and was under careful scrutiny by a committee composed of
a local banker, a Treasury representative, and a junior Army officer. Applications for the last
named post were numerous and it was not until I learned of the practice of lighting cigarettes from
bills of large denominations that I understood the desirability of such duty. This ritual was enjoyed,
especially by young officers who had little prospect of handling, much less burning, bills of large
denominations.?22
The destruction job did not go quite as smoothly as Green described. Evidently the tightly
packed bricks of currency were so dense that the Nuuanu mortuary furnace on Oahu was charring
the bricks rather than completely burning them. As a fallback, the military approached the ?Aiea
sugar mill and asked to use the refinery furnace at the plantation on the outskirts of Pearl Harbor.23
The sugar mill had furnaces with large drafts and big combustion chambers, so were well suited
to the challenge. The manager of the plantation later related how the military came out with its
heavily guarded procession of money trucks with their sirens howling.24 ?
Offensive Use 1943 through 1945
The currency exchange plan worked well, and Hawaii dollars became the norm for use in
the Pacific theatre of the war. Originally conceived as a defensive measure, the Hawaii overprints
were later used in the forward areas as American military gains continued to push back the
Japanese military.
At the May 13, 1944 meeting of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the Board was
asked to approve the printing of another $70 million in Hawaii overprint San Francisco Federal
Reserve notes. This large request, sought long after the threat to Hawaii itself had passed, was
made by Treasury Undersecretary Daniel Bell, who indicated a substantial portion of the new notes
were needed by the U.S. Navy for its operations. This 1944 request was almost triple the original
Hawaii FRN order from June 1942.25
The Hawaii $1 silver certificates also were in big demand later in the war. In fact, the BEP?s
delivery of $1 Hawaii overprints during fiscal year 1944 (July 1, 1943 to June 30, 1944) was almost
double the total delivered in fiscal years 1942 and 1943 combined.26
The Treasury, War, and Navy Departments issued a joint statement describing such use on
February 9, 1944, saying:
The American marines, sailors, and soldiers who have been driving out the Japanese from
their Central Pacific strongholds have brought with them for their use and for the use of the
inhabitants of these islands the ??Hawaiian dollar,? [which] is being used to facilitate the
offensive against the Japanese-held islands thousands of miles from Hawaii in the direction of
Tokyo. * * *. The distinctive characteristics of the ?Hawaiian dollar? are of equal value for
offensive purposes as well as defensive. * * *. It would have been possible, of course, to achieve
practically all of the advantages of the use of the ?Hawaiian dollar? by the use of the yellow seal
currency used in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. It was felt, however, that since these Central
Pacific islands have closer direct military and financial relations with Hawaii than with the
mainland and since the ?Hawaiian dollar? has all the advantages of the yellow seal currency, it
was preferable to use the ?Hawaiian dollar? in the Central Pacific operations.27
The Hawaii overprints were not meant to be long-term invasion or occupation currency,
leaving that task late in the war to money such as the Victory Series pesos in the Philippines and
special Dutch guilders, for example, in other areas liberated by the Allies. Rather, their use in
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forward Pacific areas was analogous to the use of the yellow seal dollars as a ?spearhead
currency.?28
Revocation
On October 21, 1944, the Treasury Department announced the revocation of the Hawaiian
series currency and securities regulations. Treasury said ?This action brought to an end the
financial ?scorched earth? program in Hawaii. * * *. With the danger of invasions definitely
removed, the precautionary measures prescribed by the regulations are no longer necessary and
hereafter unperforated securities and ordinary United States currency may be marketed and
circulated in Hawaii.?29
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in its Circular No. 2858, November 1, 1944,
advised member banks that ?it will not be necessary to continue the use of the specially marked
currency in Hawaii and in other Pacific areas. The specially marked currency will be allowed to
continue to circulate in these areas and to circulate in other places (including the continental United
States) until it is retired in the normal course of operations as it becomes unfit for further
circulation. In the meantime, the supply of this currency still on hand will be used to supply the
circulation needs in Hawaii, after which the currency needs of Hawaii will be supplied through
regular currency issues as heretofore.?30
Allowing the notes to circulate in the continental mainland, rather than destroying unused
supplies, contributed to the high availability of new notes to collectors today, particularly given
the late-war printing of 15,000,000 SC block $1 notes, quantities of which dribbled into circulation
for years after the end of the war.
Figure 8. Government officials arranged for the exchanged currency to be burned at the large furnace at the
?Aiea Sugar Plantation nearby Pearl Harbor after unsuccessfully attempting to burn it at a local mortuary,
Photo courtesy of Welcome to Aiea, https://aiea96701.wordpress.com/about/
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
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Brigadier General Green, who worked assiduously to create the emergency money after
the Pearl Harbor attack, was reassigned to the mainland in April 1943. Writing later, Green
reminisced that ?While the need for ?Emmons money? ceased with the termination of the hostilities
with Japan, the money is still in use and I have personally received some of the bills in charge in
various parts of the United States.?31
Numismatics
The Hawaii overprints have a dedicated collector following. The $1 silver certificates are
often collected by block, with a set consisting of the YB, ZB, AC, CC, FC, LC, PC, and SC blocks
plus five runs in the *A block. Twenty-five sheets of $1 FC block silver certificates were released,
some of which have been cut.32 Several remain to delight collectors.33
The $5 Hawaii overprint Federal Reserve notes were printed in both Series 1934 and
1934A varieties. All are LA or L* blocks. Most Series 1934 $5 are mules, with the non-mule being
scarcer. $5 star notes are rare.
The $10 FRNs are LA, LB, and the scarce L* blocks.
The $20 FRNs are LA and L* blocks that come in several varieties. Series 1934 and Series
1934A $20 notes are found as mules and non-mules, and both series include the late-finished back
plate 204 variety. $20 star notes are very scarce.
Printage totals can be found in the standard numismatic references.34 A full discussion of
Hawaiian Series printings, serial numbering and varieties appears in Huntoon, et al. (2008).35?
Figure 9. A rare Hawaii overprint error. Minor overprint placement shifts,
both face and back, can be found on Hawaii notes with some regularity, but a
doubled overprint such as on this $20 Federal Reserve note is a major
attention-getting rarity. Image courtesy of Heritage Auctions.
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Harry Forman, a noted Philadelphia coin dealer, reminisced in 1978 about buying hoards
of Hawaii $1 notes over the years. He bought 1,000 notes from a fellow dealer in 1956 at the price
of $1.05 per note. The notes had come from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. In the early
1960?s, Forman obtained 2,000 new $1 Hawaii overprints from dealer Robert Friedberg.36
A Maui news outlet reported large hoards found in strange places. $100,000 in Hawaii
notes were found in 1980 by someone painting an attic. The same outlet reported an elderly woman
bringing some $45,000 in circulated Hawaii notes into a bank to sell, but was told she should
simply spend them since they were worn.37
A Treasure Remaining to Be Found?
Green leaves us with one more tantalizing story. Green said he obtained the first four $1
bills of the new Hawaiian series, exchanging four regular dollar bills for them. Green asked
General Emmons to sign each note and Green complied. Green then sent the four notes to Admiral
Chester W. Nimitz and requested that Nimitz sign the notes, keeping one for himself. Of the three
remaining, one was to be given to the adjutant general of the Army for historical purposes, one
was for Emmons and one was to be kept by Green. Nimitz signed the four bills, but returned all
four to Green, telling Green to find a constructive use for the fourth note. Nimitz told Green his
currency interests were focused on his ?yen? for Japanese notes found on enemy planes.38 This
author is unaware any of these four autographed notes reaching the numismatic market.
Acknowledgments
Much of the personal narrative of the aftermath of the December 7th attack and the
subsequent creation of the Hawaii currency replacement program came from the papers of retired
Major General Thomas H. Green. Green?s manuscript can be found at the Library of Congress in
Figure 10. Waikiki beach during the war. Photographs like this showing the barbed-wire beach defenses
were censored during the war. Image courtesy of the Bishop Museum/Desoto Brown.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
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its entirety at http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/Martial-Law_Green.pdf Chapter XXIII,
?Money? covers the Hawaii currency program. Biographical information on Emmons and Green
came primarily from the Densho Encyclopedia, Densho.org, a non-profit organization that
preserves and shares the history of the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans, including
digitally preserving source materials of historic value.
Sources
Bishopmuseum.org. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI, 2021.
Bulletin of the Treasury Department, April 1945. U.S. Treasury, Washington, D.C. 1945.
Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Master Printing Ledger by Series and Fiscal Year, Record Group 318/450/903/007/01-02,
Entry 54, Miscellaneous Records 1872-1950. National Archives at College Park, MD.
Densho Encyclopedia, ?Delos Emmons,? Densho.org website. Seattle, WA, 2021.
Densho Encyclopedia, ?Martial law in Hawaii,? Densho.org website. Seattle, WA, 2021.
Densho Encyclopedia, ?Thomas H. Green,? Densho.org website. Seattle, WA, 2021.
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, ?Hawaiian Series Currency,? Monthly Review, October 1944, San Francisco, CA, 1944.
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, ?Currency in U.S. History,? Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City,
1995, https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/6030.
Forman, Harry, ?Emergency notes turning up in hoards.? Coin World, May 24, 1978. Amos Press, Sidney, OH, 1978.
Gilbert, R.R., President, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, November 27, 1942. [Bulletin regarding Hawaiian Series Currency and
related orders]. Dallas, TX, 1942.
Green, Thomas H, Major General, USA (Ret) ?Martial Law in Hawaii, December 7, 1941?April 4, 1943,? Chapter XXIII
?Martial Law Declared.? Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Huntoon, Peter, with collaboration by James Downey, James Hodgson, Donald Medcalf and James Simek, ?U.S. Hawaii & North
Africa-Sicily Military Currency,? Paper Money, May/June 2008, pp. 196-223, Vol. ILVII, No. 3, Whole Number 255.
Society of Paper Money Collectors, SPMC.org.
Loproto, Mark, ?Operation K: A Second Pearl Harbor Attack,? March 5, 2020, Pearl Harbor.org. Honolulu, HI. 2020.
Morgenthau, Henry Jr., Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances for the Fiscal Year ended
June 30, 1942, p. 46. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1943.
Morgenthau, Henry Jr., Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances for the Fiscal Year ended
June 30, 1944, p. 383. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1945.
Morrill, Chester, Secretary, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System Meeting Minutes, for Board meetings of May 26, 1942,
pp. 1061-3; July 10, 1942, pp. 1398-9; August 11, 1942, p. 1605; May 13, 1944, pp. 751-2. Federal Reserve Board,
Washington, D.C.
Noyes, Dina, ?Tracing the History of WWII Hawaii Currency,? Mauitime.com. Maui, HI, June 10, 2010.
Olson, Wyatt, ?Japan?s little-known 2nd surprise attack on Hawaii failed in more ways than one.? Stars and Stripes, Stripes.com,
March 1, 2018.
Othman, Frederick C. ?Money Meant Little to Hawaii Right After Pearl Harbor Attack,? Washington D.C. April 24, 1945.
Schwartz, John, and Scott Lindquist, Standard Guide to Small-Size U.S. Paper Money 1928 to date, 10th Edition. Krause
Publications, F+W Media, Iola, WI, 2011.
Sproul, Allan, President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Circular 2547, ?United States Currency, Hawaiian Series,? November
19, 1942. New York, NY, 1942.
Sproul, Allan, President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Circular 2858, ?Revocation of Hawaiian Currency and Securities
Regulations,? November 1, 1944. New York, NY, 1944.
Young, Peter T. ?Emmons Money,? ImagesofoldHawaii.com, January 9, 2019.
Endnotes
1 U.S. Treasury Department, Press Release No. 32-36, July 7, 1942; Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Circular 2547, November
19, 1942; ?Regulations Relating to Currency,? J. B. Poindexter, Governor, Territory of Hawaii, June 25, 1942.
2 Bulletin of the Treasury Department, April 1945, page A-3, ?Invasion Currency.? U.S. Treasury Department, Washington, D.C.,
Office of the Secretary.
3 Major General Thomas H. Green, USA (Ret) ?Martial Law in Hawaii, December 7, 1941 ? April 4, 1943,? Chapter X, ?Martial
Law Declared.? Thomas H. Green papers, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid, ?Martial Law in Hawaii.? July 22, 2020.
9 Ibid, ?Delos Emmons.? July 2, 2020.
10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_H._Green
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
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11 Major General Thomas H. Green, USA (Ret) ?Martial Law in Hawaii, December 7, 1941?April 4, 1943,? Chapter XXII
?Money.? Thomas H. Green papers, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
12 Ibid.
13 Mark Loproto, ?Operation K: A Second Pearl Harbor Attack,? March 5, 2020, Pearl Harbor.org,
https://pearlharbor.org/operation-k-a-second-pearl-harbor-attack/
14 Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury for Fiscal Year 1942, p. 46.
15 Federal Reserve Board Meeting Minutes, Washington D.C., May 26, 1942, pp. 1061-2.
16 Bureau of Engraving and Printing Annual Report 1942, Surface Printing Division report, p. 24.
17 Federal Reserve Board Meeting Minutes, Washington D.C., May 26, 1942, pp. 1062.
18 Bureau of Engraving and Printing Annual Report 1942, Federal Reserve Vault Division report, p. 18.
19 Bureau of Engraving and Printing Annual Report 1942, p. 42.
20 Major General Thomas H. Green, USA (Ret) ?Martial Law in Hawaii, December 7, 1941?April 4, 1943,? Chapter XXIII
?Money.? Thomas H. Green papers, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
21 Office of the Governor of Hawaii, Foreign Funds Control, Honolulu Territory, Press Release, June 25, 1942.
22 Major General Thomas H. Green, USA (Ret) ?Martial Law in Hawaii, December 7, 1941?April 4, 1943,? Chapter XXIII
?Money.? Thomas H. Green papers, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
23 Dina Noyes, ?Tracing the History of WWII Hawaii Currency,? Mauitime.com, June 10, 2010.
24 Frederick C. Othman, news article ?Money Mean Little to Hawaii Right After Pearl Harbor Attack,? April 25, 1945.
25 Federal Reserve Board Meeting Minutes, Washington D.C., May 13, 1944, pp. 751-2.
26 Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Master Printing Ledger by Series and Fiscal Year, National Archives at College Park MD,
Record Group 318/450/903/007/01-02, Entry 54, Miscellaneous Records 1872-1950.
27 Joint Statement by the Treasury, War, and Navy Departments relative to the special Hawaiian series of United States Currency,
February 9, 1944. Treasury Annual Report, Exhibit 45, p. 383, for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1944.
28 Joint Statement of the Treasury and War Departments August 17, 1943, discussion of yellow seals as ?spearhead? currency.
Treasury Department Annual Report 1944, p. 382.
29 Treasury Department press statement, October 21, 1944, reprinted in Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Circular 2858,
November 1, 1944.
30 Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Circular 2858, November 1, 1944.
31 Major General Thomas H. Green, USA (Ret) ?Martial Law in Hawaii, December 7, 1941?April 4, 1943,? Chapter XXIII
?Money.? Thomas H. Green papers, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
32 John Schwartz and Scott Lindquist, Standard Guide to Small-Size Paper Money, 10th Edition, Appendix I, pp. 346 and 352.
33 Heritage Auctions, Auction Archives, HA.com, September 2021.
34 John Schwartz and Scott Lindquist, Standard Guide to Small-Size Paper Money, 10th Edition.
35 Peter Huntoon, et al, Paper Money May/June 2008, pp. 196-223.
36 Harry Forman, ?Emergency Notes Turning Up in Hoards,? Coin World, May 28, 1978.
37 Dina Noyes, ?Tracing the History of WWII Hawaii Currency,? Mauitime.com, June 10, 2010.
38 Peter Young, ?Emmons Money,? ImagesofoldHawaii.com, January 9, 2019.??
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
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The 1861 Fantasy Corporation Notes:
Printed by James Lucas & Son, Baltimore
by Charles Derby
The set of ten1 ?Corporation notes? (Figs. 1,
2) was printed in 1861 just after the start of
the Civil War. They are quite attractive and
colorful, with multiple vignettes including
stamped images on the reverse. These
Corporation notes have the appearance of
being issued by local governments in
Southern towns that actually existed
(Branchville SC, Charleston SC, Cheraw CS,
Columbia SC, Chattanooga TN) with one
exception (Fort Valley NC)2,3,4,5,6,7. But these
issues were neither valid issues nor imitations
of valid issues (counterfeits). Rather they
were contemporary ?fantasy? or ?bogus?
issues, though researchers disagree as to
whether they were intended to circulate as
money8. Because these notes lack an imprint
indicating the printer?s name, who produced
them and why has been a mystery. In this
article, I offer an answer to these questions,
based on multivariate analysis that compares
features of these fantasy notes with those of
currency printed in the same year by printers
in the North and South. All evidence points
to Lucas & Son of Baltimore, MD, who also
contemporaneously printed notes for the
valid Corporation of Winchester VA9 (Fig.
3). I also argue that Lucas & Son printed
these notes without intending on fooling
Southerners into believing they were valid
but as a means of profiting from the sudden
interest at the onset of the war in all things
Southern by printing these novelty items.
Similarities between Fantasy Corporation
Notes and Winchester Corporation notes
The main line of evidence supporting Lucas
& Son as the printer of these fantasy
Corporation notes comes from similarities in
these appearance of them and Lucas & Son?s
Corporation of Winchester notes.
1. Both are printed for ?Corporations? in the
Southern states.
2. Both have same general layout.
3. Both have identical text: ?Issued under the
Act of the Corporation of [date, which is
variable]??.?Due by the Corporation of
[name, and denomination]??Payable in
[state] bank notes by the Treasure to bearer,
on presentation of these due bills, in sums of
Five Dollars? followed by signature lines for
cashier and treasurer.
4. Both have the same year of issue: 1861.
5. Both have two versions that differ in the
date: one with the entire date printed and the
other with a hybrid of printed and
handwritten date. More specifically, the
Corporation of Winchester notes have
?1861? printed on all; some also have a
printed month and day of ?July 15? and
others have a handwritten month and day of
?June 24.? The fantasy Corporation notes
have ?1861? printed on all; some also have a
printed day and month (which varied across
the notes), and two notes (Fort Valley Type 1
and Chattanooga Type 1) have a handwritten
month and day. I hypothesize that Lucas first
printed the hybrid date Winchester and
fantasy notes, followed by a later issue of the
fully printed dates. Consistent with this
hypothesis is that both hybrid-date fantasy
notes are extremely rare and have their city
name stamped on the reverse, whereas all
fantasy notes with fully printed dates are
common and have a vignette on the reverse.
6. Both use the same five colors:
Winchester Fantasy
Color
Green 10? Fort Valley Type2
Red 15? Charleston
Blue 25? Columbia / Chattanooga Type1
Brown 50? Branchville
Black $1 Fort Valley Type1/Cheraw/Chattanooga Type2
Same 5 Colors Used for Lucas Winchester and Fantasy Notes
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Figure 1. Five of the ten fantasy ?Corporation notes.?
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Figure 2. Five of the ten fantasy ?Corporation notes.?
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Figure 3. Five denominations from the Corporation of Winchester, Virginia, printed by
Lucas & Sons of Baltimore, Maryland. Only the fronts are shown because they are uniface.
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7. Both use many of the same vignettes (and
of the same size), with a coincidence rate that
is exceedingly high. A total of 20 vignettes
are used on the 15 fantasy and Winchester
notes. Eight of these 20 vignettes (40%) are
shared by at least one of the fantasy notes
AND at least one of the Winchester notes:
Beehive, Woman with Rose, Jocelyn (ship),
Hunter with Rifle, Slaves with Cotton, Dog
Head, Woman with Bundle, and Train in
Oval. In fact, 4 of these 8 shared vignettes are
used on more than two notes (beehive, hunter
with rifle, slaves with cotton, dog head). For
such a small number of notes, this overlap is
extraordinarily high compared with other
series of notes.
8. Although many of the vignettes on the
fantasy and Winchester notes were used on
other notes produced in the North and South
at the time, each vignette also had numerous
variations due to different engravers and
printers producing similar but not identical
images. An analysis of the varieties for each
vignette shows that the fantasy and Lucas
notes used the exact same variety, different
from all the others, consistent with the idea
that Lucas & Son made both sets. Two
examples are shown here: Woman with Rose,
and Slaves with Cotton. Figure 4 shows six
variants of the Woman with Rose vignette.
The images in the Corporation of Fort Valley
and Lucas & Son?s Corporation of
Figure 4. Six varieties of the Woman with Rose vignette. Top, left to right: fantasy Corporation of Fort
Valley T2; valid Corporation of Winchester 15? (Lucas & Son), Fredericktown Savings Institution (Draper,
Welsh & Co.). Bottom, left to right: contemporary facsimile of Corporation of Winchester (Samuel Upham,
VA-W2/A in Tremmel10, crude copy of the Upham facsimile of Corporation of Winchester (unidentified
printer, VA-W2/C in Tremmel10), Merchant A. H. Wylie (Wm. F. Murphy & Sons).
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
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Winchester are identical, and even the
Upham facsimile of Lucas & Son?s note is
very similar to these10. But these war-time
notes are of much poorer quality than the
original by Draper, Welsh & Co. The second
example of variants within a vignette is six
examples of Slaves with Cotton (Fig. 5). The
images in the Corporation of Columbia and
Lucas & Son?s Corporation of Winchester
are identical. The others differ from these two
and each other in various ways including the
background, foreground, and people.
In summary, these eight similarities between
the fantasy Corporation notes and the
Corporation of Winchester notes make a
compelling case that Lucas & Son of
Baltimore printed these fantasy notes. But
who were Lucas & Son?
Figure 5. Six varieties of the Slave with Cotton vignette. Top, left to right: Corporation of Columbia
T1, valid Corporation of Winchester 50? (Lucas & Son), Bank of Morgan, Georgia $2 (Baldwin,
Bald & Cousland, NY 1850s: note background, unlike the above). Bottom, left to right: Geo. W.
Gregor & Co., New Orleans (W. R Smith, Engraver), Macon Savings Bank, 1863 (Blanton Duncan,
Columbia SC), Shelby County, TN $5 (Henry Seibert).
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James E. Lucas and John D. Lucas
Lucas & Son, Baltimore Printers, was the
team of James E. Lucas and his son John
Deaver Lucas. James Lucas was born on May
10, 1795, in Baltimore, to John Lucas (1763?
1814) and John?s second wife, Sarah Deaver
(1768?1833)11,12,13. James Lucas was a long
standing and highly successful printer in
Baltimore. After apprenticing, James formed
a printing business in 1820 with Emanuel
Kent Deaver (1798?1844)14. For the next 14
years, Lucas & Deaver was a prolific printer
of diverse jobs in Baltimore and surrounding
areas. Two of their jobs stand out. In 1831,
they printed the blockbuster book, The
Confessions of Nat Turner, the Leader of the
Late Insurrection in Southampton, VA, by
Thomas Gray (Fig. 6). In ca. 1840, they
printed 12? and 50 cent scrip for Annapolis
merchants Bryan & Nicholson15 (Fig. 7).
Upon Emanual Deaver?s death in 1844,
James continued his business with the aid of
son-apprentice John Deaver Lucas, who was
the second oldest son of James and his wife
Nancy Margaret Brown (1808?1887)16.
James used the imprint ?James Lucas?
through the end of the 1840s, after which the
imprint became ?Lucas & Son? or ?James
Lucas & Son? (Fig. 8). Over the next 20
years, Lucas & Son became one of
Baltimore?s premier printers. Among their
Figure 7. Scrip note for 12? cents issued by Bryan & Nicholson of Annapolis, MD, bearing the
printer?s imprint ?Lucas & Deaver, Printers, Baltimore.? They also printed a similar 50 cent note15.
Figure 6. Confessions of Nat Turner,
printed by Lucas & Deaver in 1831.
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noteworthy publications was ?The Mission of
South Carolina to Virginia? published in
1860 by C. G. Memminger, who was to soon
become the Secretary of the Confederate
Treasury but at the time was in Virginia as
special commissioner from South Carolina.
This publication was Memminger?s address
to the General Assembly of Virginia on
January 19, 1860, making the case that
Virginia should join South Carolina in
pushing away from the Union and potentially
forming a Southern confederacy17.
Lucas & Son printed other Civil War scrip
besides the Corporation of Winchester notes.
One bearing their imprint is a 5 cent note for
Queen Ann?s County, Maryland15 (Fig 9).
Several other notes from Maryland which
lack an imprint (Fig. 9) are also suspected of
being printed by Lucas & Son, for the same
reasons as enumerated earlier about the
fantasy Corporation notes. Thus, Lucas &
Son have the distinction of printing money
for both the North and the South, reflecting
their residence in a border city and state of
Baltimore, Maryland.
James died on December 8, 1873, in
Baltimore at age 78, and was buried in
Greenmount Cemetery. His obituary reflects
his social standing, stating that ?there was a
large attendance of friends of the deceased,
including Mayor Vansant and Members of
the Association of Old Defenders and of the
Masonic Lodge, to which the deceased
belonged, though in compliance with his well
known wishes that there should be no display
at his funeral, the societies did not attend in
a body. [He was] a citizen so venerable
and?esteem for him always increased with
length of acquaintance, and that his deeds of
charity were frequent18.
Upon James? death, John took over the
business and ran it alone until his death of a
heart attack in 1893 at age 62. John was
apparently a chip off the old block: ?After the
death of his father he succeeded to the
management of the business, in which he
engaged very successfully, accumulating a
snug fortune and becoming known as one of
Figure 8. Order form and receipt for ?James Lucas & Son, Job Card and Label Printers, Baltimore.
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the shrewd, keen business men of
[Baltimore]?Few have won the unqualified
esteem and warm friendship of others to so
great a degree?he was genial and
companionable, even when the pressure of
business duties was greatest, and under all
circumstances maintained the uprightness of
character and probity of conduct that were
ever among his noticeable traits?19.
Why Did Lucas & Son Print These
Fantasy Corporation notes?
The famous Samuel Curtis Upham reprinted
notes ? called facsimile notes ? of valid issues
of some Southern institutions including
corporations10. These facsimiles have printed
signatures, serial numbers, and dates,
whereas the valid issues typically had
handwritten ones10. Upham said he produced
these notes because they were popular with
Figure 9. Known and suspected scrip and checks printed Lucas & Son.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
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collectors and thus profitable. Upham later
produced versions of these same notes that
lacked signatures, serial numbers, and dates,
probably with an intent to pass as counterfeits
and do harm to the Southern economy10.
Upham also printed fantasy notes including
the famous Confederate ?Female Riding
Deer? notes. Upham may have even intended
these to circulate as valid issues in the South,
for which he was criticized and threatened in
the South10. With this information of Upham
in mind, I speculate that Lucas & Son printed
their notes, which mostly had printed
signatures, dates, and serial numbers, as a
commercial venture and not with political
machinations in mind. In fact, some of the
Corporation of Columbia SC notes (Fig. 1)
were clearly intended for Northern collectors
since they bear the red stamp ?Sample of Old
Jeff Lucifer?s Bonds? referring to what the
Northerns thought of Confederate president
Jefferson Davis. Another reason to think that
this series of notes was a commercial product
is that the printed month and day on them
cover every month between April and August
(April 19, May 3, June 28, July 2, August 2,
August 7), which might reflect a monthly
issue of these to satisfy the interests of
contemporaneous collectors.
Ironically, Samuel Upham himself made a
facsimile of Lucas & Son?s valid Corporation
of Winchester 15? note (Fig. 10), and an
unidentified printer even made a very crude
knock-off of Upham?s knock-off (in
Tremmel10, VA-W2/A and VA-W2/C,
respectively). Poetic justice, all around.
References and Footnotes
1 There is a variant of the Corporation of
Columbia SC note with the ?Slave with
Cotton? vignette, not shown here and not
listed in Sheenen 2002, that might be
considered the 11th note in this series. This
variant corrects the two errors on the version
shown here which has the ?C? in
?CAROLINA? displaced downward, and the
?Ten Dollars? shifted left next to ?of.?
2 Sheheen, Austin M., Jr. 1960. South
Carolina Obsolete Notes. The First
Comprehensive Listing of State, Broken
Bank, Town, City, Railroad and
Miscellaneous Other Notes. A. M. Sheheen
Jr.: Camden, SC.
3 Sheheen, Austin M. Jr. 2003. South
Carolina Obsolete Notes and Scrip.
Midlands Printing.
4 Garland, Paul E. 1983. The History of Early
Tennessee Banks and Their Issues. Multi-
Print, Inc., Hampton, VA.
Figure 10. Upham facsimile of Lucas & Son?s fantasy Corporation of Winchester 15 cent note,
with Upham?s imprint at the bottom edge.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
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5 Schafluetzel, Dennis, and Carson, Tom.
2019. Tennessee Obsolete Paper Money
1800 ? 1959. Adams Lithographing Co.,
Chattanooga, TN.
6 Horner, Paul, and Roughton, Jerry R. 2003.
North Carolina Numismatic Scrapbook, Vol.
1, No. 9: p. 9.
7 Derby, Charles. ?Alabama State Fractional
Currency: Printing Sequence and a Variant of
the 50 cent Note.? Paper Money (Nov-Dec
2015), pp. 384-393.
8 Austin Sheheen (1960) wrote that the South
Carolina notes ?are believed to be either
contemporary with the periods indicated or
very shortly afterwards. There was no
authorization for their issue and they were
probably issued for patriotic reasons. They
can be classified as bogus." Horner and
Roughton (2003) pointed out that the Fort
Valley NC note is not from a real town or
city. They also wrote that notes in this series
are ?spurious notes and?contemporary with
the period, namely issued during the Civil
War to deceive the recipient of these bogus
notes.? Garland (1983) wrote that the
Corporation of Chattanooga note ?could be a
fantasy note? and Schafluetzel & Carson
(2019) agree, adding that these notes ?may
have been issued to defraud the public.?
9 Littlefield, Richard, and Jones, Keith. 1992.
Virginia Obsolete Paper Money. Virginia
Numismatic Association, Annandale, VA.
10 Tremmel, George B. 2007. A Guide Book
of Counterfeit Confederate Currency.
Whitman Publishing.
11 U.S. Censuses
12 Ancestry.com
13 A familial relationship between James?
mother and his business partner is suggested
by their shared last name of ?Deaver,? but
this has not been confirmed.
14 Schneidereith, Bill. History of Printing in
Maryland and Baltimore 1682 to Present.
http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/162458/
3854351/1250213029280/Notes_History+of
+Printing+in+Maryland+and+Baltimore+16
82+to+Present+-+Bill+Schneidereith+7-22-
09.pdf?token=FQHQjU0BGcWRYazOFsBe
8VKm3qw%3D
15 Money & Banking in Maryland. Part One:
A Brief History of Commercial Banking in the
Old Line State (Stuart R. Bruchey and
Eleanor S. Bruchey); Part Two: A Catalogue
of Maryland?s Paper Money, 1790-1865
(Denwood N. Kelly, Armand M. Shank Jr.,
and Thomas S. Gordon). Maryland Historical
Society, Baltimore. 1996.
16 James and Nancy had at least nine
children: Thomas Brown Lucas (1828?
1901), John Deaver Lucas (1831?1893),
Mary Ann H. Lucas (1833?1858), unknown
son (1835?1839), Samuel Lucas (1837?
1897), Eleanor Jane Lucas (Merriman)
(1840?1911), James Brown Lucas (1843?
1925), Harry P. Lucas (1847?1893), and
Charles H. Lucas (1849?after 1910). Several
sons followed in James? footsteps as printers,
including Samuel and Charles, but only John
Deaver was named as James? partner.
17 Crenshaw, Ollinger. 1942. Christopher G.
Memminger's Mission to Virginia, 1860.
Journal of Southern History Vol. 8, No. 3, pp.
334-349.
18 The Sun newspaper, Baltimore, MD,
Thursday, December 11, 1873.
19 Genealogy and Biography of Leading
Families of the City of Baltimore and
Baltimore County, Maryland: Containing
Portraits of Many Well Known Citizens of the
Past and Present. Chapman Publishing Co.,
New York and Chicago 1897.
https://archive.org/details/genealogybiograp
00chap/page/298]
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Bill Gunther,
Paul Horner, Mike McNeil, and Greg Ton for
comments on drafts of the manuscript, and to
Austin Sheehen for his groundbreaking
research on the South Carolina fantasy notes
and his encouragement on this project.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
35
When Treasury Silver
Collided with Physics
You all know that silver certificates were backed by silver held by the Treasury. If you desired, you
could redeem your silver certificate for a silver dollar that contained 0.7734 Troy ounce of silver that was
worth $1 at the then fixed rate of $1.2929 per ounce.
For decades the U. S. Treasury was a primary buyer of silver thanks to various silver purchase acts
passed by Congress so it owned an enormous stock of the metal. In January 1942, at the start of World War
II, that lode amounted to 86,000 tons, of which somewhat over 39,000 tons were earmarked for backing
$1,657,000,000 worth of silver certificates then in circulation (Wheeler, 1983).
You also know of the Manhattan Project operated by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers that was
launched in September 1941. The project was under the direction of General Leslie Groves, who was
charged with producing an atomic bomb, if possible.
So, what does this have to do with the Treasury stockpile of silver?
Let?s look into a little physics to see where this is going.
German scientists already had demonstrated that vast quantities of energy were released when a
light isotope of uranium (U235) spontaneously fissioned. The number 235 is the total number of neutrons
and protons in the nucleus of the atom; specifically, 92 protons each with a positive electrical charge that
give the atom its chemical character and 143 neutrons that have no charge. Each has the same mass, so the
nucleus has a mass of 235. When one of those atoms fissions, it breaks into two smaller atoms and 1 to 3
neutrons fly off. If one of those neutrons hits the nucleus of another U235 atom, it causes that atom to
become unstable and it fissions.
Testing revealed that in pure masses of U235, once a fission occurred more neutrons were produced
by subsequent fissions of other U235 atoms than were lost so it was theoretically possible if several pounds
of U235 could be concentrated into a small space, it would constitute a critical mass wherein a chain
reaction of fissioning U235 atoms would create a huge explosion.
The Paper
Column
Peter Huntoon
Figure 1. Thanks to the monetization of silver and various silver purchase acts passed by
Congress, the U. S. Treasury had thousands of tons of the stuff, more than what was required
to back these notes at the start of WW II. The Manhattan Project borrowed some 14,666 tons
from that hoard to make big magnets.
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The problem was that most naturally occurring uranium is in the form of a heavier isotope of
uranium; specifically, U238. It simply doesn?t fission when bombarded with the low energy neutrons given
off by fissions of U235. Instead the neutrons are soaked up by the U238 nuclei and it becomes U239.
What is desired is a critical mass of U235 in which the rate of production of neutrons from the
fission of the U235 atoms is greater than they are soaked up by U238 atoms, soaked up by the smaller atoms
produced by previous U235 fissions or simply lost to space beyond the mass. When a crucial mass is
achieved, neutrons will quickly saturate the mass and set off more and more of the U235 fissions so the
energy is released quickly.
Naturally occurring uranium consists of 99.3 percent U238. If Groves and his scientists were going
to make a bomb, they had to greatly increase the ratio of U235 to U238 so the mass would sustain a chain
reaction. Groves took no chances. He had his scientists pursued every technology they could devise to
separate as much of the U238 from the U235 until the enriched U235 would blow.
One idea that they had that became the primary method used to create the first uranium bomb,
which was the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, was magnetic separation of the isotopes.
The concept was simple. There is a mass difference of 3 neutrons between U235 and U238, so they
used that 1.2 percent difference to separate them. What they did was to create uranium tetrachloride by
chemically combining chlorine with the uranium. Uranium tetrachloride is a solid that was ionized into a
Figure 2. Winding silver bands around rectangular forms at the Allis-Chalmers No. 7 shop in Milwaukee to
create the conducting coils for the donut-shaped magnets in the racetrack assemblies at the Y-12 magnetic
separation plant in the Clinton Engineering Works near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Photo from MDH (1945).
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
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plasma by heating. This stripped off the
electrons from the molecules laying bare
the uranium nuclei with their positive
electrical charges equal to their 92
protons.
The plasma was then directed
through a strong electromagnetic field
produced by a magnet where the uranium
was pulled toward the negative pole of the
magnet owing to its positive charge. The
arc that the U235 traveled was tighter
(curved more) than that containing U238
because the U235 has less mass owing to
having three fewer neutrons. The two
isotopes were then collected separately.
The technique was primitive,
slow?one molecule at a time, and energy
intensive. But it worked, so it was
employed. The industrial scale process
that they devised required two successive
stages to separate the U235 to the required
purity needed to make a bomb. The
purified U235 that they collected from the
first run was used as the feed stock in the second run in order to further purify it. The result was enriched
sufficiently that it could be fashioned into a critical mass.
Groves needed both enormous magnets and a huge electrical supply. He and his team quickly
settled on a site near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, along the Clinch River close to the hydroelectric power
generators operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority in the dams along the Clinch River and downstream
Tennessee River. There they built the Y-12 plant to house the operation.
Magnets traditionally are constructed by winding insulated copper wire around an iron core, which
when electricity is passed through the wires magnetizes the iron and you have a magnet. Ernest Lawrence,
the scientist behind the design of the facility, initially calculated that he would need the world?s largest
magnets, each 250 feet long requiring thousands of miles of copper wire windings.
Lt. Col. Kenneth Nichols, Groves? procurement officer, immediately ran into a materials problem.
Copper already was a critical war material needed in vast quantities for bullet and shell casings and any
number of other military applications such as wiring in airplanes. There wasn?t enough of it available.
Why not silver? It is a better conductor of electricity than copper! Nichols looked around and in
short order realized that the largest stock of silver in the country resided in the U. S. Treasury.
Nichols (1987, p. 42) wrote ?As a result, on August 3 [1942] I visited Assistant Secretary of the
Treasury Daniel Bell. He explained the procedure for transferring the silver and asked, ?How much do you
need?? I replied, ?Six thousand tons.? ?How many troy ounces is that?? he asked. In fact, I did not know
how to convert tons to troy ounces, and neither did he. A little impatient, I responded, ?I don?t know how
many troy ounces we need but I know I need six thousand tons?that is a definite quantity. What difference
does it make how we express the quantity?? He replied rather indignantly, ?Young man, you may think of
silver in tons, but the Treasury will always think of silver in troy ounces.??
When the smoke cleared, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau authorized the loan of silver
to the Manhattan Project with the stipulation that it would be returned after the war. A formal agreement to
that effect was entered into on August 29, 1942, between Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson, and the
Secretary of the Treasury with Herbert E. Guston signing on behalf of Secretary Morgenthau. Ultimately
the Treasury released 14,666 tons for use by the Manhattan Project.
The arrangement was launched with this letter (MDH, 1945).
Figure 3. Bands of Treasury silver used in magnets that were
built to separate U235 from U238 awaiting deployment in the
Y-12 plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. UPI photo.
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The Honorable,
The Secretary of the Treasury
Dear Mr. Secretary:
In connection with my letter to you of today requesting the transfer of custody of 6,000 tons of silver
to the War Department to be used as a substitute for copper, may I advise you that the important project,
the use for which this silver is desired, is a highly secret matter. At this time the interests of the Government
do not permit my disclosing the nature of the use.
The silver is desired for use on property which will be Government-owned, it will be adequately
guarded at all times, and the use is of such a nature that the silver will not be consumed and will be available
for return at the expiration of the use.
The use of the silver which is contemplated not only will relieve a substantial amount of other critical
materials for use in the effort but is in itself of the utmost important to the prosecution of the war.
Sincerely,
Henry L. Stimson
Secretary of War
8-27-42
Robert Miller, a priorities and expediting officer under Nichols, recalled the following (Oak Ridger,
2006):
The first shipment of silver bullion was made from the West Point Depository [NY] in October 1942
to the Defense Plant Corporation at Carteret, New Jersey. There the silver bars were reformed as cylindrical
Figure 4. One of the oval racetrack magnet assemblies at the Y-12 facility powered by the Tennessee Valley
Authority?s hydroelectric generators in its nearby dams. UPI photo.
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billets. Then another secret trip, this time across New Jersey to the Phelps Dodge copper plant at Bayway
[Elizabeth, NJ] where the billets were rolled into strips 5/8 of an inch thick, three inches wide and 40 feet
long. A third stage to the journey sent the newly rolled strips to Milwaukee, where the Allis Chalmers
Company wound them with wooden insulation around giant steel spools and encased them in another steel
unit. The completed units, resembling 19 square foot doughnuts were then shipped to the Y-12 Plant.
At Y-12 workers drilled holes in the bars, preparing them for assembly, over paper to catch the
expensive core drillings. Surprisingly, no silver was lost or stolen and even close to 28 years later (June 1,
1970) when the last 70-ton shipment of silver was returned to the Treasury?s West Point Depository only
1/10 of one percent of the silver was not returned.
Another account related by Jones (1985, p. 133) provides additional interesting detail.
The silver, in 1,000-ounce bars, was moved by guarded truck to Carteret, New Jersey, where it was
cast into billets, and then to Bayway, New Jersey, where it was extruded into strips 5/8?s of an inch thick,
3 inches wide, and 40 to 50 feet long. From Bayway, under the protection of Manhattan District guards,
the coiled strips were moved by rail freight to the Allis-Chalmers plant in Milwaukee. There, some 258
carloads of silver were fabricated into coils and bus bars, then sealed into welded casings, and finally
shipped on open, unguarded flatcars, by various routes and on irregular schedules to the Clinton Works
[Oak Ridge, TN].
The Y-12 magnetic separation plant produced the bulk of the enriched U235 that was used to
fabricate the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. The bomb was a rather simple device that was
called Little Boy. It consisted of a one-shot gun-type mechanism where a cylinder-shaped slug of U235 that
served as a bullet was shot at a solid rod consisting of a second mass of U235. At the instant that the cylinder
surround the rod, a critical mass was achieved and the whole exploded.
Figure 5. Lt. Col. Kenneth Nichols (Atomic Heritage Foundation photo on the left) arranged the loan of
Treasury silver to the Manhattan Project with Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Daniel Bell (Library of
Congress photo).
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The design was
considered to be so foolproof, the
very first test of it occurred after
the bomb left the bomb bay of a
B29 bomber called the Enola Gay
over Hiroshima. It detonated
1,900 feet above the ground at
8:16 am on the morning of August
6, 1945. The terrible fission
explosion that resulted consumed
less than 1.7 percent of the 141
pounds of uranium that was in the
bomb before the critical mass
blew itself apart (Wikipedia).
The bomb tested at the
Trinity site on July 16, 1945 near
Alamogordo, New Mexico, was
of an entirely different much more
complex design in which the
fissile fuel was plutonium-239,
not U235. A bomb of that design
was dropped on Nagasaki on
August 9, 1945, after they were certain that it would work from the Trinity test. The plutonium was
produced in a reactor in another of Groves? plants, that one in Hanford, Washington, that didn?t require
Treasury silver.
At war end, an accounting of the ?disposition of 427,814,149.02 Fine Troy Ounces withdrawn from
the Treasury was as follows: 399,449,618.38 F.T.O. were wound in magnet coils; 3.915,274.20 F.T.O. were
installed as busbar; 24,293,608.05 F.T.O. were returned to the Treasury as bullion bar converted from scrap;
and 155.648.39 F.T.O. were lost during processing? (MDH, 1945, p. 6.3-6.4).
In tons, 14,666 were borrowed and 5.3 tons were lost. The losses amounted to a mere 0.036 percent
of the amount borrowed. Figuring the silver at $1.2929 per troy ounce, instead of having to purchase $553
million worth of it, the Manhattan Project only had to reimburse the Treasury for a little over $201,000
worth of the metal that was lost in processing.
The fact is, magnetic separation of U235 from U238 turned out to be an inefficient and cumbersome
process. Gaseous diffusion and liquid thermal diffusion processes under simultaneous development began
to bear fruit. By the end of the war, enriched uranium from the gaseous diffusion facility at Oak Ridge was
providing the bulk of the feed stock to the second stage magnetic enrichment separators. The first stage
separators were shut down as obsolete at the close of the war. Of course, it took years to dismantle the Y-
12 facilities and recover the silver.
In 1963, Secretary of the Treasury Douglas Dillon advised the Senate Committee on Banking and
Currency that some of the silver was still in the hands of the Atomic Energy Commission (Dillon, 1964, p.
404).
Incidentally, the Government has no hidden stockpile of silver other than the silver indicated as being
in the monetary and free stocks of the Treasury. A certain amount of silver, 64.7 million ounces, is presently
on loan to the Atomic Energy Commission for nonconsumption uses, but this silver is part of our silver
stocks which are included in the present backing for silver certificates. Thus, it is not an extra amount of
silver available to meet our coinage needs.
Notice that although the silver was in magnets at Oak Ridge, it still was counted as part of the
monetary stock used to back silver certificates in 1964!
Figure 6. Little Boy being loaded into the Enola Gay on Tinian Island on
its way to Hiroshima. Wikipedia photo.
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References Cited and Sources of Data
Dillon, Douglas, Apr 29, 1963, Statement by Secretary of the Treasury Dillon before the Senate Committee on Banking and
Currency on silver: in, 1964, Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances for the Fiscal
Year Ended June 30, 1963: U. S. Government Printing Office, 774 p.
Jones, Vincent C., 1985, Manhattan, the Army and the Atomic Bomb: Center for Military History, U. S. Army, Washington, DC,
660 p.
Nichols, Kenneth D., 1987, The Road to Trinity: Morrow, 401 p.
Manhattan District History, Sep 15, 1945, Book V?Electromagnetic Plant, vol. 4?Silver Program:
https://www.osti.gov/includes/opennet/includes/MED_scans/Book%20V%20-
%20%20Electromagnetic%20Project%20-%20Volume%204%20-%20Silver%20Progra.pdf
Wheeler, Keith, 1983, The Fall of Japan: World War II, v. 37, Time-Life Books, 207 p.
Historically Speaking column, May 16, 2006, Miller key to obtaining Y-12?s 14,700 tons of silver: The Oak Ridger, Oak Ridge,
TN.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki
https://www.atomicheritage.org/history/isotope-separation-methods
https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/intro/u-electromagnetic.htm
https://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/ur-enrichment.html
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Lyn Knight Currency Auct ions
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States Currency
Procedure for Identifying the
Manufacturer that Made a
Series of 1929
Overprinting Plate
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to provide a procedure that will allow you to identify the manufacturer
of the overprinting plate used to print the bank information on any Series of 1929 national bank note.
Series of 1929 Overprinting Plates
Three different manufacturers made the typographic overprinting plates that applied the black bank
information to Series of 1929 national bank notes.
Most of the overprinting plates were made by Barnhart Brothers & Spindler, a Chicago firm that
was awarded a contract by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to supply all the overprinting plates. The
BBS plates were called logotypes, which were cast using a hard metal alloy.
BBS couldn?t keep up with the demand for plates during the startup of the series, so the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing contracted with the Government Printing Office to make interim electrotype plates
using forms prepared at the Bureau. The first GPO stopgap overprinting plates were finished August 26,
1929. The 1,375th required to meet the mid-October deliveries of notes to the Comptroller arrived October
16th (BEP, Aug-Nov, 1929). A handful of GPO plates were made from then into early 1930 to cover
expedited orders received from the Comptroller of the Currency bringing the grand total of GPO plates to
1,380 (Hall, 1930, p. 22).
The GPO plates were used only for the first printing for the affected banks. The reason was that
electrotype plates were soft so in prolonged use, the nickel-faced, lead-alloy-backed type would wear poorly
and deform under the demanding conditions attending use on the BEP overprinting presses. In contrast, the
BBS logotypes were four times harder.
The GPO plates were succeeded by BBS logotypes in due course as deliveries of the logotypes
caught up. The notes printed from the BBS plates had the same bank signatures but the layouts differed.
The earlier notes in these pairs often have larger signatures so the variety is popularly known as the large-
signature variety.
The quality of the GPO overprints as judged by the crispness of the images was superior to that of
the BBS logotypes.
Of the three types of overprinting plates, the GPO plates came in second in terms of the number
made. Series of 1929 notes were printed for 6,996 banks before the series was terminated in 1935.
The Paper
Column
by
Peter Huntoon
Figure 1. This Mesa note has a very common BBS overprint.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
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Consequently, GPO plates were made for just under 20 percent of the total.
The Bureau also made inhouse chrome-coated copper plates beginning in 1930 to accommodate
rush orders and later to cover unfulfilled orders when the parent firm of BBS was caught up in bankruptcy
proceedings. The last of these was made in 1935.
The BBS and BEP plates came in sets of six 1-subject plates that were mounted on the bed of the
overprinting press. In contrast, the GPO plates were single 6-subject plates.
In-depth coverage of this topic appears in Huntoon and Simek (2014) including illustrations of all
the different fonts and sizes used by the various manufacturers.
Screening Procedure
Follow the stepwise procedure presented on Table 1 to determine which manufacturer made the
plate used to overprint the bank information on any Series of 1929 national bank note. Table 2 is a list of
every bank for which BEP plates were made.
Sources Cited
Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Aug-Nov, 1929, Daily reports on national currency program: Record Group 53, Bureau of the
Public Debt, Series K Currency, U. S. National Archives, College Park, MD.
Hall, Alvin W., 1930, Annual report of the Director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for the fiscal year ended June 30,
1930: U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 51 p.
Huntoon, Peter, and James A. Simek, Jan-Feb 2014. Series of 1929 overprints: Paper Money, v. 53, p. 3-32.
Figure 2. This Havelock note sports the most common GPO overprint. Notice
that the left charter number is low as well. Heritage Auction Archives photo.
Figure 3. This Cotulla note bears the highest charter number to appear on a
BEP overprinting plate. See Table 2. Heritage Auction Archives photo.
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Table 1. Work stepwise down this list in order to determine the plate manufacturer
for the plate used to overprint the bank information on any Series of 1929 national
bank note.
1. Overprint is BEP if bank charter number is listed on Table 2.
2. Overprint is GPO if any one of the following five conditions is met:
a. charter numbers are crisp and sharp, and the numbers 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 exhibit well-defined serifs.
b. left charter number is unusually low,
c. bank is Pastel Series Bold Condensed,
d. town is Gothic Bold Condensed,
e. bank is 12-pt American Very Condensed with tightly packed letters,
town is 11- or 12-pt Caslon Shaded Bold,
state is 6-pt Pastel Series Bold,
letters appear crisp and sharp,
bank is 1 or 2 lines, and
overprint appears darker than usual.
3. All other overprints are BBS.
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Table 2. List of BEP Series of 1929 overprinting plates.
The plate is BEP regardless of bank title.
Charter State Town Charter State Town
1 PA Philadelphia 13330 NY Rochester
452 NJ Freehold 13335 CA San Marino
963 NY Troy 13368 CA Vallejo
1027 NY Lyons 13375 CA Pacific Grove
1335 NY Amsterdam 13380 CA Salinas
1816 IL Rockford 13385 ND Valley City
2076 NJ Dover 13388 FL De Land
3312 NY Gloversville 13406 KS Liberal
4887 PA Reading 13441 NY Buffalo
8574 OR Tillamook 13443 TX Henderson
8645 TX Houston 13457 OH Defiance
8813 MN Appleton 13460 SD Britton
9652 UT Salt Lake City 13482 TN Greeneville
10209 OK Hennessey 13483 SD Chamberlain
10345 OR Eugene 13487 WI Phillips
10357 CA Bakersfield 13493 NY Odessa
10583 TN Erwin 13501 ND Garrison
10911 IL Ava 13505 WV Gary
10923 NY Walden 13509 WV Charleston
10948 NY Croghan 13510 CA Hollister
11036 MT Wolf Point 13512 WV Welch
11177 KS Beaver 13513 MI Manistique
11207 MD Baltimore 13523 NC Lenoir
11212 MN Hastings 13525 IL Smithton
11305 MI Wakefield 13526 TX Hamphill
11378 ND Napoleon 13527 OK Pawhuska
11397 OK Tonkawa 13530 NJ Haddon Heights
11658 NJ Beach Haven 13531 IN East Chicago
11687 MN Farmington 13537 NJ Kearny
11735 IA Rake 13539 TN Knoxville
11766 AL Fairfield 13540 NJ Linden
11784 NV Eureka 13548 NY Plattsburg
12061 CA Monterey Park 13555 TX Blooming Grove
12545 CA Los Angeles 13558 MA Reading
12599 VA Wytheville 13561 MN Madison
12663 NJ Hawthorne 13562 TX Colorado
12690 NJ Clifton 13563 NY Sidney
12788 NY Patchogue 13572 TX Pearsall
12941 MN Mahnomen 13585 PA Charleroi
13030 PA Elkins Park 13589 SD Viborg
13039 NJ Trenton 13601 KS Alma
13057 WA Gig Harbor 13612 KY Harrodsburg
13075 MN Detroit Lakes 13616 WI Oconomowoc
13098 CO Denver 14025 NY Oxford
13103 TN Nashville 14169 PA Sykesville
13150 OH Jewett 14201 PA Delta
13151 PA Lansdowne 14211 SC Spartanburg
13215 NJ Point Pleasant Beach 14219 PA Erie
13216 IL Chicago 14250 PA Hamburg
13219 NY Buffalo 14258 IN Linton
13231 WV Point Pleasant 14295 WV Wellsburg
13296 NY New York 14302 TX Cotulla
13321 IA Des Moines
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?
Stoddard B. Colby?Register of the U.S. Treasury (1864-1867)
by Richard Melamed
The signatures of Francis E. Spinner (Treasurer of the U.S.) and Stoddard B. Colby (Register of the Treasury)
grace the bottom of most 3rd issue fractional notes. While Francis Spinner?s career and life are well documented,
there is a surprising dearth of information on the life of Stoddard Colby. A search on the ANA and SPMC databases
revealed little personal information. This article will attempt to correct that oversight & recount his fascinating story.
Who was Stoddard Benham Colby (1816-1867) and
what was the career and personal pathways that
ultimately led him to the Treasury? We discovered he
had a successful career but suffered through personal
tragedies. Colby?s family traces back seven generations
to Anthony Colby (1605-1660) who resided in New
England eventually settling in Salisbury, N.H. Stoddard
B. Colby was born in Derby, Vermont on February 3,
1816. He was the second son of Nehemiah and Melinda
Colby. His father was a storekeeper and postmaster in
Derby for nearly 30 years ? a position that would assume
some financial comfort, enabling the family to pay for
Colby to attend law school. Some of the records
indicated that Nehemiah was also a captain. Checking with his direct descendant
(Stoddard?s great-great-great granddaughter - Anne Sibert Buiter - Professor of
Economics, Birkbeck, University of London) ? she believes he may have been in the local militia. Ms. Buiter also
speculated that Nehemiah was a judge since he is referred to as ?Hon.? on his gravestone.
Colby was mentored by several very successful lawyers/politicians, indicating that he was a bright young man.
He was educated in Derby, VT and prepared for college by studying in the office of attorney Timothy P. Redfield.
Redfield (1812-1888) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. He was a member of the Vermont Supreme
Court from 1870 to 1884. Judge Redfield imparted a thorough training of young Colby, especially in the Greek and
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Latin languages, in which his young pupil had special aptitude.
Colby graduated from Dartmouth College in 1836 (he was in
the top of his class as a Phi Beta Kappa) and studied law in the
office of the William Upham. Upham was a distinguished
lawyer from Montpelier, VT who eventually became a U.S.
Senator. Upham overcame severe personal setbacks on his
road to a successful career. When he was a teenager, Upham?s
hand was amputated in a farming accident. After Colby?s
internship, he was admitted to the bar in 1838, & practiced law
in Derby until 1846.
In 1840, Colby was elected to a single term in the Vermont
House of Representatives from 1841 to 1843. At that time, he
moved to Montpelier and opened a law practice with Lucius B. Peck. The two practiced
law together for 17 years, during which time Colby became Vermont?s state's attorney for
2 years. Colby and Peck were quite active in various Vermont County and Supreme Courts,
serving as counsel in important suits throughout the state. Both lawyers were considered
top notch and were well regarded. Peck said of his partner: ?Mr. Colby was a finished
orator and always charmed with beautiful language, give him a case with neither law nor
fact on his side and he would win when another man would never dream of trying it."
Colby married Harriet Elizabeth Proctor (1819-52) on
February 11, 1840, and they had four children:
? -Jabez Proctor Colby (1840-1893). Jabez was a
mail route agent.
? -Laura Melinda Colby (1844-1921) She married
Brig. Gen. Asa Bacon Carey.
? -Edward P. Colby (1845 CIRCA -1869) Lieutenant
E. P. Colby of the 11th US Infantry, shot himself in the
head with a pistol on 31 Dec 1869 in Jefferson, Texas.
? -Lucien Redfield Colby (1851?1854)
Harriet?s younger brother was Redfield Proctor (1831-
1908). Redfield, also a Vermont resident, was 15 years
younger than Colby. The brothers-in-law had a lot in common. Both were graduates of
Dartmouth and each were accomplished lawyers with political ambitions. Before Redfield
started his long and distinguished career, he enlisted in the Union army during the Civil
War. He served in the 3rd Vermont Regiment, the 5th Vermont
Volunteers, and the 15th Vermont Volunteers - which he
commanded at Gettysburg rising to the rank of Colonel. He
served as Vermont Governor (1878-80) and as Secretary of
War under Benjamin Harrison (1889-91). Redfield left the
Cabinet post to become a U.S. Senator from Vermont (1891-
1908) ? a position he held until he died.
In the fall of 1855, Colby ran for Lt. Governor of
Vermont. It was a four-party race (Whig, Democrat,
Temperance and Republican). Colby, running as a Democrat, lost to Republican Ryland
Fletcher (who later became Governor of Vermont). Fletcher was a successful farmer and
livestock breeder. He was a staunch abolitionist and anti-immigration advocate. Colby
ran also ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1856.
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Colby reached the pinnacle of his career when he was appointed to the office of Register of the Treasury on
August 12, 1864. Colby was only the second person to be named Register. He succeeded Lucius E. Chittenden (see
the chart at the end of this article for the complete list of U.S. Registers). Colby moved to Washington, D.C. to oversee
this important federal post at the Treasury. While he was appointed to the position, it wasn?t until several months
later that Colby was confirmed by the Senate. The letter shown was written and signed by Colby and sent to John G.
Nicolay (Lincoln?s private Secretary) inquiring about his nomination for Register. The letter reads as follows:
My Dr Sir: Has my nomination gone to the Senate? Or will it go today? Senator Foot proposes to have it acted
upon this afternoon. Please inform me if it will be forwarded & obliged. JB Colby - Register
Unfortunately, it was a position he held for only three years. Colby was diagnosed with bilious derangement
and succumbed on September 23, 1867. The term refers to a liver
disorder, but in the 19th century diagnosing afflictions was far from an
exact science. One assumes the diagnosis was a vague reference to an
unknown gastrointestinal disease. To be thorough: in other obituaries
he was also diagnosed with typhoid (which is also a gastro-intestinal
disease). The illness lasted for five weeks and he spent his final days
in his home in Haverhill, New Hampshire. Colby was only 51 years
old; his life sadly cut short.
THE HENRY CLAY STEAMSHIP DISASTER
On a hot summer day on July 28, 1852, Colby and his wife Harriet
boarded the Henry Clay steamship for a cruise on the Hudson River.
The Colby?s never expected that the excursion would end in a horrific
tragedy ? the drowning of Colby?s wife Harriet. Steamships were
considered an upscale way to travel and catered to a prosperous
clientele - they were a common sight on the Hudson River, often
cruising between New York City and Albany. The Henry Clay was on
the higher end of luxury steamships. It was almost 200 feet in length,
could accommodate 350+ passengers, had a double paddle wheel, and contained elegant parlors for the passengers.
With little legal regulation and no certifications required for the crew, the steamship industry was freewheeling with
little regard for safety or the unnecessary stress they could put on the physical infrastructure of the ship. Fierce
competition between rival boats resulted in frequent races on the river. As a result, fires from overtaxed boilers were
not uncommon - just months before the Henry Clay disaster, more than 100 Mormon immigrants were killed when
the boiler aboard the Missouri River steamer Saluda exploded.
On this fateful day, the Henry Clay engaged in a ship race with a rival ship ? The Armenia. With a reputation
as one of the swiftest ships on the Hudson, the Armenia rapidly gained on the Henry Clay which resulted in a collision.
It did not cause any appreciable damage ? but nonetheless left the passengers quite unnerved and led to many
complaints to the crew. The dangerous and foolhardy practice of ship racing was a result of greed and hubris. How
much hubris? Henry Clay co-owner Thomas Collyer assured the passengers they were in no danger after the collision
and the ship?s clerk was reported to have said he ?wished people would mind their own business.?
After the collision, the Armenia backed off and the Henry Clay resumed the trip at high speed. With the Henry
Clay pushed to the max, the extra stress on the boiler might have caused it to explode (though some accounts theorized
that the doors on the boiler?s furnace were not sealed tightly, allowing flames to lash out and set fire to the wooden
ship). Regardless of the reason, flames quickly spread to the upper decks, engulfing the entire middle section of the
ship in a roaring blaze. Most passengers were told to head aft, while others fled to the bow. The ship?s pilot turned
the steamship toward the river?s east bank, where the burning vessel ran aground on an estate at Riverdale, near what
is now the Bronx-Yonkers line. Passengers on the bow made the short leap to the beach below, but those huddled at
the stern were still in deep water. Forced to choose between a wall of flames and the Hudson, many jumped overboard
and drowned in the turbulent river. Others managed to make it to shore on their own or were aided by other survivors
and bystanders. While Colby was pulled from the water, his wife Harriet perished, a victim of drowning.
Approximately 80-100 died from the steamship fire. Former New York City Mayor Stephen Allen was among the
dead, as was Andrew Jackson Downing, a famous landscape architect of the era who planned the grounds of the U.S.
Capitol and the White House. Others included Caroline DeWint, Downing?s mother-in-law and a granddaughter of
the nation?s second president (John Adams), and Maria Hawthorne, sister of the Nathaniel Hawthorne - author of
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?
?The Scarlet Letter.? The Henry Clay?s three owners and the ship?s officers were charged with manslaughter for
creating a dangerous situation by racing the Armenia. All were acquitted. Exacerbating the situation, the Henry Clay
only had two lifeboats. With many prominent families on board and fierce public pressure for laws ensuring safer
travel, Congress finally passed stricter safety standards (the Steamboat Act of 1852) to rein in the maverick steamship
industry. In 1851, more than 1,000 people had died in steamboat accidents. In 1853, that number fell to 45.
Think of how painful it must have been for Colby to return home and tell his 4 young children that their mother
had been killed. Below is a heart wrenching letter written by Colby to his mother-in-law, Betsey Parker, on July 31,
1852, that recounted the tragedy. The letter was written to be shared among friends. The original letter was
transcribed by Anne Sibert Buiter's mother, Margaret L. Sibert, who Ms. Buiter described as an amazing genealogist.
That letter, and many others written by Colby, are still in family?s possession.
Friend____: July 31, 1852
The last sad service to the remains of my dear, dear Harriet was attended yesterday at 2 o'clock, afternoon. It may
be some days before I see you, and I will write the particulars of that fatal scene as my crushed heart will permit.
Our party, consisting of myself and wife, J.W. Ellis, wife and sister, left Albany, for N.Y. city by the steamer Henry
Clay about 7, a.m., on Wednesday morning. We went upon the promenade deck for the better view of villages and
scenery along the shore. We were not many miles out before I discovered the "Armenia", a rival boat, coming down
behind and apparently gaining upon us. I then feared racing, but had been strongly assured at Albany, by reliable
persons, as we supposed, that no racing would be allowed, and I hoped it was so. But not long after, I noticed that
the landings of our boat were affected with great haste, and passengers were passed off and on with dangerous
rapidity. At one of our landings, the third one, I think, the Armenia passed us. Our boat was behind for some distance
and only got alongside the other as were nearing Kingston - then the two boats ran side by side, at times very close,
and at length the bows were in contact. A hand on the Henry Clay put out a fender against the wheelhouse of the
Armenia to prevent closer collision, and, in that position, we ran for some distance. The passengers were greatly
disturbed, and were generally standing up on the upper decks, when some official of the boat came up and passed
around them saying "there was no danger," and that they were "not racing," and urging all to step to the opposite
side of the deck to ease off the boat. I then appealed to him to stop this and not run us into danger. He repeated with
greater emphasis, we were "perfectly safe," "no danger," and "all would be right if the passengers stepped to the
other side as he requested," - this was done and the Henry Clay went ahead. After this occurrence we concluded to
leave the boat and go ashore; but the other boat did not come up with us afterward and was finally lost sight of. The
circumstance quieted our fears and we felt quite secure for some hours before the fire, - in the meantime many of the
passengers took dinner.
About the time we passed Yonkers, I left my wife sitting in the ladies' saloon where she had been most of the day,
and went on the promenade deck where were the others, Mr. Ellis and his ladies. Within 20 minutes I think, after I
went up, there was a cry and smoke forward - about the center of the boat - and at once I started to go below for my
wife, and alas! she was gone!! I screamed for her, - in vain, the saloon which was filled with ladies when I left it -
was empty - and the hot flames and smoke were pouring through it, in a torrent. I ran outside on the guard - there
was the whole horror of a hundred deaths at once - all who had left the saloon had gone over the sides in utter panic
and despair. My wife was not to be found, and it was plain that the alarm and the fire were felt in the saloon before
those on the upper deck were aroused; and it now seems that many had gone overboard before the boat struck. I
hoped that she might have gone forward and reached the shore. That hope prevented me from plunging into that
cauldron of death. It only remained for me to get off the boat. The fire below prevented going forward from the lower
deck where I then was. I went up the stairs on the promenade deck - it was then cleared of people - the fire had nearly
covered it - but a space on the starboard side allowed me to pass it and to reach the shore - the last one who escaped
by going forward, I think, for the fire, at that instant, enveloped the whole width of the boat. -
There was no small boat on the Henry Clay, I am sure, or if there was, it was not used, nor was it in sight. Help
came after some time from some vessels in the river; two boats came but the fire allowed no near approach to the
wreck. The bodies of those who went over before the boat stopped were doubtless first found. My wife was found
some rods from the stern of the boat and up the stream from the boat. She must have fallen in at the first fright, as
her position would have been down the stream if she fell after the boat stopped. Her seat in the saloon was next to
the door, and it was but a few steps from that to the guard out of which so many rushed to perish. Her dress and
person were in no way touched by the fire or heat. She seemed as if life was not gone - but all effort to restore her
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was made that could be, on such a shore, away from houses and accommodations. The precious spark had fled and
with it, in a moment, all my earthly hopes. Could I but have been with her, and died with her, or heard her last word,
it had seemed a milder fate. I had left her, at her request, to have me to go on deck and lose the views of the shores
as we neared N. York. She preferred not to go up as the breeze was strong and she had some headache; besides, I
think the fright in the morning really induced her to prefer the Saloon. Sure _"There's a Divinity that shapes our ends
-Rough hew them how we will"
That the managers of the boat were grossly, culpable, nay criminal, can be demonstrated, and whatever shall
be the verdict of the coroner's jury, upon their conduct, I shall ever blame myself for periling that dear life in the
control of such reckless men.
It was 3 o'clock when the fire took. At 8 o'clock, the Hudson R.R. Road train stopped for us and took us to the
city where the officers and agents gave every
attention to the sufferers in their power. At the [] I
found the proprietor, Mr. Howe ready with every
attention; and my friend Hon. D. A. Smalley, who
was a guest, then devoted most of the night to my []
and returned with me the next day to Vermont in
charge of the remains. Such kindness to all who have
felt keen distress [] know how to appreciate.
It is with great difficulty that I am writing this
sorrowful, heart-rending narrative but suppose
many of our friends will be anxious to hear more
directly than through the newspapers.
Your affectionate friend {S.B. Colby}
Three years later on July 12, 1855, Stoddard remarried to Ellen Cornelia Hunt, of Haverhill, NH. The marriage
produced two children, Ellen Rebecca and Frank Moore Colby. Unfortunately, we could not find her image.
However, Ms. Buiter was able to find a letter that described Stoddard?s second wife. Ellen, affectionately called Nell,
was a beautiful girl. Colby was smitten after meeting her and they wed. When Colby died, Ellen was left with little
money and two young children to raise ? but she managed as best as she could. Colby?s three surviving children with
first wife Harriet were all in the 20?s (note: Harriet and Stoddard?s youngest child Lucien died just before his 3rd
birthday). Colby and Ellen's son Frank Moore Colby became a well-known
editor, essayist and writer. Unfortunately, Frank was only 2 years of age when
his father passed away. Frank?s sharp sense of humor made him quite popular.
Here are several of his clever witticisms:
Every improvement in communication makes the bore more terrible.
Men will confess to treason, murder, arson, false teeth, or a wig. How many
of them will own up to a lack of humor?
Many people lose their tempers merely from seeing you keep yours.
Early in his career, Frank Moore Colby taught history and
economics at Columbia University, Amherst College (Mass.), and NYU. To
supplement his income, he began writing and then editing encyclopedias ?
which became his lifelong career. Colby wrote 4 books and was published in
many magazines, including Bookman, The New Republic, and Vanity Fair.
After his death, his popularity rose with the publication of The Colby Essays (1926).
COLBY?S SIGNATURE ON LARGE SIZED NOTES/FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
Colby?s signature is found on early 1860?s large sized notes. 1st row: $500 and $50 Interest Bearing notes. 2nd row:
a $20 Compound Interest and an Original $1 National Bank note. 3rd row: Lazy Deuce $2 NBN and a $5 Original
NBN. 4th row: $20 Original NBN and $100 Gold Note.
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To the left is an interesting financial instrument that contains
Colby?s portrait and signature. This could be a coupon bond and
its diminutive value suggests as much. At bottom right is a
December 2, 1865 Treasury Warrant signed by both Colby and
Spinner.
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The item on the right is a Colby signed $100 U.S. Coupon
Bond. Though the bond is dated 1861, it was not signed until at
least 1864 when Colby assumed the position of Register.
Many of the obituaries of Stoddard Colby?s life depict a man
of great character, kindness and culture. His knowledge of ancient
Greek and Latin point to a gentleman of superior intellect. Colby
was a great American who devoted a portion his life in service of
our country. His name rightfully stands next to Francis Spinner
on the earliest issues of U.S. currency. Much thanks to
Stacks/Bowers and Heritage for their use of the currency images.
Also, to fractional experts Benny Bolin, Jerry Fochtman and Mike
Marchioni for their help in the research. Thanks to my son, Dr.
David Melamed for his help in editing and thanks to the Library
of Congress for much of the newspaper articles (New York Herald, Weekly National Intelligencer - Washington DC).
Finally, a great debt of gratitude must be extended to Stoddard?s great-great-great granddaughter, Professor Anne
Sibert Buiter, with all her insights into the Colby family.
LIST OF U.S. REGISTERS OF THE TREASURY (1861-1923)
Register of the Treasury is an officer of the U.S. Treasury Department. In 1919, the office of the Register
became the Public Debt Service which, in 1940, became the Bureau of the Public Debt. The Register's duties included
filing the accounting records of the government, transferring and cancelling federal debt securities, and filing the
certificates of US-registered ships. The signature of the Register of the Treasury was found on almost all United
States currency until 1923, along with that of the Treasurer of the United States.
Many if not all of the names on the chart will be well known to currency collectors, since they appear on federally
issued currency and financial documents of that era.
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Groundhog Day
for numismatists
By Lee Lofthus
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, had a population of 10,311 in the 1920 U.S. census when
Series 1902 Plain Back notes, such as illustrated above, were in circulation. The current
population is roughly 6,000. Located about 90 minutes northeast of Pittsburgh, Punxsutawney
gains national attention each February 2nd on Groundhog Day, when Punxsutawney Phil attempts
to outperform the National Weather Service with his annual weather prediction.
Punxsutawney had four note-issuing national banks,
one of which, the First National Bank (3030), pre-dated the
original Punxsutawney Groundhog Day celebration.
Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney dates back to 1886,
and the choice of Gobbler?s Knob as the prediction site dates to
1887. The idea came from a local newspaperman, likely
influenced by earlier German folklore that, naturally, linked
hedgehogs and weather prediction.
The First National Bank (3030) was chartered in 1883.
Two other national banks opened within months of each other
in 1901: the Punxsutawney National Bank (5702) opened in
February, and the Farmer?s National Bank (5965) opened in
September. The Farmer?s bank lasted only until 1908, and the
First National liquidated soon after in August 1909, absorbed
by the Punxsutawney National Bank (5702).
The closing of two national banks in slightly over a
year?s time made room for the October 1910 founding of the
County National Bank (9863). The County NB and Punxsutawney NB both issued notes through
Figure 1. This Series 1902 plain back carries the ?or other securities? clause from a face plate
originally paired with date back notes. Author?s collection.
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the end of the national era in 1935. Punxsutawney large size notes are scarce. The FNB notes are
unreported; Farmer?s NB has two brown backs reported; and the Punxsutawney NB and County
NB each have about nine or ten known. The latter two banks are both common in small-size,
Figure 2. $20 Series 1882 date back from The Punxsutawney National Bank. By the
time the bank opened in 1901, the town of Punxsutawney had been celebrating
Groundhog Day at Gobbler?s Knob for 14 years. Image Courtesy Heritage Auctions.
Figure 3. The two-subject $50/$100 face plate proof for the Series 1902 date backs for
the FNB of Punxsutawney (3030). No notes are reported. The bank?s first notes were
Series 1882 brown backs, displaying the charter date of August 15, 1883. The bank?s
Series 1902 red seal and date back notes carried the extension date August 8, 1903.
Smithsonian Institution ID NU.297219.034878.
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however, not surprising given each carried healthy circulations for small town banks. The
Punxsutawney NB had a circulation of $125,000 in 1934, and the County NB?s circulation was
$100,000.
According to History.com, the National
Climate Data Center and the Canadian Weather
Service each rate the accuracy of Punxsutawney
Phil?s annual predictions at about 50 percent. It is
unknown whether professional jealousy is a factor
in the ratings. Serious numismatists will avoid
collecting notes that show signs of paw prints or
gnawed edges.
Groundhog history from History.com
February 2, 2021, ?Groundhog Day: History and
Facts? and Groundhog.org, the website of the
Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. Bank data from
Don C. Kelly, National Bank Notes, 6th Edition
(2008), and Louis Van Belkum, National Banks
of the Note Issuing Period 1863-1935 (1968).
Population data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Author?s groundhog postcard by E.C. Kropp Co.,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Author?s County NB
postcard from Feight?s Drug Store,
Punxsutawney, 1914. Figure 4. A view of the County National Bank on the eve of World War I.
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U N C O U P L E D :
PAPER MONEY?S
ODD COUPLE
Joseph E. Boling Fred Schwan
A Cautionary Tale
At a local show this year a dealer had an East
Caribbean States note that he did not understand. It was
washed out on the face and blank on the back (figures 1
and 2).
I examined the note at 20x and determined that it is a
digital copy. In figure 3 you can see the vertical parallel
scan lines created by the inkjet copier or printer when
the piece was made.
See Boling page 62
Location, location, location, eh?
We have been discussing paper money collecting by
state without even mentioning national bank notes. That
would be too easy! Specifically, we discussed defense
and savings bonds and prisoner of war chits. This time
we have another twist.
I want to move north and consider collecting World
War II Canada by province! It is possible?just barely?
to collect Canadian war (victory) bonds and POW chits
by province, but these would make very small
collections. Most Canadian Victory bonds were bearer
bonds having no information as to person or place of
purchase. Most of the Canadian POW chits are
identifiable as to province of issue, but a collection
based on province of issue would be small.
In spite of these restrictions, there is a great
opportunity to collect World War II Canada by province
in the form of war savings certificates (WSC). Canada
issued a huge number of WSC from 1940-1946. The
certificates were issued in denominations $5 - $500 in
two general design types and many varieties. Most
importantly for today, they were sold in all nine
provinces.
Joe and I were interested in Canadian war savings
certificates even before any were known in collections!
In the late 1980s and early 1990s we were working very
hard on what became World War II Remembered. One
of the innovations of the new book was the inclusion of
war finance documents.
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We knew that Canada had war savings stamps?
they were listed in stamp catalogs. In addition to the
stamps, I had found sales materials explaining that the
stamps could be exchanged for war savings certificates.
That set me on the hunt to find WSCs. It is remarkable
how difficult it was. I wrote to every Canadian dealer
whom I could find (numismatic and philatelic). It took a
long time to find just one certificate. You can imagine
how excited I was when a dealer offered me my first
WSC. After the excitement, the reality set in. Of course
the seller wanted more than I thought that it was worth,
but arguments are weak when you have never before
even seen another example.
Of course I bought it, and yes, it was too expensive.
Thirty years later (with the help of the internet) you can
buy three of the $5 certificates for what I paid for that
first one, but I was happy. By the time that we were
actually working on the manuscript for Remembered, I
had found a few more pieces. They were enough to
develop a robust listing for the $5 certificates. We knew
that there were three major types and many varieties of
each type. My favorite variety was the change in annual
purchase limit from $500 to $600. This change was
hidden in the small print on the back of the certificates.
If you look in Remembered, you might be impressed
at the depth of our listings for the $5 certificates. You
might also be appalled that we listed $10, 25, 50, and
500 denominations as ?not observed?! Amazingly, we
had an image of a $100 certificate. It was (is) an ugly,
low quality, piece, but we were proud to have found it
for inclusion.
Here is how I would summarize availability of
WSCs by denomination today: $5 common, $10 scarce,
$25 very scarce to rare, $50 very rare (one reported),
$100 very rare (two reported), $500 none reported. It is
the availability of the $5 certificates that makes it
possible to collect WSCs by province. Indeed, I suggest
that the availability demands collecting by province! As
a bonus for Paper Money we will illustrate a type and
denomination set while discussing the certificates by
province.
War savings certificates were sold in all nine war-
time provinces. That is an assumption that is easy to
make. I am pleased to say that we can prove that in the
most basic way?examples from all nine provinces are
known in collections (we will show you all of them). We
have less convincing evidence for the assertion that
availability of certificates seems to be approximately
proportional to the war-time populations of the
provinces.
Certificates from smaller provinces are more
desirable and worth a premium. Here are the 1944
provincial populations from The World Almanac 1944:
Alberta (796,169), British Columbia (817,861),
Manitoba (729,744), New Brunswick (457,401), Nova
Scotia (577,962), Ontario (3,787,655), Prince Edward
Island (95,047), Quebec (3,331,882), Saskatchewan
(895,992).
Alberta (population 796,169
This open-design certificate was printed by R. L.
Crain although it is all but impossible to see on this
image (in very pale blue directly under the seal at
bottom center). These certificates were usually
delivered by mail on a monthly basis. The 1946 issue
date is obviously very late. The serial number block is
TH2. Crazy collector that I am, that leaves what I
consider a collectable repeater(ish) serial!
British Columbia population 817,861
This design type is generally called the ?planes and
tanks? design, although ships are also included in the
design. This is the only reported $50 certificate and has
an appropriately low serial number.
Manitoba population 729,744
There is not a lot to comment on for this certificate
from Manitoba?s largest city Winnipeg. Note the double
decker serial number block. This layout was used for
issuing certificates using an accounting machine. In
those cases the top serial number was filled in by the
machine with a number that matched the serial number
that was printed by Crain.
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New Brunswick population 457,401
The $25 denomination is scarce in all design types.
This certificate displays several interesting
characteristics. Note the lines at center used to guide
entry of issuing data. This design type was printed
exclusively by Burt Business Forms Limited. Note also
that the day of issue (15) was printed as part of the
certificate.
Nova Scotia population 577,962
This is the most worn certificate that I have ever
seen. If it were a $5 certificate it would not be worthy of
a place in most collections, but since it is a $100
certificate it is worthy of a place in any collection.
Surprisingly two examples of this denomination are
known in collections. I get a kick out of showing you
both of the reported pieces (they are not mine).
Ontario population 3,787,655
As you would expect, overall certificates are
common from Ontario, but $10 certificates are
surprisingly scarce. A few collectors (so far) are
interested in small towns. If you are interested in small
provinces, why not small towns? Porquis Junction,
Ontario certainly qualifies. There are some entries on
the internet for Porquis Junction, but I cannot determine
if it is even still a community.
Prince Edward Island (PEI) population 95,047
PEI had the lowest provincial population and it
seems to be the key to a provincial collection. This
example would be quite unremarkable except for the
province of issue. Note again that the serial number was
repeated at the time of issue. Note the number 58807 to
the left of the name and below the date. The exact (or
even approximate) purpose of this number is not known.
My guess is that it is an account number for Emily Le
Lacheur.
Quebec population 3,331,882
Quebec was only slightly smaller than Ontario in
1944. This is a rather routine certificate at first glance,
but it does have a few interesting things going for it. The
serial number is not doubled but there is an unknown
number that might be the account of Kathleen
McGaffey. It has a late (July 1946) issue date. The
omission of the second serial number and the late issue
date could be related. Stanstead, Quebec certainly
qualifies as a small town, with a ca 1949 population of
856!
There is one more important thing. The certificate
was printed by R. L. Crain. This company printed most
of the war savings certificates. While this is true,
certificates with the imprint R. L. Crain Limited are rare.
This variety was discovered by the late, great collector
Dan Freeland.
Saskatchewan population 895,992
We finish our survey of provincial war savings
certificates with this spectacular $100 piece. The Crain
imprint shows very nicely on this piece; compare it with
the R. L. Crain imprint above. I like the issue date of a
large denomination being on the IRS tax due date, but
as you know, I am easily amused! We have another
small town here. Really small. Plunkett, Saskatchewan
is not listed in my 1949 geographic dictionary, but it is
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listed on Wikipedia as having a 2006 population of 75.
Even if it were several times that during the war
(certainly a possibility), that is a really low number.
That concludes our survey of provincial war savings
certificates. I can hear a few of you yelling ?Territories,
what about the territories?!? I have deliberately avoided
mentioning the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. I
wanted to build up to the ultimate pieces.
The war time populations were 12,028 and 4,914!
Not only are no examples known, I think that there is a
very good chance that none will be found. Certainly the
discovery of an example from either territory would be
spectacular news.
The Tenth Province?
What am I talking about, a tenth province??
Remember my story at the start of this column about
finding my first war savings certificate and having to
pay too much? Many years after that experience and
quite a few years ago I was at a large show. I think that
it was an ANA convention, but it might have been
something else. A friend found me on the floor and
dragged me enthusiastically and with a strong sense of
urgency to the table of a dealer from Canada. He said
something to the dealer like ?This is the guy! Show him
the piece.? The fellow showed me the piece shown
below. At the same time my heart about jumped out of
my chest and I laughed too.
A Canadian war savings certificate made out to an
address in Michigan! Such a piece had never occurred
to me. Of course this build up does not lead to a strong
negotiating position. The final little twist is that I paid
the same for the two pieces?the ca 1992 and ca 2005.
Both were more than they should be, but found a happy
home.
The Real Tenth Province
Of course Canada has ten provinces, but Labrador
and Newfoundland did not become a province until
1949. During the war, Labrador and Newfoundland
issued their own war savings certificates. I do not think
that I will ever have another excuse to explore them here
in Paper Money, so I will discuss them a little bit here.
The collecting history of the Newfoundland certificates
parallels that of the Canadian certificates. Both were all
but unknown to collectors but in the internet age,
quantities have been found and spread to collections
across the continent.
I have only one tip or plea. I am looking for a
certificate issued in Labrador! On the surface it sounds
like that should at least be easier than finding a Canadian
territorial certificate. I wish that it were so. The
estimated 1942 population of Labrador was 4850! Ouch.
Canadian collector Dick Dunn helped with images.
Thank you, Dick.
Boling continued;
Figure 4 shows the same letters in original full color
intaglio on a genuine note. In fact, that part of the main
title on the face of the good note is in progressive
intaglio?the
color
changes as
one moves
from one part
of the design
to an
adjacent one,
all on the
same press in
the same
printing pass.
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Figures 5 and 6 show the face and back of a genuine note
(the one that was used to create figure 4).
The dealer?s story about how he came upon the
uniface note was also enlightening. It seems that he had
two pieces in lightly circulated condition, and he wanted
to improve them. So he immersed them in water
preparatory to ironing them, and walked away for a
while. When he returned, one note was unchanged
(except for having been drenched), but the other had no
back and only black outlines on the face. Before
dunking them he had no idea that one of his pieces was
a color copy (and it still did not occur to him until I
examined the copy and informed him of the digital
artifacts on it).
But why do the black lines (and other design
elements) of figure 1 appear on the face while there is
almost nothing on the back? The only printing on the
back is an occasional very pale impression of pastel
color (not photographable), which presumably was left
behind when most of the ink washed off. If the light is
right, one can also see some of the remaining image on
the face (now all in black) manifesting itself on the pale
back.
My experience has always been that inkjet inks are
not colorfast in water?that they will run when wetted?
while laser toner (plastic baked onto the paper) shows
no damage from being wetted. Clearly some inkjet
copiers use a black pigment that is waterproof after
drying. The only logical reason I can see for lack of any
image on the back of the copy is that the face and back
of the copy were made on different devices, one of
which has black ink that contains no colorfast-in-water
component.
The moral?if you are going to wash notes, make
sure you know what their fabric is before you proceed.
Spider Press
For Sale!
This Spider Press manufactured by the
National Bank Note Company from the
1850s is truly a piece of history. It is in
very good condition for its age. Though
it is a heavy machine, forklift capability
is available at the pickup site. It is
currently selling for $9,500. If
interested, contact Rob Evangelisti at
(856) 275-3080. You can also contact
Rob via email at Rob232238@aol.com.
Thank you!
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All the News That?s Fit to Search
It was about twenty years ago that I first began
to take a serious look at the banking and financial
history of Oklahoma. During the early 1930s, the Sooner
State had been an enthusiastic adopter of ?stamp scrip?,
that odd experiment in local money whereby
communities around the country put out their own scrip
notes that required stamps to be affixed as they
circulated. I wanted to uncover all those forgotten
ventures in Oklahoma and describe them in a single
account.
Doing this required me to spend long hours at the
Oklahoma Historical Society in Oklahoma City. The
facilities there house not just the OHS?s research archives
but the jewel of its collections, an extensive microfilmed
depository of newspapers from all 77 of the state?s
counties. While I had an idea of the extent of Oklahoma?s
stamp scrip experiments, the only way to really know
where they had occurred was to work my way through as
many newspapers as possible between the years 1932-34.
Back then, in the earliest years of the internet, most
newspapers were not yet available online, let alone
searchable as historical series. Thus I was faced with the
daunting slog of hand-cranking my way through reel after
reel of microfilm, illuminated by some finicky overhead
projector whose lens never focused the text quite the way
I wanted it to. Moreover, while some of those microfilm
readers did have more modern electrical controls, I was
never able to get to the OHS facilities early enough
during the day to snag one of the good machines. It was
always the rotating contingent of genealogists?crusty
old pros who, unlike me, knew their way around and
knew what they were doing?who invariably beat me to
them.
Eventually, I got that project done and the world
now knows about Oklahoma stamp scrip, though I did
have to get my arm surgically re-attached after it fell off
from over-cranking. Twenty years later I?m returning to
those newspaper resources, but for a different project:
contributing to the database of banks and bankers
connected with the Bank Note History Project. Armed
with a ten-page, single-spaced list of some 550 note-
issuing Oklahoma national banks (piece of cake!) I have
gone back to trawling through the newspapers,
seeking basic biographical information about the bank
officers active in Oklahoma during the National
Banking Era. Twenty years later, the experience of
newspaper research is so utterly different that I
thought it merits some description in case anyone
else wants to embark on similar work for their own
states.
Generally speaking, newspaper digitization into
searchable online databases has happened in several
ways. First has been the digitization efforts of major
newspapers of record: the New York Times, Wall Street
Journal, Washington Post, and others. Archives of such
publications are available either through subscriptions to
the individual newspapers, or through library databases
that consolidate access to multiple sources in a single
search engine. The database vendor managing most such
newspapers is Proquest.
A second resource for digital newspapers is Google,
that venerable tech affiliate of the Alphabet holding
company. Along with scanning entire libraries and
making available full-text publications that are out of
copyright, Google has created Google News Archive, a
large if somewhat haphazard library of newspapers that
are searchable by keyword.
A third source to turn to are commercial companies
that offer searchable historical newspaper databases,
available by subscription. First and foremost is
Newspapers.com, which many users know because of its
affiliation with the genealogical site Ancestry.com. A
similar site, Genealogybank, has its own complement of
newspapers. In addition, Newspaperarchives.com
represents a third, standalone source for newspapers.
While there may be overlap between the three in terms of
coverage, it seems that each database does contain
distinct offerings. In terms of functionality, I have found
Newspapers.com to be the best for searching and clipping
articles, but that may be just because of my greater
familiarity with it.
A fourth and final source for online newspapers can
be found in the many state-level historical
societies across the country that have pursued
their own digitization projects. The ones I have
explored don?t require creating accounts and, unlike
some public library sites, are open to any user. Many
of these state sites participate in, and have been funded
by, a joint project of the Library of Congress and the
National Endowment for the Humanities called
Chronicling America. These repositories can be
accessed either through the state historical website,
or through the Library of Congress itself.
If anybody is familiar with other sources in addition
to these, do let me know! In later columns, I will share
my two cents about the best ways of accessing scanned
magazines, journals, and even books from the same time
periods covered by the newspapers.
Chump Change
Loren Gatch
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The front of the Type-41 Treasury note endorsed by M. J. M. Mason, Acting Commissary of Subsistence.
image: Roger Adamek
Capt. M. J. M. Mason
ACS to Gen?l N. B. Forrest
In a recent Quartermaster Column we looked
at the endorsements of Gen?l Nathan Bedford
Forrest?s Chief Quartermaster. We will now look at
the rare endorsement (R13+) of Gen?l Forrest?s
Assistant Commissary of Subsistence, Capt. M. J. M.
Mason, a man who rose from the rank of Sergeant to
Captain, and another example of Gen?l Forrest?s
willingness to promote capable enlisted men.
Nowhere in the files of the National Archives
do we learn the full name of M. J. M. Mason. He may
have been related to Maj. Richard M. Mason, a
quartermaster in the service of Gen?l Forrest. ?MJM?
enlisted on March 10th, 1862, at Memphis,
Tennessee, as a Private reporting to Company B of
the 3rd Regiment (Forrest?s) Tennessee Cavalry. This
unit had a very complex history. At the beginning of
the 20th century the National Archives started
organizing their Confederate material, creating what I
call summary cards of military appointments and
orders. These cards were printed up in quantity for
the different regiments, and at the bottom of the cards
of some units, there appear concise summaries of the
renaming and reassignment of these units. The
complex history of Mason?s unit printed at the
bottom of one of the cards in his file is illustrated.
The Quartermaster Column No. 22
by Michael McNeil
The histories of some Confederate units were very complex. M.
J. M. Mason?s unit is here described on a summary card in his
file in the National Archives. Mason?s career followed that of
Gen?l Nathan Bedford Forrest. image: Fold3.com
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The illustrated Treasury note was endorsed
before Mason received his commission, and it omits
the rank of Captain, which he later received. The
initials of his title ?ACS? here mean ?Acting (instead
of ?Assistant?) Commissary of Subsistence.? The
endorsement reads:
?Issued
M J M Mason
ACS
Mar 25/ 63?
1862 Mason was appointed to the Commissary
Department on April 27th as a Commissary Sergeant.
Forrest?s Cavalry had fought in the Battle of Shiloh
earlier that month. A pay voucher dated for March
and April noted that Mason reported to Maj. G. V.
Rambout, ACS, who served Gen?l Forrest?s Cavalry.
Mason signed a voucher for food supplies at
McMinnville, Tennessee, on July 26th, and Forrest?s
Cavalry fought at the First Battle of Murfreesboro
that month, just west of McMinnville. To get an idea
of the scope of supplies needed to feed a regiment,
Mason signed a voucher on September 11th at
Hartsville, Tennessee, for 20,500 pounds of bacon
and 20,850 pounds of flour.
Forrest conducted raids in Tennessee,
Kentucky, and Mississippi in late 1862 and early
1863. Mason?s vouchers located him in late 1862 at
La Vergne, Murfreesboro, and Columbia, all in
Tennessee. A muster roll dated from September to
December 1862 noted that Mason had never been
paid.
1863 Mason signed a voucher for large
quantities of subsistence stores at Columbia,
Tennessee, on February 15th, and he signed this
voucher as ?ACS? or Acting Commissary of
Subsistence and without rank prior to receiving his
formal commission. Mason also used that title on a
receipt of funds for payment of telegraphs at
Kingston, Tennessee, on August 3rd. One of these
telegraphs was sent to Colonel Oladowski, a key
supplier of ordnance and the commanding officer of
W. H. McMain, the Military Storekeeper we met in
an earlier column.
Forrest?s Cavalry fought at the Battle of
Chickamauga in late September. Mason finally
received pay at that location on August 5th from
George Dashiell, Pay Quartermaster to Gen?l Forrest.
He was paid as a Private at the rate of $12.00 per
month while serving in the capacity as an Acting
Commissary of Subsistence, a job which paid
$140.00 per month with the rank of Captain (a Major
received $162.00 per month). On August 13th Mason
was at last appointed as a Captain and Assistant
Commissary of Subsistence by Gen?l Forrest. In his
recommendation of Mason to James Seddon,
Secretary of War, Forrest wrote:
I would most respectfully request that M. J. M.
Mason be appointed Captain in the Commissary
Department. He has been acting in that
Department in my Command for the past
seventeen months, and has evinced energy,
capacity and reliability and I cheerfully
recommend his appointment and hope that it may
meet your approbation.
The cover of the letter to Seddon bears an
interesting exchange with Forrest?s commander,
Gen?l Braxton Bragg, who wrote, ?Respectfully
received. Gen?l Forrest will designate what position
he deems Mr. Mason to fill. If there are any
vacancies in his command, reply how it occurred.?
Forrest replied, ?I have but one bonded officer Maj.
G. V. Rambout, as Commissary of Division. Am
entitled to Commissary with rank of Captain and
respectfully ask that Mr. Mason be appointed that
position.? This terse exchange reflected the tension
between Forrest and Bragg. Forrest once said of
Bragg, when failing to pursue Union forces after the
The rare endorsement of M. J. M. Mason, an Acting
Commissary of Subsistence to Nathan Bedford
Forrest. image: Roger Adamek
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Confederate victory in the Battle of Chickamauga,
?What does he fight battles for?? President Lincoln
had a similar opinion of Gen?l Meade after the Union
victory at Gettysburg.
An interesting comment was appended by
Giles M. Hillyer, Chief of Subsistence, to the cover
of Mason?s recommendation. Hillyer wrote to the A.
A. Gen?l on August 25th,
Maj. Rambout unquestionably needs a
Commissary, to make sales to Officers, issue to
detachments, escorts,.... An Acting Commissary
might be assigned today for this purpose, to report
to Gen?l Forrest, or a new appointment at large be
made.... The necessity of such extra officer is
greater in the Cavalry, than in any other branch of
the Service.
1864 Forrest?s recommendation of Mason
finally paid off. A report dated March 7th at Forrest?s
headquarters in Tupelo, Mississippi, noted that
Mason was a bonded officer and Assistant Chief
Commissary of Subsistence. Forrest was a shrewd
observer of human nature, recognized talent where he
saw it, and promoted men who would otherwise not
have been given the opportunity. The records for
Mason, like those of other officers who reported to
Forrest, are sparse and probably a reflection of the
fast movements of the cavalry which made Forrest so
feared. There are no further records, but those
interested in the history witnessed by Mason can find
some of it in the website referenced in the notes.
1865 The last record is a parole document
signed by Mason at Gainesville, Alabama, on May
10th, the date at which Forrest?s remaining men were
paroled. Nearly all officers who signed Union paroles
used their rank and title; Mason simply signed his
name. The Commanding Confederate general who
signed Mason?s parole added Mason?s rank and title
under his signature.
? Carpe diem
Notes and References:
1. Nathan B. Forrest. Useful background information on Nathan Bedford Forrest places M. J. M. Mason?s career in
perspective:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Bedford_Forrest
2. McNeil, Michael. Confederate Quartermasters, Commissaries, and Agents, published by Pierre Fricke, Sudbury, MA,
2016. More research on M. J. M. Mason can be found on pages 436-439.
M. J. M. Mason?s parole
document at Gainesville,
Alabama, dated May 10th,
1865. Mason signed his
name with no rank or
title, which is unusual for
a commissioned officer.
Mason?s rank and title
were added in the bolder
hand of the Confederate
general signing this
document.
image: Fold3.com
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by Robert Calderman
Superb?Narrow?Sighting?Confirmed!?
A heretofore mythical Sasquatch crept out of the
forest recently and completely flew under the radar
making one lucky collector the newest official
Narrow King. Trophy notes within the small size
category take on all sorts of shapes and sizes. The
five-dollar denomination has an incredible array of
specialized options for collectors to sink their teeth
into, figuratively of course, making it no surprise our
newest supreme trophy note bears Lincoln?s portrait!
It is always a special moment when collectors find
opportunities to add rarities to their collections at gift
prices that leave them speechless and questioning
reality. ?Is this the Matrix, or did I really just win this
auction lot? at that price???
To date, PMG has only certified seven examples in
all grades of the coveted Narrow Face $5 1934C NY
Federal Reserve Notes. Only six narrow plates were
used (Fp.298-303) to print this very scarce variety of
Feds found solely on the New York district.
Collectors are generally more aware of the narrow
face variety found on 1934C $5 Silver Certificates.
While the SC?s only had four narrow face plates
(2028-2031), vs. six on the NY FRN?s, there have
been over seventy narrow SC examples certified by
PMG. Ten times the number of known Feds! When
we dig deeper and look at the quality of known notes,
there has previously been just one single uncirculated
example of a narrow face NY FRN, a 65EPQ that sold
seven years ago via Lyn Knight Auctions. The
example pictured here is a newly graded and
exceptionally phenomenal 67EPQ featuring narrow
face plate #302. This is a shocking grade for such an
incredibly tough small size variety. In comparison
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again to the SC?s, out of the 73 narrow notes at PMG
only one example on the Q-A block has achieved
superb gem 67EPQ status. Combining scarce
varieties with ultra-high grades, we can clearly
observe what constitutes an ultimately rare small size
trophy note.
Wide to Narrow 1934C $5 Federal Reserve Note Identification
So what is a note like this narrow face NY FRN in
67EPQ actually worth? The coin world so often
claims that a piece is only worth what the last
example realized. In the land of paper we have a
vastly different landscape on our canvas to take into
view. When only seven examples of a variety in total
have been certified, public sales are often few and far
between and definitive value tends to be rather foggy.
In the past three years, Heritage Auctions has sold
catalog number Fr.1959-Bn four times, and Stacks
Bowers Auctions has sold this Friedberg number
twice. Six recent sales with only seven total examples
graded in just three years seems to be an extreme
amount of turnover for a variety that should be very
tightly held by collectors! Digging deeper we find
that one specific example graded AU55 traded hands
a shocking four times within just twelve months!
This is more than enough to create confusion amongst
both collectors and speculators, which are more often
than not tentative on purchasing an elite member of
the ever so esoteric team of small size curiosities.
Singling out this AU55 example, the recent sales are
as follows: $1620 (08/2020), $1920 (10/2020), $1050
(01/2021), $1500 (08/2021). These sales are all
surprisingly consistent and average in at $1523.
Recent sales on other examples include a VF 30EPQ
at $900 (04/2020) and a different AU55 example,
consecutive to the AU55 we just discussed at $2280
(09/2019). Then just a few short weeks ago,
seemingly out of nowhere, a superb gem comes out of
the woodwork and finds its way into a regular weekly
auction. What a huge opportunity for collectors to
own a single finest piece of ultimate rarity! Again,
how on earth do we value such a monster note? One
collector I spoke with said he?d gladly pay ten
thousand dollars for this 67EPQ had he known well in
advance it was being offered. So is that what this note
recently sold for? Did someone pay double? Or was
this offering the ultimate deal of the century for one
lucky collector? I think we should let you decide for
yourself. This amazing trophy note brought $1,620
on 11/30/2021.
Do you have a great Cherry Pick story that you?d like to
share? Your note might be featured here in a future article
and you can remain anonymous if desired! Email scans of
your note with a brief description of what you paid and
where it was found to: gacoins@earthlink.net.
Recommended Reading:
- Plate Comparison Images in this article are from:
The Transition from Wide to Narrow Designs on
U.S. Small Size Notes between 1947?1953, Peter
Huntoon and James Hodgson. Paper Money
Sep/Oct 2006 Whole #245
- Fr.1959-Bn PMG 67EPQ image courtesy of
Heritage Auctions www.ha.com
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The Obsolete Corner
The Bank of Bennington
by Robert Gill
Hello paper money lovers. By the time you read
this article the Holidays will be over and the New Year
will be here. I hope that you and your family had a very
good time during this special time of the year. As for
my family and I, we are dealing with some health issues,
but we were still able to be together and make some
good memories. And hopefully the Covid Virus will
start becoming less of a threat. And now, let's look at
the sheet from my collection that I'll be sharing with you
in this article.
In this issue of Paper Money let's go to the State of
Vermont and look at The Bank of Bennington. You can
see in the scan of the four-note sheet that it has some
very unusual denomination notes on it. Long ago there
were a few of these sheets that had survived, but because
of the past "cutting craze" that has happened to
Obsoletes, very few of them remain intact. And notice
the second scan. The two-note high denomination sheet
is very desirable, as very seldom does one come on the
market. As for the history of this old Institution, over
the years I've had a difficult time coming up with
anything. But fortunately, because of one of our Society
members, I have some good history to report on. A
grateful thank you goes out to William Hancuff, from
Virginia, for the research that he did on this old Bank.
On October 18th, 1825, Stephen Hinsdill and others
submitted a petition for the incorporation for a bank in
Bennington, Vermont. After two years of effort, on
October 25th, 1827, the bill to incorporate The Bank of
Bennington passed. The bill specified it would be in the
Village of Bennington, with $100,000 capital, and the
charter would expire on January 1st, 1841.
On March 4th, 1828, the stockholders appointed
several Directors of the Corporation... Joseph Burr,
Noadiah Swift, David Robinson, Jr., Stephen Hinsdill,
Nathan Bottum, Luman Norton, and Martin Deming.
Joseph Burr was elected President, but died the next
month, on April 14th, 1828. He was succeeded by
Noadiah Swift, a physician in the lower part of the
Village of Bennington. Stephen C. Raymond, from
Manchester, was appointed
First Cashier, and served that
capacity thru 1836, when
replaced by Joseph Hinsdill, the
brother of Bank Director,
Stephen Hinsdill.
The Bank was highly
successful and paid very good
dividends for several years. In
1836, there was a change in
management, and although the
Bank's charter was not due to
expire until 1841, the Bank
officers sought to have their
Bank re-chartered for twenty
years. However, there was a
stumbling block. The public
had become concerned about
some financial shenanigans in
which the President and
Cashier were involved. This
seriously impacted the re-
chartering effort, which was
finally approved on November
10th, 1840, but only for three
years.
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The next year the Bank seemed to collapse all at
once. On November 1st,1841, it suspended specie
payment, and the next day its bills were selling at a
discount of between 50% and 60% in New York. Just a
short time later, on November 27th, the Chancery issued
an injunction against the Bank, and appointed General
Henry Robinson and Honorable Nathan Bottum as
Receivers. At its failure, the Institution had an
outstanding circulation of $169,902.
It is known that the men who organized the Bank
were all interested in the growth of the community, and
were involved in a variety of businesses in addition to
the Bank. One historian has
written that this interest in so
many different areas probably
contributed to the failure of The
Bank of Bennington.
So there's the history behind
this old bank. It's fascinating
to me that these old notes have
survived, and even more so,
when we can understand why
they came into existence to
start with.
As I always do, I invite
any comments to my personal
email address
ertdalegill@gmail.com or my
cell phone number (580) 221-
0898.
So, until next time....
HAPPY COLLECTING.
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$5 San Francisco Late-Finished Face 52
By Jamie Yakes
Five-dollar San Francisco Series of 1934A face 52 is one of four late-finished Series of 1934A
Federal Reserve Note (FRN) faces reported to collectors in 2017.1 The others were $5 New York 58, $5
Philadelphia 39, and $10 New York 169. Each plate originally was a 1934 master plate that in 1938 the
Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) altered to a 1934A master plate to use as a template for making
other 1934A plates. They finished each plate in 1944 as a production plate and used them for regular
sheet printings. The New York $5 and $10 and Philly plate have been profiled previously in this column.
Plate 52 is profiled here.
The process of
making intaglio printing
plates involved masters,
bassos, and altos. Masters
served as templates for
producing altos, which
were intermediaries lifted
from the masters with
designs in relief as
opposed to the incuse
designs on masters.
Bassos were plates lifted
from altos after depositing
metal onto them, and were
exact replicas of the
master plates used to
make the altos. Most
bassos were cleaned,
polished, and etched with
plate serials, and logged into the plate vault for use as production plates. Some instead were reserved as
master plates.
The BEP began face 52 as $5 San Francisco Series of 1934 plate 2 on November 15, 1934. They
produced it from alto 1199, which had been lifted from steel intaglio master face plate 1 on November 8.
They designated plate 2 the electrolytic master basso and used it to prepare five altos from November 21
to December 4, and four more in late 1935 and early 1936. Altos from plates 1 and 2 would serve to
produce all 1934 $5 San Francisco production faces.
In January 1938, the BEP began etching macro serial numbers on finished plates2 and designating
them Series of 1934A. On June 10, 1938, they altered plate 2 to a 1934A by etching an ?A? after each
?SERIES OF 1934? located on all 12 subjects. They reassigned it plate serial 52, which was the first serial
for $5 1934A San Francisco faces, and designated it the 1934A master basso. Aside from the different
sizes of plate serials, bassos destined to become 1934s or 1934As had identical designs, and conveniently
nothing else needed to be altered, deleted, or added in the process.
In July 1938, the BEP lifted four altos from 52, which spawned all 1934A San Francisco
production plates made through June 1945, inclusive of serials 53-146. The BEP had produced a new $5
San Francisco steel master (face 129) in June 1944 and a new electrolytic basso (face 138) in October, but
never used altos produced from them to make production bassos. (Face 138 was lifted from an alto
produced from face 129).
The BEP certified San Francisco face 52 as a production plate on November 7, 1944, and added it
to the routine press plate rotation. They sent it to press for two short press runs in November and
December 1944, a four-week run in April and May 1945, and a final eight-week run from November
Figure? 1.? The? G? position? note? from? the? proof? sheet? of? $5? 1934A? San? Francisco? late?
finished?face?plate?52.?In?the?selvage?is?the?plate?number?30859,??EI??denoting?the?plate?
as?electrolytic? iron,?and?a?triangle?denoting?the?plate?a?master.? (National?Numismatic?
Collection).?
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
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1945 to January 1946. It was used alongside 1934A faces 80-114. The BEP dropped face 52 from press
on January 23, 1946, a month before they began using Series of 1934B $5 San Francisco faces. They
canceled it on December 31, 1946.
Face 52 notes will have L-A serials above 70 million and possibly L-B serials. This is based on
this author?s observations of 1934A notes with plate serials used concurrently with face 52. Overprinting
of Hawaii brown seals and serial numbers ended prior to June 30, 1944, so all notes will have green seals
and serial numbers.
The L-A and L-B blocks contain reported 1934A back plate 637 mules.3 Back 637 was a $5
master basso for 10 years until finished as a production plate on November 10, 1944 with micro serial
numbers.4 It had numerous press runs between June 23, 1945 and June 14, 1949, and sheets wound their
way to face printings for $5 legal tender notes, silver certificates, and FRNs. The BEP had been using
back 637 prior to the final press run for face 52 and sheet stock would have been available to mate with
that face. No matter the back, notes from face 52 have not been reported.
Sources Cited
1. Yakes, Jamie. ?Altered 1934A $5 and $10 Federal Reserve Note Master Plates.? Paper Money 56, no. 1 (2017,
Jan/Feb): 54-56.
2. Huntoon, Peter. ?Origin of macro plate numbers laid to Secret Service.? Paper Money 51, no. 4 (2012, Jul/Aug):
294, 296, 316.
3. Author?s census.
4. Yakes, Jamie. ?The Extraordinary First Ten Years of Micro Back 637.? Paper Money 55, no. 3 (2016, May/Jun):
212-215.
References
Record Group 318-Bureau of Engraving and Printing: Entry P1, ?Ledgers Pertaining to Plates, Rolls and Dies,
1870s-1960s,? Containers 144 (12-subject bassos) and 147 (1934 FRN plate histories). National Archives
and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
73
$1 SC Series 1928-B V51000208A
This note is from the first printing of $1 SC Series 1928-B notes delivered on March 31, 1932. Records
document 24,000 notes were delivered, with the first six sheets (72 notes) delivered as uncut. This note is
considered the 208th note printed. It is unknown if any additional $1 SC 1928-B notes were printed using
the VA block since all known notes are from this first printing.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
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An Index to Paper Money, Volume 60, 2021 - Whole Numbers 331-336
Compiled by Terry A. Bryan
Yr. Vol. No. Pg.
Boling, Joseph E., (Uncoupled columns)
Another OSS Counterfeit, (with Fred Schwan) (Burma JIM) ................................................ 21 60 334 304
Art from Warrington?Part 4, (with Fred Schwan) ................................................................. 21 60 331 56
More From Warrington, (with Fred Schwan) ............................................................................ 21 60 332 158
More From Warrington, (with Fred Schwan) ............................................................................ 21 60 333 226
Soldiers as Entrepreneurs? (with Fred Schwan) ........................................................................ 21 60 336 442
Warsaw Uprising Propaganda?NOT, (with Fred Schwan) ................................................. 21 60 335 380
Bryan, Terry A.
Obsolete Currency Counterfeiters: Doty & Bergen, Part 1: A Counterfeit Tale
Of Two Cities, (Kansas, Delaware counterfeit Obsoletes) .............................................. 21 60 333 196
Obsolete Currency Counterfeiters: Doty & Bergen, Part 2: Saints or Sinners?, .................. 21 60 334 274
Obsolete Currency Counterfeiters: Doty & Bergen, Part 2, Errata, ....................................... 21 60 335 399
Thomas Macdonough, Naval Hero, ............................................................................................ 21 60 332 120
Zouaves!, (Obsolete Currency vignette) ..................................................................................... 21 60 331 62
Bruyer, Nick
Act of 1863 Gold Certificates, with Peter Huntoon, Doug Murray ....................................... 21 60 331 6
U.S. Treasury Notes of the Mexican War, 1846-1848, ............................................................ 21 60 332 86
William D. Nutt: Asst. Treasurer, USA?Acting Treasurer, CSA, ...................................... 21 60 335 356
Calderman, Robert (Cherry Picker?s column)
Collecting Notes That Shouldn?t Even Exist!, ........................................................................... 21 60 332 148
A Golden Opportunity!, ($10 Gold Certificate) ......................................................................... 21 60 335 390
The Prodigal Bison Returns?On a Star!, .................................................................................. 21 60 333 233
Rising Tides Lift All ?Paper?, ($2 Silver Certificate) ............................................................... 21 60 334 318
Treasures from the Cornhusker State, (Sm. FRN rarities) ....................................................... 21 60 336 454
An Unlikely Pair!, ($500 FRN) .................................................................................................... 21 60 331 68
Clark, Frank
Albert Lea, (Minnesota NBN) ...................................................................................................... 21 60 334 282
CONFEDERATE AND SOUTHERN STATES CURRENCY
Confederate Bond Documents From the 1880s, Steve Feller ................................................. 21 60 336 428
Edmund Bacon Williamson Apperson, Assistant Register & Bond Signer for the
Confederate Treasury, Charles Derby ................................................................................. 21 60 333 188
My 17-Year Hunt: The 3154 Note Survey on T-64 CSA $500 Notes, Steve Feller ......... 21 60 333 211
T.D. Tinsley, Teenage Soldier & Signer of GA Currency During the Civil War, Derby. 21 60 336 414
William D. Nutt: Asst. Treasurer, USA?Acting Treasurer, CSA, Nick Bruyer ............... 21 60 335 356
William Fraser White, a Newly Identified Asst. Register & Bond Signer
For the Confederate Treasury, Charles Derby ................................................................... 21 60 335 341
COUNTERFEIT, ALTERED & SPURIOUS NOTES
Obsolete Currency Counterfeiters: Doty & Bergen, Part 1: A Counterfeit Tale
Of Two Cities, Terry A. Bryan (Kansas, Delaware counterfeit Obsoletes) ................. 21 60 333 196
Obsolete Currency Counterfeiters: Doty & Bergen, Part 2: Saints or Sinners?, Bryan ...... 21 60 334 274
Derby, Charles
Edmund Bacon Williamson Apperson, Assistant Register & Bond Signer for the
Confederate Treasury, ............................................................................................................ 21 60 333 188
No County for Old Men, or Their Money, Robert Tuggle & the 1862 Notes from
Campbell County, Georgia, .................................................................................................. 21 60 331 29
T.D. Tinsley, Teenage soldier & Signer of Georgia Currency During the Civil War, ....... 21 60 336 414
William Fraser White, a Newly Identified Asst. Register & Bond Signer, .......................... 21 60 335 341
Young Selma Entrepreneur Madison Jackson Williams & His Alabama Paper Money . 21 60 332 126
Drengson, Mark
The SPMC Bank Note History Project, Part 2,.......................................................................... 21 60 332 142
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
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ENGRAVERS & ENGRAVING AND PRINTING
Early Polymer Luminus with Color Watermarks from Domtar, Roland Rollins ............... 21 60 335 352
Early Web Currency Proofs, Peter Huntoon .............................................................................. 21 60 333 218
$5 Series of 1882 NBN Title Block Layouts, Doug Walcutt ................................................. 21 60 334 250
Falater, Lawrence
Five Great Hoards of Michigan Mining Scrip, (with Dave Gelwicks) ................................. 21 60 333 202
Feller, Steve
British POW and Internee Camp Money, ................................................................................. 21 60 332 106
Confederate Bond Documents From the 1880s, ....................................................................... 21 60 336 428
My 17-Year Hunt: The 3154 Note Survey on T-64 CSA $500 Notes? ............................ 21 60 333 211
The Numismatic Side of the Siege of Mafeking, ...................................................................... 21 60 335 372
Gatch, Loren (Chump Change Column)
David A. Schulte & the Mutual-Profit Coupon System, ......................................................... 21 60 331 46
The Future of Money by Eswar S. Prasad (book review) ....................................................... 21 60 336 448
Mapping Money (Maps on money) ............................................................................................ 21 60 331 72
Paper Money Fifty Years Ago (PM journal, hobby trends) .................................................... 21 60 335 387
Should We Collect Exographica? Yes, Let?s! .......................................................................... 21 60 333 225
Thoughts of a Vaccine Spring (Pandemic & Collecting) ........................................................ 21 60 332 156
Two Cheers for Commemorative Currency (?Numismatic Products?) ............................... 21 60 334 309
Gelwicks, Dave
Five Great Hoards of Michigan Mining Scrip, (with Lawrence Falater) .............................. 21 60 333 202
Gill, Robert (Obsolete Corner Column)
The Bank of Salem, (New York) ................................................................................................. 21 60 334 310
The Blackstone Canal Bank, (Rhode Island) ............................................................................. 21 60 332 150
The Branch Bank of Tennessee, ................................................................................................... 21 60 336 457
The Brunswick & Albany Railroad Company, (Alabama) .................................................... 21 60 333 236
The City of Omaha, (Nebraska) ................................................................................................... 21 60 331 10
The Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad Bank, (Michigan, Ohio) ..................................................... 21 60 335 388
Gunther, Bill
?James Bond? and his 1862 City Savings Association of Mobile, (Alabama) ................... 21 60 334 285
?New Site? Was a Damn Sight Better Than the Old Site: The Story of New Site, Ala .... 21 60 332 135
Hodgson, James
$1 SC Series 1935-B M005796670?Rare 1935-B MD Block, .......................................... 21 60 334 315
$100 FRN Series 1934-A, A00029003*, ................................................................................... 21 60 335 363
$10 SC Series 1934-A *01492085A?Face Plate 209, .......................................................... 21 60 335 363
Huntoon, Peter (The Paper Column)
Act Authorization Date Change on Series of 1907 $10 Gold Certificates, .......................... 21 60 334 266
Act of 1863 Gold Certificates ........................................................................................................ 21 60 331 6
Danish and American National Banks in the Virgin Islands, .................................................. 21 60 334 292
Early Web Currency Proofs, ......................................................................................................... 21 60 333 218
Emergency Currency: Aldrich-Vreeland Act & Series 1882 & 1902 Date Back NBNs . 21 60 336 405
The End of Silver Certificates, ...................................................................................................... 21 60 335 328
50th Anniversary! The End of Legal Tender Notes, .................................................................. 21 60 331 36
50th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Ella Overby Hoard, Starbuck, MN .................... 21 60 332 113
The Impact of WW I on Gold Certificates & The Origin of the Series of 1922, ............... 21 60 333 178
The 1964 Legalization of Owning Gold Certificates, ............................................................... 21 60 336 436
Origin of Series of 1907 $10 Gold Certificates & $5 Legal Tender Notes, ......................... 21 60 334 100
Plate Letter Placement Glitches on Parker-Burke Series of 1907 Gold Certificates, ......... 21 60 335 350
Tying Off the Star Serial Numbers on Series of 1934 FRNs, ................................................. 21 60 336 425
INTERNATIONAL. CURRENCY
British POW and Internee Camp Money, Steve Feller ............................................................ 21 69 332 106
Danish and American National Banks in the Virgin Islands, Huntoon, Schroeder ............ 21 60 334 292
Early Polymer Luminus with Color Watermarks from Domtar, Roland Rollins ............... 21 60 335 352
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
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The Numismatic Side of the Siege of Mafeking, Steve Feller ................................................ 21 60 335 372
An Unusual Theme: Project PMG, Roeland Krul (Match Pick # with Condition #) ........ 21 60 336 421
Krul, Roeland
An Unusual Theme: Project PMG,. ............................................................................................. 21 60 336 421
Lofthus, Lee
Senate Bill 3288, (re: New Treasury Currency) ........................................................................ 21 60 331 61
McNeil, Michael (The Quartermaster Column)
Major Angus G. Quaite .................................................................................................................. 21 60 331 66
Capt. Griff P. Theobald .................................................................................................................. 21 60 332 152
Capt. James A. Wilson ................................................................................................................... 21 60 333 240
Maj. Charles S. Severson ............................................................................................................... 21 60 334 312
Capt. B. F. Lovelace ........................................................................................................................ 21 60 335 393
Maj. George Rainsford Fairbanks ................................................................................................ 21 60 336 449
Maples, J. Fred
The American National Bank of Baltimore, MD, Charter 4518, ........................................... 21 60 331 44
The Second National Bank of Chestertown, MD., Charter #4327, ....................................... 21 60 332 124
Melamed, Rick
Fractional Images on Stamps (or Stamp Images on Fractionals), .......................................... 21 60 333 170
Pop Art Icon Robert Dowd: Currency as Art, ............................................................................ 21 60 335 364
Postage Currency Sheets with Associated Note, ....................................................................... 21 60 331 53
MILITARY PAYMENT CERTIFICATES AND MILITARY CURRENCY
British POW and Internee Camp Money, Steve Feller ............................................................ 21 60 332 106
The Numismatic Side of the Siege of Mafeking, Steve Feller ................................................ 21 60 335 372
Murray, Doug
Act Authorization Date Change on Series of 1907 $10 Gold Certificates, ......................... 21 60 334 266
Act of 1863 Gold Certificates, with Peter Huntoon, Nick Bruyer .......................................... 21 60 331 6
Plate Letter Placement Glitches on Parker-Burke Series of 1907 Gold Certificates, .......... 21 60 335 350
Nyholm, Douglas
?Deseret Currency Association? Discovery $10 Engraving Plate, ........................................ 21 60 331 22
OBSOLETE NOTES & SCRIP
David A. Schulte & the Mutual-Profit Coupon System, Loren Gatch ................................. 21 60 331 46
?Deseret Currency Association? Discovery $10 Engraving Plate, Douglas Nyholm ....... 21 60 331 22
Five Great Hoards of Michigan Mining Scrip, Lawrence Falater, Dave Gelwicks ........... 21 60 333 202
?James Bond? and his 1862 City Savings Association of Mobile, Bill Gunther (Ala.) ..... 21 60 334 285
?New Site? Was a Damn Sight Better Than the Old Site: The Story of New Site, Ala .... 21 60 332 135
No County for Old Men, or Their Money, Robert Tuggle & the 1862 Notes from
Campbell County, Georgia, Charles Derby ....................................................................... 21 60 331 29
Obsolete Currency Counterfeiters: Doty & Bergen, Part 1: A Counterfeit Tale
Of Two Cities, Terry A. Bryan (Kansas, Delaware counterfeit Obsoletes) ................. 21 60 333 196
Obsolete Currency Counterfeiters: Doty & Bergen, Part 2: Saints or Sinners?, Bryan ...... 21 60 334 274
Obsolete Currency Counterfeiters: Doty & Bergen, Part 2, Errata, Terry A. Bryan .......... 21 60 335 399
The Second National Bank of Chestertown, MD, Charter #4327, J. Fred Maples ............ 21 60 332 124
Thomas Macdonough, Naval Hero, Terry A. Bryan ............................................................... 21 60 332 120
Young Selma Entrepreneur Madison Jackson Williams & His Alabama Paper Money . 21 60 332 126
Zouaves!, Terry A. Bryan (Obsolete Currency vignette) ......................................................... 21 60 331 62
PAPER MONEY IN MOVIES, ART, and TV
Pop Art Icon Robert Dowd: Currency as Art, Rick Melamed ............................................... 21 60 335 364
Rollins, Roland
Early Polymer Luminus with Color Watermarks from Domtar, ........................................... 21 60 335 352
Russell, Willis
Tying Off the Star Serial Numbers on Series of 1934 FRNs, (with Peter Huntoon) .......... 21 60 336 425
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
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Saharian, Michael
The First National Bank of Forest City?Charter# 5518, (Pennsylvania) ........................... 21 60 332 138
The Hereford National Bank/the FNB of Hereford?Charter #5604, (Texas) ................... 21 60 336 439
Schroeder, Steve
Danish and American National Banks in the Virgin Islands, (with Peter Huntoon) .......... 21 60 334 292
Schwan, Fred (see Boling, Joe, Uncoupled columns)
SOCIETY OF PAPER MONEY COLLECTORS.
SPMC History, Sixtieth Anniversary (Special Section of 20 Pages) ..................................... 21 60 336 460
U.S. NATIONAL BANK NOTES
Albert Lea, Frank Clark, (Minnesota) .......................................................................................... 21 60 334 282
The American National Bank of Baltimore, MD, Charter 4518, J. Fred Maples ............... 21 60 331 44
Danish and American National Banks in the Virgin Islands, Huntoon, Schroeder ............ 21 60 334 292
Emergency Currency: Aldrich-Vreeland Act & Series 1882 & 1902 Date Back NBNs . 21 60 336 405
50th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Ella Overby Hoard, Starbuck, MN, Huntoon ... 21 60 332 113
The First National Bank of Forest City?Charter #5518, Michael Saharian ....................... 21 60 332 138
$5 Series of 1882 National Bank Note Title Block Layouts, Doug Walcutt ....................... 21 60 334 250
The Hereford National Bank/the FNB of Hereford?Charter #5604, Michael Saharian 21 60 336 439
U.S. LARGE and SMALL SIZE NOTES
50th Anniversary! The End of Legal Tender Notes, Peter Huntoon....................................... 21 60 331 36
Fractional Images on Stamps (or Stamp Images on Fractionals), Rick Melamed .............. 21 60 333 170
Postage Currency Sheets with Associated Note, Rick Melamed ........................................... 21 60 331 53
Senate Bill S.3288, Lee Lofthus (re: New Treasury Currency) .............................................. 21 60 331 61
FEDERAL RESERVE NOTES
Early Web Currency Proofs, Peter Huntoon .............................................................................. 21 60 333 218
$100 FRN Series 1934-A, A00029003*, James Hodgson ..................................................... 21 60 335 363
Tying Off the Star Serial Numbers on Series of 1934 FRNs, Russell, Huntoon ................ 21 60 336 425
SILVER AND GOLD CERTIFICATES
Act Authorization Date Change Series 1907 $10 Gold Certificates, Huntoon, Murray .... 21 60 334 266
Act of 1863 Gold Certificates, Peter Huntoon, Doug Murray, Nick Bruyer ....................... 21 60 331 6
The Impact of WW I on Gold Certificates & The Origin of the Series of 1922, Huntoon 21 60 333 178
The 1964 Legalization of Owning Gold Certificates, Peter Huntoon ................................... 21 60 336 436
$1 SC Series 1935-B M005796670?Rare 1935-B MD Block, James Hodgson ............ 21 60 334 315
Origin of Series of 1907 $10 Gold Certificates & $5 Legal Tender Notes, Huntoon ........ 21 60 334 100
Plate Letter Placement Glitches Parker-Burke 1907 Gold Certs, Murray, Huntoon .......... 21 60 335 350
$10 SC Series 1934-A *01492085A?Face Plate 209, James Hodgson ............................ 21 60 335 363
TREASURY NOTES
50th Anniversary! The End of Legal Tender Notes, Peter Huntoon....................................... 21 60 331 36
Origin of Series of 1907 $10 Gold Certificates & $5 Legal Tender Notes, Huntoon ........ 21 60 334 100
U.S. Treasury Notes of the Mexican War, 1846-1848, Nick Bruyer .................................... 21 60 332 86
Walcutt, Doug
$5 Series of 1882 NBN Title Block Layouts ............................................................................. 21 60 334 250
Yakes, Jamie (Small Notes column)
This $5 Is More Than Meets the Eye, ($5 FRN) ....................................................................... 21 60 333 239
Treasury Ends Issue of Large Denomination FRNs, ............................................................... 21 60 336 459
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Paper Money Jokes
Cuz I needed one more page to make the right number of pages.
A duck tries to walk into a bar...
...but he is stopped by the bouncer. "One-dollar cover," says the bouncer. The duck has a bill, so he
waddles right in.
?Five minutes later, a turtle tries to walk into the bar. "One-dollar cover," says the bouncer. The turtle
has a greenback, so he walks right in.
?Five minutes after that, a skunk tries to walk into the bar. "One-dollar cover," says the bouncer. The
skunk walks away disappointed, for he only had a scent.
What type of currency will Superman never accept?
Krypto-currency
Did you know that chicken strips are a new form of currency in some areas?
They?re considered legal ?tender?
Why are banknote printing machines absurd?
Because they make no cents
I really tried to embrace change.
But to be honest, I still prefer banknotes.
Bad money
What is the difference between an angry rabbit and a counterfeit dollar bill?
One is bad money, and the other is a mad bunny.
I collect coins and old paper money. For our anniversary, my wife surprised me with a $1,000 bill!
Unfortunately, it was from Fendi, for a pair of shoes.
What did the clerk say to young Muhammad Ali when he tried to purchase an elaborate Christmas
present?
You're cashless, Clay.
A musician died while smoking weed from a dollar bill...
At least he went out on a high note
If I glued dollar bills to my sneakers, what would you call them?
Cashews
Why won't Americans switch to a dollar coin?
They're afraid of change.
Nigerian man found dead in his flat with $45million cash
He spent the last 10 years trying to share it, but no one replied to his emails.
SPMC.org * Paper Money * Jan/Feb 2022 * Whole No. 337
80
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NATIONAL CURRENCY
They also specialize in Large Size Type Notes, Small Size Currency,
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and numerous other areas.
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is the leading organization of OVER 100 DEALERS in Currency,
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Please visit our Web Site pcda.com for dates and location.
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Fr. 1218g $1,000 1882 Gold Certificate
PCGS Extremely Fine 40
Fr. 1132-J $500 1918 Federal Reserve Note
PMG Choice About Uncirculated 58
Fr. 179 $100 1880 Legal Tender
PMG About Uncirculated 55
Fr. 2221-K $5,000 1934 Federal Reserve Note
PMG Choice Uncirculated 64 EPQ
From the BREA Collection
Fr. 127 $20 1869 Legal Tender
PCGS Banknote Gem Uncirculated 66 PPQ
Serial Number 1 Key West, FL - $5 1882 Brown Back
Fr. 472 The First National Bank Ch. # 4672
PMG Very Fine 30
Heritage Numismatic Auctions, Inc. AB665, Currency Auctions of America
AB2218 Paul R. Minshull #AU4563. BP 20%; see HA.com. 60259
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