Paper Money - Vol. XXVII, No. 4 - Whole No. 136 - July - August 1988

JULY/AUGUST 1988 VOL. XXVII No. 4 WHOLE NO. 136 JAMES SMILLIE The name in rare coin auctions for U.S. paper currency Every Kagin auction features a large and varied selection of U.S. paper money to please both the generalist and the specialist. Whether you wish to buy or sell, take advantage of the Kagin reputation for service, experience and collector orientation. To arrange a consignment or to order a catalog, call us at 1-800-367-5428 Kagin's Numismatic Auctions, Inc., 1388 Sutter, Suite 700, San Francisco, CA 94109 Proofs from The American Bank Note Company Archives September 28, 1988 The framed composition illustrated above contains a "fan" of rare Demand Note and Interest-bearing Treasury Note proofs. Christie's is pleased to announce an unprecedented offering of material from The American Bank Note Company archives. Included in this sale are ten framed compositions containing proof and specimen notes from the United States, Latin America and China, which originally hung on the walls of the A.B.N. Co. offices. Full-color catalogs are available for $12 each from: CHRISTI E'S NEW YORK 502 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022 SOCIETY OF PAPER MONEY COLLECTORS INC. PAPER MONEY is published every other month beginning in January by The Society of Paper Money Collectors. Sec- ond class postage paid at Dover, DE 19901. Postmaster send address changes to: Bob Cochran, Secretary, P.O. Box 1085, Florissant, MO 63031. © Society of Paper Money Collectors, Inc., 1987. All rights reserved. Repro- duction of any article, in whole or in part, without express written permission, is prohibited. Annual Membership dues in SPMC are $20; life membership is $300. Individual copies of PAPER MONEY are $2.50. ADVERTISING RATES SPACE Outside 1 TIME 3 TIMES 6 TIMES Back Cover $152 $420 $825 Inside Front & Back Cover $145 $405 $798 Full Page $140 $395 $775 Half-page $75 $200 $390 Quarter-page $38 $105 $198 Eighth-page $20 $55 $105 To keep rates at a minimum, advertising must be prepaid in advance according to the above schedule. One-half of amounts in shaded area may be paid six months after initial payment. In exceptional cases where special artwork or extra typing are required, the advertiser will be notified and billed extra for them accordingly. Rates are not commissionable. Proofs are not supplied. Deadline: Copy must be in the editorial office no later than the 10th of the month preceding issue (e.g., Feb. 10 for March/April issue). Mechanical Requirements: Full page 42 x 57 picas; half-page may be either vertical or hor- izontal in format. Single column width, 20 picas. Halftones acceptable, but not mats or stereos. Page position may be requested but cannot be guaranteed. Advertising copy shall be restricted to paper currency and allied numismatic material and publications and accessories related thereto. SPMC does not guarantee advertisements but accepts copy in good faith, reserving the right to reject objectionable material or edit any copy. SPMC assumes no financial responsibility for typographical errors in advertisements, but agrees to reprint that portion of an advertise- ment in which typographical error should oc- cur upon prompt notification of such error. All advertising copy and correspondence should be sent to the Editor. Official Bimonthly Publication of The Society of Paper Money Collectors, Inc. Vol. XXVII No. 4 Whole No. 136 JULY/AUG. 1988 ISSN 0031-1162 GENE HESSLER, Editor P.O. Box 8147 St. Louis, MO 63156 Manuscripts and publications for review should be addressed to the Editor. Opinions expressed by the authors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of SPMC or its staff. PAPER MONEY re- serves the right reject any copy. Deadline for editorial copy is the 10th of the month preceding the month of publication (e.g., Feb. 10th for March/April issue, etc.). Camera ready advertising copy will be accepted up to three weeks beyond this date. IN THIS ISSUE CASHIER COOPER LET HIS BULLDOG BARK Bob Cochran 101 THE PAPER COLUMN THE UNITED STATES $500 & $1,000 NATIONAL BANK NOTES Peter Huntoon 103 MAJOR JOHN S. FILLMORE, U.S.A. PAYMASTER Rodney Battles 122 THE GREEN GOODS GAME Forrest Daniels 123 RAILROAD NOTES & SCRIP OF THE UNITED STATES, THE CONFEDERATE STATES AND CANADA Richard T. Hoober 124 SOCIETY FEATURES INTEREST BEARING NOTES 127 NEW LITERATURE 127 SPMC AWARDS BANQUET IN MEMPHIS 127 EXHIBIT AWARDS AT MEMPHIS 127 NEW MEMBERS 128 MONEY MART 129 ON THE COVER: James Smillie (1807-1885) is the engraver of the Capitol Building and with Alfred Jones coengraved General Scott's Entrance Into Mexico on the $1,000 national bank note. Inquiries concerning non-delivery of PAPER MONEY should be sent to the secretary; for back issues contact book coordinator. Addresses are on the next page. Paper Money Whole No. 135 Page 97 Society of Paper Money Collectors OFFICERS PRESIDENT Roger H. Durand, P.O. Box 186, Rehoboth, MA 02769 VICE-PRESIDENT Richard J. Balbaton, 116 Fisher Street, N. Attleboro, MA 02760 SECRETARY Robert Cochran, P.O. Box 1085, Florissant, MO 63031 TREASURER Dean Oakes, Drawer 1456, Iowa City, IA 52240 APPOINTEES EDITOR Gene Hessler, P.O. Box 8147, St. Louis, MO 63156 MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR Ron Horstman. P.O. Box 6011, St. Louis, MO 63139 BOOK SALES COORDINATOR Richard Balbaton, 116 Fisher Street, N. Attleboro, MA 02760. WISMER BOOK PROJECT Richard T. Hoober, P.O. Box 196, Newfoundland, PA 18445 LEGAL COUNSEL Robert J. Galiette, 10 Wilcox Lane, Avon, CT 06001 LIBRARIAN Wendell Wolka, P.O. Box 929. Goshen, IN 46426. PAST-PRESIDENT Larry Adams, P.O. Box 1, Boone, IA 50036 BOARD OF GOVERNORS Richard J. Balbaton, Charles Colver, Michael Crabb, Thomas W. Denly, Roger Durand, C. John Ferreri, Gene Hessler, Ronald Horstman, William Horton, Jr., Douglas Murray, Dean Oakes, Stephen Taylor, Frank Trask, John Wilson, Wendell Wolka. The Society of Paper Money Collectors was organ- ized in 1961 and incorporated in 1964 as a non- profit organization under the laws of the District of Columbia. It is affiliated with the American Numis- matic Association. The annual meeting is held at the Memphis IPMS in June. MEMBERSHIP - REGULAR and LIFE. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and of good moral character. JUNIOR. Applicants must be from 12 to 18 years of age and of good moral character. Their application must be signed by a parent or a guardian. They will be preceded by the letter "j". This letter 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 to vote. Members of the ANA or other recognized numis- matic societies are eligible for membership. Other applicants should be sponsored by an SPMC mem- ber or provide suitable references. DUES - Annual dues are $20. Life membership is $300. Regular membership dues are sent on the an- niversary of membership commencement. COM- PLIMENTARY COPY OF PAPER MONEY will be sent to anyone who is contemplating membership in the SPMC. Send request to the Membership Di- rector. PUBLICATIONS FOR SALE TO MEMBERS BOOKS FOR SALE: All cloth bound books are 8 1/2 x 11" ALABAMA OBSOLETE NOTES & SCRIP, 1984 Rosene $12.00 Non-member price $15.00 ARKANSAS OBSOLETE NOTES & SCRIP, 1985 Rothert $17.00 Non-member price $22.00 FLORIDA PAPER MONEY, ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF, (softcover) 1980 Cassidy $16.00 Non-member price $19.50 INDIANA OBSOLETE NOTES & SCRIP, 1978 Wolka $12.00 Non-member price $15.00 INDIAN TERRITORY/OKLAHOMA/KANSAS OBSOLETE NOTES & SCRIP, 1980 Burgett and Whitfield $12.00 Non-member price $15.00 IOWA OBSOLETE NOTES & SCRIP, 1982 Oakes $12.00 Non-member price $15.00 MAINE OBSOLETE PAPER MONEY & SCRIP, 1977 Wait $12.00 Non-member price $15.00 MINNESOTA OBSOLETE NOTES & SCRIP, 1973 Rockholt $12.00 Non-member price $15.00 NEW JERSEY'S MONEY, 1976 Wait $15.00 Non-member price $20.00 PENNSYLVANIA OBSOLETE NOTES AND SCRIP (396 pages), Hoober $28.00 Non-member price $29.50 RHODE ISLAND AND THE PROVIDENCE PLANTA- TIONS, OBSOLETE NOTES & SCRIP OF, 1981 Durand $20.00 Non-member price $25.00 TENNESSEE-THE HISTORY OF EARLY TENNESSEE BANKS AND THEIR ISSUES, 1983 Garland $20.00 Non-member price $29.50 TERRITORIALS-A GUIDE TO U.S. TERRITORIAL NATIONAL BANK NOTES, (softcover) 1980 Huntoon $12.00 Non-member price $15.00 VERMONT OBSOLETE NOTES & SCRIP, 1972 Coulter $12.00 Non-member price $15.00 Write for Quantity Prices on the above books. 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S■ X TN It 'MAIN ( ( I F ( I OM zcda Sponsored by: The Professional Currency Dealers Association, The Society of Paper Money Collectors and the International Bank Note Society Paper Money Whole No. 136 Page 101 Cashierooper let his Bulldogark An incident from the history of the Farmers Bank Submitted by BOB COCHRAN In the nineteenth century it was not uncommon for the cashier or other bank officers to live in the build- ing of their bank, typically upstairs over the bank. This was the case of Richard G. Cooper, cashier of the New Castle branch of the Farmers Bank of the State of Delaware, who lived over the bank with his family. ILLIAM J. BLACK, who was the United States Consul at Nuremberg, was the brother-in-law of Richard Coop- er On the 30th of September, 1877, he was visiting Cooper and his family and was sleeping in the parlor in the liv- ing quarters. In the very early morning, four men were engaged in the process of breaking into the bank. They placed a ladder against the sill of the window of his room and one man climbed up. carrying the side of a wheelbarrow. He placed the piece of wood on the tin covering of the window cornice, and two of the other men joined him outside the room. Black recounted that he had been awakened by the sound of whispering voices at 1:45 a.m. He looked toward the window, and saw a man climbing through it. He jumped up from the bed, cried out an alarm, and started for the door leading to the hall. At that moment he was grabbed by the three men; one of the men drew a pistol and told him not to make another sound. Black was thrown on the bed, and his legs tied below the knees. He was asked how many people were in the house, and he told the men that every room was occupied. With that he was covered up with the pillow and bedclothes. There were two rooms on either side of the hall that ran through the upper floor of the bank building. The noise across the hall had aroused Richard Cooper; he got out of bed, picked up his revolver from the top of the bureau, and walked out into the hall. (The next day, a reporter from the Morning News would describe this revolver as "a Bulldog self-cocking pistol similar to the one Guiteau used on President Garfield.") Cooper went to the door of his daughter's room to see if she had been disturbed. Deciding that she had not, he listened at the door of Black's room; he heard muffled voices, but thought for a moment that his brother-in-law had brought some friends home without his knowledge. As he entered his wife's room to check on her, he heard a scream from his daughter's room; he went back into the hall, holding his pistol at his right side, hidden by his night clothes. He saw the outline of a short, stocky man at the door of his daughter's room, trying to force his way into the room. The man turned toward Cooper, shining a lantern on him; he raised a revolver and told Cooper, "Don't speak." Cooper later recounted what happened next: "I replied, 'I won't.' "And at the same time raised my pistol from my side and fired in his face. He staggered and reeled and dropped the lantern on the floor. He fired at me but missed. By this time the hall was filled with a dense volume of smoke." Cooper fired again into the smoke, but missed the man. There were two more shots fired in quick succession. Inside Black's room, one of the two men guarding Black told his companion, "Jim, the jig's all up. Come on." The two men climbed out the window. The third man staggered through the door from the hall and fell against the wall near the window. He turned and fired at Black, the bullet lodging in the mattress; then he too climbed through the open window. One final shot was fired—by Cooper—at a man fleeing across the street below. Cashier Cooper thought he had hit the man, who "fled limpingly towards the Battery and dis- appeared." Cooper's son, John, who was eight years old when this took place, would remember the events of this night some sixty-nine years later: "I thought," said he, "that the Civil War had broken out again." By this time the neighbors, hearing the gunshots, were arriv- ing on the run. One who lived across the street from the bank claimed to have seen several men run into the fog and dart across the Battery. Another, Jefferson Downham, climbed up the ladder and into Black's room. Cooper's daughter, seeing him, cried out; only her father's recognition of Downham's voice when he yelled "Don't shoot!" saved him from being shot. Alexander Cooper, Richard's brother, was a lawyer and a di- rector of the bank. A methodical person, he took statements from his brother and Mr. Black. These statements were the basis of the report in the next day's edition of the Morning News, under the following headline: New Castle branch of the Farmers Bank of the State of Delaware. The upstairs window the would-be robbers entered is behind the tree Paper Money Whole No. 136 Richard G. Cooper, Cashier of the Farmers Bank. Page 102 SAT r t c spnow morn SEPT cyst- 4 thifi **4*-*/.01F 1. 407E $`Ert ,Critit fr4tu 4, ifro,:confe4, (A1 :. of the The certificate issued to Cooper by the bank It reads: "Dover, Del. January 5, 1888. At a meeting of the Stockholders of the Farmers Bank held at the bank- ing house in Dover this day the following resolution was adopted: RE- SOLVED, that the thanks of this bank be and they are hereby tendered to RICHARD G. COOPER, the cashier of the branch bank at New Cas- tle, for his courage and purpose of mind exhibited in defending the bank when it was entered by burglars on the morning of September 30, 1887, and that a copy of the above resolution signed by the chairman of this meeting and attested by the Secretary and framed, be presented to Mr. Cooper. - BURGLARS FOILED Masked Men Fail to Rob New Castle's Bank Cashier Cooper Shoots a Villain in the Face The reporter related in the story that a hat, "a neat black derby", was found in the hall near the lantern dropped by the wounded man; the hat was smeared with blood. Describing Black's room, the reporter stated: There the bloody trail continued. Against the wall where the man fell were large smears of blood on the paper as if from his hand. A white cover on a little table nearby was dotted with crimson. Several of Mr. Black's newly laundered shirts lying on a chair looked as though they had been sprinkled with blood, the blots being half an inch in diameter. . The window sill was bloody and the wooden side of a wheelbarrow, which the burglars had placed on the tine of the parlor window to deaden the sound, was li- terally covered with blood. On it was also found a piece of flesh half an inch long. It looked like a piece of a man's tongue very much resembling gristle. On every one of the flat rungs of the ladder, with the exception of two, were smears of blood. The trail of blood led across the battery and onto a wharf, indicating the men had escaped in a boat. A re- ward of $1500 was offered by the bank, and Pinkerton Detectives were called in to investigate. The only evi- dence discovered was a canvas satchel found under a freight car, which contained files, powder, dynamite and fuses. Alexander Cooper added a footnote to the story at a later date: About six months afterwards the dead body of a man, well dressed and with a handsome ring upon one of his fingers was found in the marsh near the mouth of Christiana River. His face was disfigured beyond recog- nition but from his general figure and clothing and up- on investigation by the detectives, it was concluded that he was the burglar whom Mr. Cooper shot in the hall. Richard Cooper was later called to New York by the police. They were holding a man who was charged with murder. The man's alibi was that, at the time of the murder, he was rowing across the Delaware River on his way to rob the Farmers Bank. All of the men who had entered the bank building had worn masks, so Cooper could not identify the man. However, the man called Cooper by name when he entered the cell. The man confirmed that he and his companions had indeed escaped by boat; he also stated that the man Cooper had shot had died in the boat, and that his body had been thrown overboard into the Delaware River. At the annual meeting of the Farmers Bank's stockholders the following January, Cooper was presented with an award of $500, and a framed certificate of appreciation for his actions. REFERENCE THE FARMERS BANK. An Historical Account of the President, Direc- tors and Company of the Farmers State Bank of the State of Delaware. 1807-1957. Dudley C. Lunt. Copyright 1957, The Farmers Bank of the State of Delaware. Dover, Delaware. ABSTRACT A TOTAL of 24,579 $500 and 7,454 $1000 national bank notes were delivered to 100 issuing banks innine states between October 15, 1864 and June 10, 1885. These totals include 685 $500 and 75$1000 national gold bank notes delivered to four banks, one in Massachusetts and three in Cali- fornia. Both Original Series and Series of 1875 $500 and $1000 were issued. The $500 and $1000 notes were authorized by the Acts of February 25, 1863 and June 3, 1864. High denomination national bank notes ceased to be issued after 1885 for three reasons: (1) several issuing banks went out of business before the end of 1885; (2) the National Gold Bank users closed or converted to non- gold status before the end of 1885 and elected not to order high denominations thereafter; and (3) the charters of the remaining issuing banks were extended before the end of 1885. Of the ten treasury signature combinations used on national bank notes through April 30, 1885, only the Jeffries-Spinner combination did not appear at least once on a $500 or $1000 national bank note. A total of 173 $500 and 21 $1000 national bank notes were outstanding in 1938. Three of the $500 s are known to have survived, but none of the $1000s have been seen. All the $1000 national gold bank notes were redeemed. Of the four $500 national gold bank notes shown to have been outstanding in 1915, none have been found. PURPOSE The objective of this article is to provide a comprehensive overview of issuances of United States $500 and $1000 national bank notes. Paper Money Whole No. 136 The Page 103 United States $500 & $1,000 National Bank NoteS DREAMS w HEN a national bank note collector dreams of findingthat special hoard, sooner or later his fantasy grows toinclude a $500 or $1000 national bank note. A speci- men of a $1000 national bank note is the most eagerly antici- pated of all the undiscovered United States type notes. Such a dream is possible. In 1938, 173 $500s and 21 $1000s were still outstanding (Comptroller of the Currency, issued annually). A $1000 note had enormous purchasing power in the 1865-1885 period. It would be equivalent to having $100,000 today. The value of the only privately held $500 national bank notes has paced inflation. The Carter $500 Series of 1875 specimen reportedly sold for between $100,000 and $110,000 recently, just about right I would say. We know what the $1000 s looked like because certified proofs from Bureau of Engraving and Printing Series of 1875 THE PAPER COLUMN by Peter Huntoon plates are preserved in the Smithsonian collections. Original Series specimens produced by the National Bank Note Com- pany are also extant. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing certified proofs hold- ings were periodically raided for the $1000 specimens by Bureau employees as such notes were needed for displays or presentation pieces. We find that the Bureau proof $1000s are commonly cut off from what was once a 500-1000 plate proof. Consequently, these denominations are rarities even in proof! SUMMARY STATISTICS Tables 1 and 2 show that 32,033 high denomination notes reached 100 banks in nine states. A total of 37,063 high de- nomination notes were printed, the difference of 5,030 notes being unissued and cancelled. Massachusetts holds the record for number of user banks with 47, of which 34 were in Boston (see Table 3). Massachuetts also led the other states for total number of $500s issued with 10,948 notes having a face value of $5,474,000, and representing 44.6 percent of the nation- wide total (see Table 4). New York with a total of 5,367 $1000 notes, $5,367,000 face value, issued 72 percent of the $1000 notes. New York's $9,672,000 high denomination issue repre- sents 49 percent of the nationwide $19,743,500 grand total. NNUONAI: {TR it EMT. ,444,1".4.4 '4■Z ingliSIVWCANIt : , e Hundred Dollars VW.11.11.[Cr.1.14 MT eV TAR ..1.11 • .11.441.14 44,11.7. 14..411044. .144 6411.410.41.1 MS =If P.74. SIM 44.0.114.. VIP 4...f• Nt.t...L.444.14 6..11111:14 MM. V. .1.11.14.11. 44.1 TIM I.•TMV To 44,41.1[044.441.114”..11 .41■41.14.411.44....114. 1,41.114.7. .11/441".P1'4, .111C.168.1,111N4rJ ...43109■161. IMMO. MOWN .4 11,1411031.4 vsmorwlormn•Imola sneo... ■7444. 40.1.4.4.11,2, N. •marls ON 011t r.1414. 1.1.141.1 41441.144111 TIM ' IS1114.14‘ . 41.1. . let Arnat.I.I. A L4.141r. 3.1.4.4410 .11.144.41.84.1GPM A.m. ...vow anir 111.1,11“ ui,(1541 Page 104 A complete list of all the $500 and $1000 national bank notes printed and issued appears in Table 5. Table 6 shows the periods during which they were issued. The popularity of the various sheet combinations is revealed in Table 7. Table 1. Summary statistics for the $500 and $1000 National Bank note issues. $500 $1000 ORIG printed 22330 5963 1875 printed 6368 2402 Total printed 28698 8365 ORIG issued 20208 5818 1875 issued 4371 1636 Total issued 24579 7454 ORIG banks 97 36 1875 banks 26* 8 Total banks 100 37 * $500 notes printed for five other banks but not issued. Paper Money Whole No. 136 Table 2. Number of banks in each state that issued $500 and $1000 National Bank notes. $500 Notes $1000 Notes ORIG 1875 Total % of Total ORIG 1875 Total % of Total AL 1 1 1.0 CA 3 3 3.0 LA 1 1 1.0 ME 3 1 3 3.0 MD 7 1 7 7.0 3 3 8.1 MA 46 12 47 47.0 9 2 10 27.0 NY 19 6 20 20.0 17 5 17 46.0 PA 11 3 11 11.0 5 1 5 13.5 RI 7 2 7 7.0 2 2 5.4 Totals 97 26 100 36 8 37 Table 3. Cities containing five or more banks that issued $500 or $1000 National Bank notes. City Number of Banks Boston 34 New York 20 Baltimore 7 Providence 6 Philadelphia 5 Pittsburgh 5 / //W./ // , - RS _ - NATIONAL BANK 01\ 74i IN (,:r4rjr4q1), " '•; t4J 1„ ti_.^5..^t[tatial§firiA wwriza-VraL4, Paper Money Whole No. 136 Table 4. Numbers of $500 and $1000 National Bank notes issued in each state. Page 105 $500 and $1000 $500 Notes $1000 Notes Combined OR1G 1875 Total % of Total ORIG 1875 Total % of Total Total % of Total Alabama 292 292 1.2 292 1.0 California 610 610 2.5 610 1.9 Louisiana 720 720 2.9 720 2.2 Maine 560 9 569 2.3 569 1.7 Maryland 860 50 910 3.7 142 142 1.9 1052 3.3 Massachusetts 10106 842 10948 44.6 1407 160 1567 21.0 12515 39.1 New York 5767 2843 8610 35.0 3902 1465 5367 72.0 13977 43.6 Pennsylvania 1175 230 1405 5.7 237 11 248 3.3 1653 5.2 Rhode Island 410 105 515 2.1 130 130 1.8 645 2.0 Total 20208 4371 24579 5818 1636 7454 32033 Original Series and Series of 1875 impressions for the First Na- tional Bank of Lynn, MA (638). The 1875 plate was prepared by altering the Original Series plate through the addition of the "printed at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Treasury Dept" logo, and changing the treasury signatures to those then currently in office. Notice that the bureau logo was omitted from the 1875 plate in error. Page 106 Paper Money Whole No. 136 Table 5. $500 and $1000 National Bank notes printed and issued. Serials Sent to State City Title Charter Series tank Serials Treasury Serials Bank 500 single note sheets Alabama California Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Mobile San Francisco New Orleans Portland laltleore Boston First NB First N Gold B N Gold B and T Co N Gold 13 of D 0 Hills New Orleans NB Asso Canal NB Merchants NB Casco NB N P nd Planters Western NB Citizens NB N Mechanics B First NB NB of the Republic N Hide and Leather B Merchant. NB Blackstone NB Continental NB N Exchange II Eliot NB 13 1595 1741 1994 2014 1825 941 1023 1060 1252 1325 1384 1413 200 379 460 475 514 524 529 536 1875 ORIG ORIG ORIG ORIC ORIC ORIG 1875 ORIG ORIG ORIG ORIC 1875 ORIC ORIG ORIC ORIC 1875 ORIG 1875 01110 ORIG ORIG ORIG 1 - 400 401 - 550 551 - 700 1 - 60 61 - 110 111 - 200 201 - 300 1 - 50 51 - 100 101 - 150 151 - 250 1 - 60 I - 320 321 - 500 501 - 720 1 - 100 1 - 60 61 - 80 81 - 120 121 - 140 141 - 170 1 - 20 1 - 100 101 - 150 151 - 250 251 - 350 1 - 62 1 - 100 101 - 140 141 - 240 241 - 340 341 - 540 1 - 40 41 - 70 1 - SO 1 - 40 41 - 60 1 - 100 101 - 200 201 - 250 251 - 350 351 - 450 451 - 550 551 - 1550 1 - 100 101 - 140 141 - 190 1 - ISO 151 - 250 251 - 278 I - 20 1 - 500 501 - 540 541 - 640 641 - 740 1 - 30 31 - 6C 61 - 80 1 - 100 101 - 200 201 - 250 251 - 280 281 - 310 311 - 140 341 - 370 1 - ISO 151 - 190 191 - 290 291 490 1 - 500 1 - 100 101 - 200 201 - 230 231 - 249 A1051 - 41450 A2521 - A2670 A3441 - A3590 M11431 - 1411490 813112 - M13161 1113262 - M13351 M13429 - M13528 M13359 - M13408 M13529 - M13578 M13629 - M13678 1113946 - M14045 M13686 - M13745 M11611 - M11930 M12654 - M12833 1112892 - M13111 7397 - 7496 10332 - 10391 M11354 - 1411173 M15242 - M15281 M16642 - 1116661 1117508 - M17537 A4001 - A4020 6669 - 6768 M14046 - M14095 M14662 - 1114761 1117578 - 1117677 10502 - 10563 8145 - 8244 9795 - 9834 1113162 - 1113261 MI4332 - M14431 M17308 - M17507 8317 - 8350 10631 - 10660 Al - A50 10455 - 10494 10611 - 10630 599 - 698 5183 - 5282 8858 - 8907 10804 - 10903 811224 - 1111323 M12311 - M12410 1115362 - M16361 813 - 912 4656 - 4695 6348 - 6397 4031 - 4180 7290 - 7389 M12864 - M12891 A3891 - A3910 92 - 591 10725 - 10764 10904 - 11003 M12161 - 1112260 A3041 - 43070 A3591 - A3620 A3871 - A3890 920 - 1019 2183 - 2282 5283 - 5332 10691 - 10720 M11004 - 411033 M11324 - M11353 1112261 - M12290 1027 - 1176 M11034 - M11073 M11124 - MI1223 M12441 - M12640 5641 - 5140 2597 - 2696 5083 - 5182 10774 - 10803 1111082 - MI1100 1 I 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - - 292 - 300 - 250 - 60 - 720 - 100 - 170 - 9 - 290 - 62 526 70 50 60 659 190 278 none 740 80 370 490 200 Paper Money Whole No. 136 Page 107 Sr ate Lat Title Charter Series Bank Serials Treasury Serials Serials Sent to Bank 500 single note sheets 250 - 270 MI1571 - M11591 271 - 290 M12291 - MI2310 1 - 290 1875 1 - 100 A951 - 41050 1 - 100 Boylston NB 545 ORIG I - 100 706 - 805 101 - 150 813579 - 813628 1 - 150 Howard NB 578 ORIC 1 - 250 1184 - 1433 251 - 270 M12111 - 812130 1 - 270 Shawmut NB 582 ORIC 1 - 100 1441 - 1540 101 - 250 3810 - 3959 251 - 290 M16562 - M16601 1 - 290 Washington NB 601 01110 l - 100 1869 - 1968 101 - 200 M14432 - M14531 1 - 2001875 1 - 40 A3621 - 43660 I - 40 New England NB 603 ORIC 1 - 100 1655 - 1754 101 - 120 4181 - 4200 121 - 180 814172 - M14231 181 - 240 814602 - 1114661 241 - 280 M17678 - 817717 1 - 280 1875 1 - 100 4151 - A250 1 - 46 N City B 609 ORIC 1 - 100 1762 - 1861101 - 200 4201 - 4300 1 - 200 Suffolk NB 629 ORIC 1 - 300 2290 - 2589 301 - 450 7654 - 7803 1 - 450 Atlantic NB 643 ORIG 1 - 100 4338 - 4437 1 - 1001875 1 - 100 A3141 - A3240 1 - 100 Shoe and Leather NB 646 ORIG 1 - 150 2961 - 3110 1 - 150 Atlas NB 654 ORIC 1 - 250 2704 - 2953 251 - 301 10064 - 10114302 - 321 10661 - 10680 1 - 3211875 I - 100 A2671 - A2770 I - 100 Freeman, NB 665 ORIG 1 - 100 3325 - 3424 101 - 120 M11931 - 811950 I - 120 NB of North America 672 ORIG - 200 3118 - 3317201 - 260 8384 - 8443 I - 260 Maverick NB 677 ORIG 1 - 100 3596 - 3695 1 - 100 Faneull Hall NB 847 ORIG 1 - 380 4703 - 5082 1 - 380 Globe NB 936 ORIG 1 - 150 5377 - 5526 1 - 150 N Union 11 985 ORIG I - 50 6612 - 6661 51 - 130 9710 - 9789 131 - 230 #15042 - 815141 1 - 224 N Eagle B 993 ORIG 1 - 200 6148 - 6347 201 - 300 M12011 - 812110 1 - 200 Old Boston NB 1015 ORIG 1 - 200 6405 - 6604 201 - 266 H14096 - 814161 267 - 366 M15142 - M15241 I - 170 167 - 416 817718 - M17767 201 - 393 1875 1 - 20 43021 - 43090 none Columbian NB 1029 ORIG 1 - 100 6833 - 6932 101 - 165 8245 - 8309 166 - 205 9215 - 9254 1 - 205 N 1295 ORIG 1 - 150 7504 - 7653 151 - 198 9662 - 9709 1 - 198 N Webster B 1527 ORIG 1 - 200 8915 - 9114 201 - 260 814762 - 814821 261 - 300 M17768 - 817807 1 - 293 1875 1 - 200 4251 - A450 201 - 220 A3021 - A3040 none Brighton N Market 11 806 ORIC 1 - 50 4606 4656 1 - SO Lowell Appleton NB 986 ORIG 1 - 20 8364 - 838321 - 28 M11074 - M11081 29 - 39 M11101 - 811111 40 - 99 m11951 - M12010 100 - 139 M14562 - 1114601 140 - 339 816362 - 816561 340 - 639 M17808 - M18107 1 - 319 1875 1 - 50 43091 - A3140 51 - 100 A3931 - 43980 none Lyon First NB 638 ORIG 1 - )0 3760 - 3809 51 - 70 M11404 - M11423 71 - 100 M12131 - M12160 1 - 100 1875 1 - 20 44021 - 44040 21 - 40 A4057 - 44076 1 - 20 Page 108 State Title Charter Series lank Serial. Paper Money Whole No. 136 Serials Seat to Treasury Serials lank New Bedford Mechanics NB 743 ORIG 1 - 30 3967 - 3996 31 - 60 4301 - 4330 61 - 90 H11374 - M11403 91 - 120 M12411 - 912440 121 - 150 M15282 - M15311 I - 150 1875 1 - 50 62971 - A3020 1 - 50 Merchants NB 799 ORIC 1 - 40 4559 - 4598 1 - 40 Roxbury Peoples NB 595 ORIG I 50 4445 - 4494 1 - 50 N Rockland B 615 ORIC 1 - 50 3703 - 3752 1 - 50 Salem Merchants NB 726 ORIG 1 20 4004 - 4023 I - 20 Taunton Bristol County NB 766 ORIG 1 - 50 4502 - 4551 51 - 62 M11112 - M11123 63 - 74 M11592 - M11603 75 - 94 M13409 - 1113428 95 - 114 M14542 - M14561 115 - 134 1115022 - M15041 135 - 154 M15342 - M15361 155 - 194 M16602 - 916641 195 - 234 M17538 - M17577 I - 234 1875 1 - 20 A3981 - A4000 21 - 36 A4041 - A4056 37 - 46 A4077 - A4086 1 - 46 Machinists NB 947 ORIC 1 - 30 5340 - 5369 31 - 43 M12641 - M12653 44 53 MI4162 - MI4171 54 - 83 M15312 - 815341 84 - 123 817268 - M17307 1 - 123 1875 1 100 651 - A150 I - 100 Worcester Mechanics NB 1135 ORIG 1 - 50 6776 - 6825 1 - 50 New York New York First NB 29 1875 1 - 500 A451 - A950 501 - 1500 A1451 - A2450 1501 - 1600 A3661 - A3760 1 - 1498 Fourth NB 290 ORIG 1 - 400 9262 - 9661 401 - 600 M13746 - M13945 601 - 700 M14232 - 814331 701 - 900 814822 - MI5021 901 - 1500 M16662 - M17261 1 - 1316 N Park B 891 ORIG 1 - 100 5534 - 5633 101 - 400 6990 7289 401 - 500 9115 - 9214 501 - 505 9790 9794 1 - 505 1875 1 - 60 A2451 - A2510 none B of New York N Banking Ass° 1393 ORIG 1 - 300 7838 - 8137 1 - 300 Aaerlcan Exchange NB 1394 ORIG 1 - 350 8508 - 8857 351 - 354 10721 - 10724 1 - 354 Pennsylvania Lancaster Farmers NB 597 ORIC 1 - 100 1548 - 1647 101 106 M17262 - M17267 I - 64 Philadelphia Philadelphia NB 539 ORIG 1 - 190 9874 - 10063 191 - 400 10115 - 10324 1 - 400 Pittsburgh Merchants and Manufacturers NB 613 ORIG I - 100 2083 - 2182 1 - 100 1875 1 - 200 A2771 - A2970 1 - 169 Citizens NB 619 ORIG 1 100 1976 - 2075 1 - 100 NB of Commerce 668 ORIG 1 - 100 3489 - 3588 101 - 180 M11491 - 911570 181 - 200 1112844 - M12863 1 - 200 1875 1 - 200 A3241 - A3440 1 - 50 Tradesmen. NB 678 ORIC 1 50 3432 - 3481 1 - 50 Rhode Island Pawtucket First NB 843 MG 1 - 25 9842 - 9866 26 - 34 10765 - 10773 35 - 44 M12834 - M12843 1 - 44 1875 1 - 110 A3761 - A3870 1 - 75 Providence Rhode Island NB 983 ORIG 1 - 40 10571 - 10610 1 - 40 NB of North AMeriC8 1036 0820 1 - 50 8451 - 8500 51 - 106 10392 - 10447 1 - 106 Merchants NB 1131 ORIC 1 - 50 6940 - 6989 1 - 50 Blackstone Canal NB 1328 ORIC 1 - 20 7811 - 7830 21 - 30 10681 - 10690 31 - 40 M14532 - M14541 1 - 40 1875 1 - 10 A2511 - 82520 11 - 30 A3911 - 63930 1 - 30 1000 single note sheets Merchants NB 475 ORIG 1 - 150 213 - 362Massachusetts Boston 151 - 250 697 - 796 Paper Money Whole No. 136 Page 109 Stste ILL Title Charter Series Bank Serials Trtaaury Serials Serials Sent to Bank 251 - 270 932 - 951 271 - 370 L952 - LI051 1 - 370 Shawmut NB 582 ORIG 1 - 50 370 - 419 1 - 50Atlas NB 654 ORIG 1 170 427 - 596 171 - 188 914 - 931 1 - 188 New York New York Fourth NB 290 ORIG 1 - 100 106 - 205 101 - 200 597 - 696 201 - 500 L1052 - 11351 1 - 500 II of Nev York N Banking Asso 1393 ORIG I 110 804 - 913 1 - 110 500-1000 sheets Baltimore Commercial and Farmers NB 1303 ORIG 1 - 30 1408 1437 1 - 30Maryland Merchants NB 1336 ORIG 1 - 40 2123 - 2162 1 - 40 Union NB of Maryland 1489 ORIG 1 - 70 1935 - 2004 71 - 72 2236 2237 1 - 72 Massachusetts Boston NB Commerce 554 ORIC 1 - 100 327 - 426 101 - 120 691 - 710 121 - 160 1569 - 1608 161 - 184 2062 - 2085 185 - 204 2238 - 2257 205 - 254 K2258 - K2307 255 - 354 K2495 - K2594 1 - 354 1875 1 - 20 A761 - A780 21 - 40 A1788 - A1807 41 - 100 A1843 - A1902 1 - 100 Tremont NB 625 ORIG 1 - 150 541 - 690 151 - 165 K2480 - K2494 1 - 165 Massachusetts NB 974 ORIG 1 - SO 1010 - 1059 51 - 58 K2308 - K23I5 59 - 88 K2682 - K2711 1 - 58 State NB 1028 ORIG 1 - 100 846 - 945 101 - 117 2219 - 2235 1 - 117Kidder N Gold B 1699 ORIG 1 - 75 K2343 - K2417 1 - 75 New Bedford NB of Commerce 690 ORIG 1 - 30 718 - 747 1 - 30 Salem First NB 407 1875 1 - 40 Al - A40 41 - 60 A1768 - A1787 1 - 60 New York New York Tenth NB 307 ORIG 1 - 50 K2425 - K2474 1 - 50 Ninth NB 387 ORIG 1 - 100 113 - 212 1 - 100 1875 I - 100 A661 - A760 101 - 390 A781 - A1070 1 - 390 Trsdesmens NB 905 ORIG 1 - 20 792 - 811 1 - 20 1875 1 - 20 441 - A60 21 - 30 A1808 - 41817 1 - 30 N Shoe and Leather B 917 ORIG 1 - 20 819 - 838 1 - 20 NB of the Republic 1000 ORIG 1 - 50 953 - 1002 1 - 50 Merchants Exchange NB 1080 ORIG 1 - 15 2170 - 2184 16 - 20 K2475 - K2479 1 - 20 Metropolitan NB 1121 ORIG 1 - 205 1616 - 1820 1 - 205 1875 1 - 667 A1101 - A1767 1 - 481 Mechanics NB 1250 ORIC 1 - 50 1244 - 1293 1 - 50 Union NB 1278 ORIG I - 170 1067 - 1236 1 - 170 Merchants NB 1370 ORIG 1 - 100 1301 - 1400 1 - 100 1875 I - 600 A61 - 4660 1 - 64 Chatham NB 1375 ORIC 1 - 10 1482 - 1491 1 - 10 Continental NB 1389 ORIG 1 - 70 1499 - 1568 1 - 70 N City B 1461 ORIG 1 - 100 1828 - 1927 1 - 100 NB of the State of NY 1476 ORIG 1 - 27 2192 - 2218 l - 27 Pennsylvania Philadelphia Manufacturers NB 557 ORIG 1 - 100 434 - 533 1 - 52 101 - 120 8.2316 - K2335 101 - 120 Consolidated NB 561 ORIG 1 - 100 220 - 319 1 - 33 Union NB 563 ORIG 1 - 80 K2602 - K268I 1 - 80 1875 1 - 30 A1071 - A1100 31 - 55 A1818 - 41842 I - II Peoples NB 727 ORIG 1 - 30 755 - 784 31 - 40 K2712 - K2721 1 - 40 Rhode Island Providence NB of Commerce 1366 ORIG I - 30 1445 - 1475 -fRCZ11,4T1. 1,410 tve Urlt lid red 1101 tars E 'YOUR *404"'" . stallguo ev1140 , IT I' N YORK • 4.40(1 E=14'0;•?: Page 110 Paper Money Whole No. 136 State ELLL Title Charter Series Bank Serials Treesury Serials Serials Sent to Bank 31 - 60 2086 - 2115 61 - 80 K2722 - K274I I - 80 Asericen NB 1472 ORIC 1 - 50 2012 - 2061 I - 50 500-500-500-500 sheets NB of Coamerce 733 0610 I - i75 120 - 694 I - 575New York New York 1875 1 - 95 Al - A95 1 - 95 500-500-500-1000 sheets Western NB 656 MI6 1 - 12 134 - 145 I - 12Pennsylvania Philadelphia 1000-1000-1000-1000 sheets NB of Comerce 733 0616 1 - 575 127 - 701 1 - 575New York New York 1875 1 - 125 Al - Al25 1 - 125 USEFULNESS The $500 and $1000 denomination national bank notes did not enjoy wide circulation due to their huge purchasing power. Rather, they probably served mostly as vault cash to meet re- serve requirements. As a result many undoubtedly remained in very nice condition until they were finally sent in for redemp- tion. The banks that received these notes also ordered most if not all of the other available Original Series and Series of 1875 denominations. There was one exception. The New Orleans National Banking Association (1825) used only $500s. Most $500s and $1000s were probably ordered as a show of financial prowess as much as for any other purpose. Many early Boston banks enthusiastically ordered the high denominations, and those banks preferred $500s. A few Philadelphia banks got into the act in December, 1864, by ordering 500-1000 combi- nations. Ultimately, the New York banks showed their raw power by ordering the majority of the 500-1000 sheets made. As shown in Table 8, the first $500 was sent to the Merchants National Bank of Boston (475) in a shipment dated October 15, 1864. The Fourth National Bank of New York (290) received the first $1000 in a shipment sent November 30, 1864. As shown dramatically in Figures 1 and 2, the strong early interest in $500 and $1000 notes had largely worn off by the end of 1866. No new plates were ordered between 1867 and 1870. Of the ten banks that ordered high denomination plates beginning in 1871, four were national gold banks in 1871 and 1872. Paper Money Whole No. 136 Page 111 Table 6. $500 Chart er City State and $1000 National Bank sheets shipped by the Comptroller of the Currency to the banks with the dates of the first and last shipments. Original Series Series of 1875 CancelledCombinat ion Serials Datesa Serials Datesa 29 New York NY 500 1 - 1498 Sep 26, 1878 - Aug 17, 1881 1875: 1499 -1600 200 Boston MA 500 1 - 659 Nov 3, 1864 - Dec 28, 1882 ORIG: 660 -1550 290 New York NY 500 1 -1316 Nov 24, 1865 - Sep 12, 1882 ORIG:1317 -1500 1000 1 - 500 Nov 30, 1864 - Dec 17, 1874 307 New York NY 500-1000 1 - 50 Aug 16, 1871 - Feb 16, 1872 379 Boston MA 500 1 - 190 Nov 17, 1864 - Jan 9, 1868 387 New Yore NY 500-1000 1 - 100 Dec 5, 1864 - Feb 11, 1865 1 - 390 May 15, 1879 - Dec 27, I1182 407 Salem MA 500-1000 1 - 60 May 19, 1877 - Dec 12, 1882 460 Boston MA 500 1 - 278 Feb 17, 1865 - Dec 18, 1872 1875: 1 - 20 475 Boston MA 500 1 - 740 Oct 15, 1864 - Apr 10, 1874 1 - 80 Nov 19, 1880 - Dec 9, 1881 1000 1 - 370 Dec 27, 1864 - Jul 20, 1875 514 Boston MA 500 1 - 370 Dec 6, 1864 - Sep 14, 1872 524 Boston MA 500 1 - 490 Dec 8, 1864 - Mar 27, 1884 529 Boston MA 500 1 - 200 May 19, 1866 ORIG: 201 - 500 536 Boston MA 500 1 - 290 Jan 19, 1865 - Nov 27, 1870 1 - 100 Dec 23, 1876 - Jun 12, 1878 539 Philadelphia PA 500 1 - 400 Feb 24, 1866 - May 7, 1866 545 Boston MA 500 1 - 150 Nov 17, 1864 - Jun 5, 1874 554 Boston MA 500-1000 1 - 354 Dec 8, 1864 - Apr 21, 1879 1 - 100 Apr 1, 1880 - Jul 30, 1884 557 Philadelphia PA 500-1000 1 - 120 Dec 15, 1864 - Mar 14, 1874 ORIG: 53 - 100 561 Philadelphia PA 500-1000 1 - 33 Dec 8, 1864 ()RIG: 34 - 100 563 Philadelphia PA 500-1000 1 - 80 May 8, 1873 - Mar 17, 1881 1 - 11 Feb 27, 1884 - Mar 19, 1884 1875: 12 - 55 578 Boston MA 500 1 - 270 Dec 15, 1864 - Oct 26, 1881 582 Boston MA 500 1 - 290 Dec 15, 1864 - Nov 19, 1875 1000 1 - 50 Feb 17, 1865 595 Roxbury MA 500 1 - 50 Mar 10, 1865 - Oct 20, 1870 597 Lancaster PA 500 1 - 64 Dec 30, 1864 - Mar 3, 1875 URIC: 65 - 106 601 Boston MA 500 1 - 200 Jan 9, 1865 - Jul 8, 1881 1 - 40 Dec 3, 1881 - Mar 9, 1883 603 Boston MA 500 1 - 280 Dec 27, 1864 - Jun 12, 1875 1 - 46 Feb 9, 1877 - Oct 20, 1884 1875: 47 - 100 609 Boston MA 500 1 - 200 Dec 30, 1864 - Mar 2, 1865 613 Pittsburgh PA 500 1 - 100 Jan 12, 1865 - Sep 18, 1865 1 - 169 Apr 8, 1884 - Nov 10; 1884 1875: 170 - 200 615 Roxbury MA 500 1 - 50 Feb 3, 1865 - May 27, 1872 619 Pit tsburgh PA 500 1 - 100 Jan 9, 1865 - May 29, 1876 625 Boston MA 500-1000 1 - 165 Jan 20, 1865 - Oct 31, 1872 629 Boston MA 500 1 - 450 Jan 12, 1865 - Sep 7, 1865 638 Lynn MA 500 1 - 100 Feb 3, 1865 - Sep 18, 1876 1 - 20 Mar 13, 1884 - Apr 3, 1884 1875: 21 - 40 643 Boston MA 500 1 - 100 Mar 10, 1865 1 - 100 Apr 27, 1881 646 Boston MA 500 1 - 150 Jan 18, 1865 - Feb 4, 1873 654 Boston MA 500 1 - 321 Jan 18, 1865 - Jan 4, 1873 1 - 100 Jun 7, 1878 - Nov 7, 1884 1000 1 - 180 Feb 17, 1865 - Apr 28, 11366 656 Philadelphia PA 3x500+1000 1 - 12 Feb 24, 1866 665 Boston MA 500 1 - 120 Jan 20, 1865 - Mar 24, 1875 668 Pittsburgh PA 500 1 - 200 Feb 4, 1865 - Dec 13, 1872 1 - 50 Jul 19, 1884 - Dec 2, 1884 1875: 51 - 200 672 Boston MA 500 1 - 260 Jan 20, 1865 - Nov 18, 1870 677 Boston MA 500 1 - 100 Jan 31, 1865 678 Pittsburgh PA 500 1 - 513 Feb 4, 1865 - Jan 31, 1873 690 New Bedford MA 500-1000 1 - 30 Feb 10, 1865 726 Salem MA 500 1 - 20 Feb 17, 1865 727 Pittsburgh PA 500-1000 1 - 40 Apr 18, 1865 - Jul 13, 1874 733 New York NY 4x500 1 - 575 Apr 24, 1865 - Mar 25, 1875 1 - 95 Feb 28, 1882 - Jun 9, 1883 4x1000 1 - 575 Apr 24, 1865 - Dec 23, 1876 1 - 125 Nov 9, 1877 743 New Bedford MA 500 1 - 150 Feb 23, 1865 - Apr 16, 1875 1 - 50 May 12, 1880 - May 4, 1882 766 Taunton MA 500 1 - 234 Mar 10, 1865 - Jan 3, 1883 1 - 46 Mar 5, 1883 - Dec 9, 1884 799 New Bedford MA 500 1 - 40 Mar 10, 1865 B06 Brighton MA 500 1 - 50 Mar 14, 1865 Page 112 Charter City State Original Series Paper Money Series of 1875 Whole No. 136 CancelledCombination Serials Datesa Serials Datesa 843 Pawtucket RI 500 1 - 44 Feb 24, 1865 Aug 14, 1873 1 - 75 Oct 8, 1881 - Dec 2, 1884 1875: 76 - 110 847 Boston MA 500 1 - 380 Mar 24, 1865 891 New York NY 500 1 - 505 May 31, 1865 Nov 2, 1867 1875: 1 - 60 905 New York NY 500-1000 1 - 20 May 31, 1865 1 - 30 Jun 31, 1878 - Oct 17, 1883 917 New York NY 500-1000 1 - 20 May 31, 1865 936 Boston MA 500 1 - 150 May 11, 1865 941 Portland NC 500 1 - 100 Dec 28, 1865 947 Taunton MA 500 1 - 123 Jan 10, 1865 - Feb 14, 1882 1 - 100 Feb 14, 1887 - Dec 15, 1884 974 Boston MA 500-1000 1 - 58 Jun 17, 1865 - Sep 30, 1871 URIC: 59 - 88 983 Prow idence RI 500 1 - 40 Jul 7, 1866 985 Boston MA 500 1 - 224 Jun 17, 1865 - Mar 20, 1885 ORIG: 225 - 230 986 Lowell MA 500 1 - 319 Dec 5, 1865 - Jan 26, 1885 URIC: 320 -639; 1875: 1 - 100 993 Boston MA 500 1 - 200 Jun 17, 1865 URIC: 201 - 300 1000 New York NY 500-1000 1 - 50 Jun 10, 1865 1015 Boston MA 500 1 - 393 Jun 17, 1865 - Aug 30, 1880 URIC: 171 -200, 394 -416; 1875: 1 - 20 1023 Portland ME 500 1 - 170 Jun 14, 1866 - Oct 25, 1875 1 - 9 Nov 11, 1884 1875: 10 - 20 1028 Boston MA 500-1000 1 - 117 Jun 10, 1865 - Oct 10, 1866 1029 Boston MA 500_ 1 - 205 Jun 30, 1865 - Nov 16, 1865 1036 Providence RI 500 1 - 106 Oct 14, 1865 - May 23, 1866 1060 Portland ME 500 1 - 290 Jun 30, 1865 - Jul 12, 1875 URIC: 291 - 350 1080 New York NY 500-1000 1 - 20 Mar 8, 1866 - Jan 3, 1873 1121 New York NY 500-1000 1 - 205 Oct 28, 1865 1 - 481 Apr 21, 1881 1875: 482 - 667 1131 Providence RI 500 1 - 50 Jun 30, 1865 - Apr 1, 1869 1135 Worcester MA 500 1 - 50 Jun 30, 1865 - Feb 17, 1875 1250 New York NY 500-1000 1 - 50 Aug 24, 1865 1252 Baltimore MD 500 1 - 62 Jun 7, 1866 1278 New York NY 500-1000 1 - 170 Aug 24, 1865 - Jul 25, 1868 1295 Boston MA 500 1 - 198 Aug 28, 1865 - Dec 29, 1866 1303 Baltimore MD 500-1000 1 - 30 Sep 25, 1865 1325 Baltimore MD 500 1 - 526 Sep 25, 1865 - Jun 10, 1885 URIC: 527 - 540 1328 Providence RI 500 1 - 40 Sep 25, 1865 - May 6, 1876 1 - 30 Mar 11, 1878 - Feb 6, 1884 1336 Baltimore MD 500-1000 1 - 40 Apr 28, 1866 1366 Providence RI 500-1000 1 - 80 Sep 25, 1868 - May 6, 1881 137U New York NY 500-1000 1 - 100 Sep 4, 1865 1 - 64 Oct 27, 1882 - Jul 17, 1884 1875: 65 - 600 1375 New York NY 500-1000 1 - 10 Sep 25, 1865 1384 Baltimore MD 500 1 - 70 Jun 13, 1866 - Sep 25, 1866 1 - 50 Apr 21, 1876 - Jun 22, 1883 1389 New York NY 500-1000 1 - 70 Sep 25, 1865 - Jan 17, 1868 1393 New York NY 500 1 - 300 Sep 25, 1865 1000 1 - 110 Feb 24, 1866 - Aug 11, 1883 1394 New York NY 500 1 - 354 Oct 16, 1865 - Dec 19, 1868 1413 Baltimore MD 500 1 - 60 Jun 7, 1866 - Jul 30, 1866 1461 New York NY 500-1000 1 - 100 Oct 30, 1865 1472 Providence RI 500-1000 1 - 50 Oct 30, 1865 1476 New York NY 500-1000 1 - 27 May 26, 1866 1489 Baltimore MD 500-1000 1 - 72 Oct 31, 1865 - Apr 4, 1876 1527 Boston MA 500 1 - 293 Nov 15, 1865 - Feb 11, 1876 Or-tIC.;: 294 -300; 1875: 1 - 220 1595 Mobile AL 500 1 - 292 May10, 1878 - Jan 2, 1884 1875: 293 - 700 1699 Boston MA 500-1000 1 - 75 Apr 8, 1871 1741 San Francisco CA 500 1 - 300 Apr 8, 1871 - Mar 30, 1882 1825 New Orleans LA 500 1 - 720 Jul 28, 1871 - Apr 1, 1872 1994 San Francisco CA 500 1 - 250 Jun 17, 1872 - Apr 5, 1873 2014 Sacramento CA 500 1 - 60 Aug 7, 1872 a. Single date indicates all sheets were shipped on same day. Original Series Sheet Combination Banks Sheets 500 1000 500-1000 4 a 500 3 o 500 • 4 a 1000 1000 66 5 29 1 1 1 15580 1218 2288 575 12 575 Paper Money Whole No. 136 Page 113 Table 13. First and last $500 and $1000 National Bank notes issued.Table 7. Actual usage of the MO and 31000 National Bank sheet combinations. Series of 1875 Total Banks Sheets Banks Sheets 18 2855 68 113439 none 5 1218 7 1136 30 1424 1 95 2 670 none 1 12 1 125 700 12000 $ 500's 10000 First Issued Last Issued Charter Date Charter Date °RIG $500 475 Oct 15, 1864 1325 J. 10, 1885 06610 $1000 290 Nov 30, 1864 1393 A. 11, 1883 1875 $500 1384 Apr 21, 1876 947 Dec 15, 1884 1875 $1000 407 May 19, 1877 554 Jul 30, 1880 Several banks that used the high denominations continued to receive them in periodic shipments from the Comptroller long after 1866. However, a measure of the lack of utility of the high denomination notes is reflected in the fact that the entire $500 and $1000 issuances for 25 banks were sent in a single ship- ment (see Table 6). Those banks never went back for more! By the end of October 1866, 54% of all the $500s and 63% of all the $1000s had already been issued to user banks. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the demand dwindled to a trickle during the next 19 years. Additional evidence that they were less than use- ful is the fact that when high denominations including $500. $1000 and $10,000 were authorized by Section 11 of the Em- ergency Currency (Aldrich-Vreeland) Act of May 30, 1908, none were prepared. For that matter it appears that 1908 de- signs were never produced. $ 1000'S 13000 4000 6000 4000 3000 0 0 z )— 0 0 0 2000z O z 2000 10 00 LAST 1500 NOTE ISSUED LAST $1000 NOTE ISSUED 00 0 0 0 0 t. 8-co co 0 00 c)?r, Figure 1. Numbers of $500 national bank notes outstanding on October 31 of each year between 1864 and 1930. The 685 Figure 2. Numbers of $1000 national bank notes outstanding national gold bank notes issued between 1871 and 1882 are on October 31 of each year between 1865 and 1930. The 75 omitted until 1915, when the last four still outstanding were national gold bank notes issued and redeemed in 1871 are added to the totals. omitted. "14'FAcy,. rive undyed liars • ■•• 4.1 , 1 Paper Money Whole No. 136Page 114 11000 10 00 0 $ 1000's$ 500'S 9000 4000 8000 7000 w U) U) w 6000 0 z 0 ccw 5000 co 2 z 4000 3000 3000 2000 1000 2000 1000 0 0 CD 0 coco o co co co co 0r-- co co co cocooo u)r--co Figure 3. Numbers of $500 national bank notes issued during Figure 4. Numbers of $1000 national bank notes issued during the year ending October 31 of each year between 1864 and the year ending October 31 of each year between 1865 and 1885. The 685 national gold bank notes issued between 1871 1884. The 75 national gold bank notes issued in 1871 are and 1882 are omitted. omitted. NAT14)Xii. CUItICENCY Frye Hun d ft-4 !Li .4.14,1xtb 0 t ;x4) ,:e fa* Z:•,) ■.'10t• Paper Money Whole No. 136 Page 115 The last $1000 was sent to the National Bank of Commerce, Boston (554) on July 30, 1884 in a shipment of 1875 $500- $1000 sheets. The last $500 was an Original Series sent to the Western National Bank of Baltimore (1325) on June 10, 1885. The demise of the $500 and $1000 national bank notes oc- curred in 1885 as a result of a combination of the following three factors. (1) Several issuing banks went out of business. (2) The two surviving national gold bank users converted to regular national bank status under the provisions of the Act of February 14, 1880, and elected not to use high denominations thereafter. (3) The remaining issuing banks were extended before 1886 under the provisions of the Act of July 12, 1882, and no series of 1882 $500 or $1000 notes were prepared for their use. The First National Bank of Mobile, Alabama (1595) was the last of the regular national banks to be extended in the group that is- sued high denomination notes, an event that occurred October 10, 1885. Of the four national gold banks that issued high denomination notes, the Kidder National Gold Bank of Boston (1699) and Na- tional Gold Bank and Trust Company of San Francisco (1994) liquidated respectively in 1872 and 1879. The First National Gold Bank of San Francisco (1741) and National Gold Bank of D.O. Mills and Company, Sacramento (2014) converted to regular status respectively in 1884 and 1883. Both elected not to use $500 or $1000 Series of 1875 denominations after their conversions. Consequently, the last of the high denomination gold bank notes was in a shipment of $500s to the First National Gold Bank of San Francisco (1741) on March 30, 1882. KIDDER NATIONAL GOLD BANK The Kidder National Gold Bank of Boston (1699) was the first national gold bank chartered, and holds the distinction of being the only one to utilize the 500-1000 combination. Its history was brief. On August 15, 1870, it deposited $50,000 in bonds to secure its circulation. This was followed on November 5, 1870, with an additional $100,000 bond deposit. The first ship- ment of notes was made to the bank on March 11. 1871 when it was sent 50 sheets of the 50-100 combination. Seventy-five sheets of its 500-1000 combination were received by the Comptroller on April 5, 1871, and sent to the bank three days later. The high denomination shipment boosted its circulation to a total of $120,000, the 80 percent legal limit for its $150,000 bondedness. These two shipments accounted for all the notes ever printed for the bank. All were Original Series notes and the $1000s were the only $1000 national gold bank notes made. Although the notes were received by the bank, they never reached circulation. All were returned and redeemed by the Comptroller on December 4, 1871. The bank sold its bonds on December 9th and 19th in $140,000 and $10,000 increments. thus liquidating its capacity to secure circulation. The bank was liquidated on November 8, 1872. Proofs remain of the $50 and $100 denominations (See Hessler, 1979), but none seem to re- main of the $500 and $1000 denominations. EXOTIC PLATE COMBINATIONS Table 7 shows that three truly impressive sheet combina- tions emerged from the $500 and $1000 issuances. specifical- ly the 500-500-500-1000, 500-500-500-500, and 1000- 1000- 1000- 1000 combinations. The unique 500-500-500-1000 combination was made for the Western National Bank of Philadelphia (656) and was sent to press only once to produce 12 Original Series sheets that were shipped to the bank on February 24, 1866. The 4-subject $500 and $1000 plates were made for the Na- tional Bank of Commerce, New York (733) and each was used for various Original Series and Series of 1875 printings. The first shipment from these two plates was sent to the bank on April 24, 1865. The last shipment was sent from the $500 plate on June 9, 1883. Only five banks used the single subject $1000 plate, namely charters 290, 475, 582, 654 and 1393. This plate combination was used only for Original Series printings, and they were shipped to the banks inclusively between November 30, 1864 and August 11, 1883. TREASURY SERIAL NUMBERS The serial numbers—both treasury and bank—on large size national bank notes are sheet numbers, therefore all subjects on a sheet carried identical numbers. A separate group of treasury serial numbers was assigned to each different plate combination in both the Original Series and Series of 1875. Each of the var- ious treasury serial groups started with serial Al in the Series of 1875 and advanced in consecutive order. This simple system did not prevail in the Original Series. Each of the Original Series treasury numbering groups began at a different arbitrarily chosen starting number. For example, the first one-subject 500 sheet was made for the Merchants Na- tional Bank of Boston (475) and carried the unprefixed treasury number 92. An additional complexity arose from the fact that early printings in the Original Series were separated from those of other banks by skips of seven treasury numbers. For example, the first and second one-subject 500 printings, respectively for Boston (475) and Boston (200), skipped treasury serials 592-598. This practice was eventually abandoned and num- bering became consecutive. Page 116 Paper Money Whole No. 136 4-01x111.111k°60-'11-1' T ( t 1.TM111E:cc -I- 4 • /le I/.-NATIONAL %Ey sa4414:6i IN NEW -YOH - 0"* 1 '2-11114-14.r..,4 tn$SLIE)A.,0*(3101RWOrera-i (4 *A.Sit; 11343:413,•4DIrCiait-•;..)la.t 0 • Iti.1401-0 3!-1 vil()NAL CILTHI{E,Ncy . -ciar, 4 I INO . /' /6 S , t4 EN "ixrioxit, NEwicollii - rive undiriiDollars LI 0 500 .4 .0*SIMEZ.)0 E"9"n3z.z.mL" Non ).NA cy R EN(y. 41frilut},Pokia:Yrout4t3 , r.44ju -sx1101%44, IN NEW YOU Ii f f FiVe Hundred Dollars tfiocurv*.x. )*(arroR r", CDCUZIPADDV071111;`••(.2).:' , ,„:,11). ,J AZEIC261313211ML tdixa(, :vv1 IONAI{111IRENCY . ,)c) 4-airpro •-ttitititx3 >5 , , r''', , ___. islaniorto: , 4 ,...0411111 VjalitilLalli14, IN NIWYOI{K lizaa4,4';',41 1)Divtu 41Z00-0.*,63)1100:0141 -ii.til? Paper Money Whole No. 136 The decision was made to add prefix letters to the Original Series treasury serials in 1869. The letters M, L and K were re- spectively added to the treasury serials for the 500, 1000, and 500-1000 combinations which were being printed at the time. The highlights of the treasury serial numbering of the high denomination notes appear in Table 9. More details on the treas- ury serial numbering system can be found in Huntoon (1984). CONVERSION TO SERIES OF 1875 The responsibility for printing the faces of national bank notes was won by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in July, 1875, and thus the Series of 1875 was born. Stocks of Original Series notes on hand with the Comptroller of the Currency continued Page 117 to be issued until exhausted. Series of 1875 notes were printed only if required by demand. An order from the Comptroller of the Currency for new notes after July 1875 would prompt the Bureau to alter the bank's Original Series National Bank Note Company plate to a Series of 1875 plate through the addition of the "Printed at the Bureau of Engraving & Printing, Treasury Dept" logo, and replacement of the existing treasury signatures with those current when the plate was modified. The plate date remained as originally en- graved. Consequently, for the first and only time in the history of national currency, the treasury signatures on Series of 1875 notes did not necessarily conform to the plate date. High de- nomination Original Series plates were still being converted to Series of 1875 plates as late as 1884 as revealed by the signa- ture combinations listed in Table 10 for Series of 1875 notes. Table 9. Use of treasury sheet serial numbers on $500 and $1000 Original Series National Bank notes. Dates are inclusive dates of receipts by the Comptroller of the Currency from the printers. Unprefixed Original Series Treasury Serials Dates 1864 - Feb 1, 1869 1864 - Sep 7, 1867 1863 - May 20, 1868 1865 - Mar 6, 1875 1866 1865 - Mar 6, 1875 Prefixed Original Series Treasury Serials Sheet Serials Dates M11004 - M18107 Jun 14, 1869 - Jun 21, 1875 L952 - L1351 Dec 6, 1871 - Apr 18, 1874 K2258 - K2741 Oct 15, 1870 - Jun 10, 1875 none printed none printed none printed Sheet Combination Sheet Serials 500 92 - 11003 Oct 14, 1000 106 - 951 Nov 28, 500-1000 113 - 2257 Nov 28, 4 x 500 120 - 694 Apr 22, 3 x 500 + 1000 134 - 145 Feb 19, 4 x 1000 127 - 701 Apr 2, Table 10. Plate dates and treasury signatures on $500 and $1000 National Bank Notes Charter City State Combination s Plate Date Original Seriesb Series of 1875 Register Treasurer Register Treasurer 29 New York NY 500 May 25, 1876 Allison New 200 Boston MA 500 Feb 2, 1864 Chittenden Spinner 290 New York NY 500, 1000 Mar 4, 1864 Chittenden Spinner 307 New York NY 500-1000 Jun 15, 1871 Allison Spinner 379 Boston MA 500 Apr 15, 1864 Chittenden Spinner 387 New York NY 500-1000 May 2, 1864 Chittenden Spinner unknown unknown 407 Salem MA 500-1000 Oct 25, 1876 Allison Wyman 460 Boston MA 500 Jun 8, 1864 Chittenden Spinner unknown unknownc 475 Boston MA 500, 1000 Jul 5, 1864 Chittenden Spinner Scofield Gilfillan 514 Boston MA 500 Sep 20, 1864 Colby Spinner 524 Boston MA 500 Oct 6, 1864 Colby Spinner 529 Boston MA 500 Oct 12, 1864 Colby Spinner 536 Boston MA 500 Oct 28, 1864 Colby Spinner unknown unknown 539 Philadelphia PA 500 Oct 28, 1864 e Colby Spinner 545 Boston MA 500 Oct 28, 1864 Colby Spinner 554 Boston MA 500-1000 Nov 1, 1864 Colby Spinner unknown unknown Page 118 Paper Money Whole No. 136 Table 10. (Continued) Original Series b Series of 1875 Charter City State Combination a Plate Date Register Treasurer Register Treasurer 557 Philadelphia PA 500-1000 Nov 1, 1864 Colby Spinner 561 Philadelphia PA 500-1000 Nov 4, 1864 Colby Spinner 563 Philadelphia PA 500-1000 Jan 15, 1873 Allison Spinner Scofield Gilfillan 578 Boston MA 500 Nov 25, 1864 Colby Spinner 582 Boston MA 500, 1000 Nov 25, 1864 Colby Spinner 595 Roxbury MA 500 Dec 2, 1864 Colby Spinner 597 Lancaster PA 500 Dec 2, 1864 Colby Spinner 601 Boston MA 500 Dec 8, 1864 Colby Spinner Bruce Gilfillan 603 Boston MA 500 Dec 8, 1864 Colby Spinner unknown unknown 609 Boston MA 500 Dec 8, 1864 Colby Spinner 613 Pittsburgh PA 500 Dec 14, 1864 Colby Spinner unknown unknown 615 Roxbury MA 500 Dec 14, 1864 Colby Spinner 619 Pittsburgh PA 500 Dec 14, 1864 Colby Spinner 625 Boston MA 500-1000 Dec 14, 1864 Colby Spinner 629 Boston MA 500 Dec 22, 1864 Colby Spinner 638 Lynn MA 500 Dec 22, 1864 Colby Spinner Bruce Wyman 643 Boston MA 500 Dec 28, 1864 Colby Spinner Scofield Gilfillan 646 Boston MA 500 Jan 2, 1865 e Colby Spinner 654 Boston MA 500, 1000 Dec 30, 1864 Colby Spinner Scofield Gilfillan 656 Philadelphia PA 3x500 + 1000 Dec 30, 1864 Colby Spinner 665 Boston MA 500 Jan 2, 1865 Colby Spinner 668 Pittsburgh PA 500 Jan 2, 1865 Colby Spinner Scofield Gilfillan 672 Boston MA 500 Jan 2, 1865 Colby Spinner 677 Boston MA 500 Jan 2, 1865 Colby Spinner 678 Pittsburgh PA 500 Jan 2, 1865 Colby Spinner 690 New Bedford MA 500-1000 Jan 10, 1865 Colby Spinner 726 Salem MA 500 Jan 19, 1865 Colby Spinner 727 Pittsburgh PA 500-1000 Jan 19, 1865 Colby Spinner 733 New York NY 4x500 & 1000 Jan 19, 1865 Colby Spinner Bruce Gilfillan 743 New Bedford MA 500 Jan 26, 1865 Colby Spinner Scofield Gilfillan 766 Taunton MA 500 Feb 3, 1865 Colby Spinner Bruce Gilfillan 799 New Bedford MA 500 Feb 14, 1865 Colby Spinner 806 Brighton MA 500 Feb 14, 1865 Colby Spinner 843 Pawtucket R1 500 Mar 10, 1865 Colby Spinner Bruce Gilfillan 847 Boston MA 500 Mar 10, 1065 Colby Spinner 891 New York NY 500 Apr 20, 1865 Colby Spinner unknown unknownc 905 New York NY 500-1000 Apr 20, 1865 Colby Spinner Allison Wyman 917 New York NY 500-1000 Apr 20, 1865 Colby Spinner 936 Boston MA 500 Apr 20, 1865 Colby Spinner 941 Portland NE 500 Apr 20, 1865 Colby Spinner 947 Taunton MA 500 Apr 20, 1865 Colby Spinner Allison New 974 Boston MA 500-1000 May 10, 1865 Colby Spinner 983 Providence RI 500 May 10, 1865 Colby Spinner 985 Boston MA 500 May 10, 1865 Colby Spinner 986 Lowell MA 500 May 10, 1865 Colby Spinner Scofield Gilfillanc Paper Money Whole No. 136 Page 119 Table 10. Charter (Continued) City State Combination s Plate Date Original Series b Series of 1875 Register Treasurer Register Treasurer 993 Boston MA 500 May 10, 1865 Colby Spinner 1000 New York NY 500-1000 May 10, 1865 Colby Spinner 1015 Boston MA 500 May 10, 1865 Colby Spinner Scofield Gilfillanc 1023 Portland ME 500 Jun 1, 1865 Colby Spinner Bruce Wyman 1028 Boston MA 500-100C Jun 1, 1865 Colby Spinner 1029 Boston MA 500 May 10, 1865 Colby Spinner 1036 Providence RI 500 Jun 1, 1865 Colby Spinner 1060 Portland ME 500 Jun 20, 1865 Colby Spinner 1080 New York NY 500-1000 Jun 20, 1865 Colby Spinner 1121 New York NY 500-1000 Jul 1, 1865 Colby Spinner Scnfield Gilfillan 1131 Providence RI 500 Jul 1, 1865 Colby Spinner 1135 Worchester MA 500 Jul 1, 1865 Colby Spinner 1250 New York NY 500-1000 Jul 20, 1865 Colby Spinner 1252 Baltimore MD 500 Jul 20, 1865 e Colby Spinner 1278 New York NY 500-1000 Jul 20, 1865 Colby Spinner 1295 Boston MA 500 Jul 20, 1865 Colby Spinner 1303 Baltimore MD 500-1000 Aug 1, 1865 Colby Spinner 1325 Baltimore MD 500 Aug 1, 1865 Colby Spinner 1328 Providence RI 500 Aug 1, 1865 Colby Spinner Allison Gilfillan 1336 Baltimore MD 500-1000 Aug 1, 1865 Colby Spinner 1366 Providence RI 500-1000 Aug 1, 1865 Colby Spinner 1370 New York NY 500-1000 Aug 1, 1865 Colby Spinner Allison Wyman 1375 New York NY 500-1000 Aug 1, 1865 Colby Spinner 1384 Baltimore MD 500 Aug 1, 1865 Colby Spinner Allison New 1389 New York NY 500-1000 Aug 1, 1865 Colby Spinner Allison New d 1393 New York NY 500, 1000 Aug 1, 1865 Colby Spinner 1394 New York NY 500 Aug 1, 1865 Colby Spinner 1413 Baltimore MD 500 Sep 1, 1865 Colby Spinner Allison New d 1461 New York NY 500-1000 Sep 1, 1865 Colby Spinner 1472 Providence RI 500-1000 Sep 1, 1865 Colby Spinner 1476 New York NY 500-1000 Sep 1, 1865 Colby Spinner 1489 Baltimore MD 500-1000 Sep 1, 1865 Colby Spinner 1527 Boston MA 500 Oct 2, 1865 Colby Spinner Allison New c 1595 Mobile AL 500 Dec 15, 1876 ---- Allisnn Wyman 1699 Boston MA 500-1000 Aug 15, 1870 Allison Spinner 1741 San Francisco CA 500 Nov 30, 1870 Allison Spinner 1825 New Orleans LA 500 Jun 15, 1871 Allison Spinner 1994 San Francisco CA 500 Jun 6, 1872 e Allison Spinner 2014 Sacramento CA 500 Aug 15, 1872 Allison Spinner a. Comma indicates 500 and 1000 one-subject plates; dash indicates a 500-1000 combination plate. b. Dashes indicate that no 500 or 1000 Original Series plate was made. c. Printed but not issued. d. Original Series plate converted to Series of 1875 plate but never used. e. 500 plate date missing from records: date shown used on other combinations for bank and is most likely the date used on the 500. Paper Money Whole No. 136Page 120 NvrIONAVUltRENCy . ' POIMAND Fivelf.finu At Dollars *ci.) ,14=106) lErMaki,,csiti-676 umtrozonsmeamamitcsimait -441Utzet":*)...N ( 1,',V(1-. piAnoiNALllaiko j. nra=1203..0 :le tCa 00 CCA t 'TRH] _,10115:113MtEl, 0=0,Ntrtzi3=0140.t.4,04,1s,s, (404 SIGNATURE COMBINATIONS Every treasury signature combination in use between 1863 and April 1885 is represented on at least one high denomina- tion national bank note except the Jeffries-Spinner combination of 1867-1869 vintage. No Jeffries-Spinner combinations occur because no banks chartered during their period of tenure issued $500 or $1000 notes. In all, as shown in Table 10, nine differ- ent treasury signature combinations were used on the high de- nomination notes. The Original Series signatures listed in Table 10 were de- duced from plate dates listed in Comptroller of the Currency ledgers. Signature combinations listed for Series of 1875 notes were those observed on proofs. No additional Series of 1875 signature combinations are possible on high denomination notes despite the fact that Series of 1875 signatures remain unknown for seven banks. PLATE DATING CONVENTIONS Two conventions were used to date the high denomination plates. The first, used on plates made from 1863 until February 1871, was a batch date in which the date was tied closely to the period during which the bank was chartered. This early batch dating system can be discerned clearly from the near perfect chronological sequencing of pre-February 1871 dates and charter numbers in Table 10. Paper Money Whole No. 136 The second dating convention came into use in February 1871, and represents another type of batch dating system. In this system the date was based on when the plate was ordered. These later batch dates were usually rounded to increments of five days such as the 15th or 25th of the month. Notice that the seemingly inconsistent plate dates in Table 10 for charters 29, 307, 407, 563 and 1595 follow this second batch dating con- vention. The treasury signatures on all Original Series plates were se- lected so that the plate dates and terms of office of the signers coincided. The rigid correlation between plate dates and signa- tures occurred only on new Series of 1875 plate combinations ordered after July, 1875. Series of 1875 plates made by modi- fying existing Original Series plates carried the original plate date but sported the treasury signatures current when the plate was altered. Consequently, those signatures were younger than the plate dates. SMALL PRINTINGS The demand for $500 and $1000 notes was expectedly small. Printing orders placed by the Comptroller with the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, or formerly with the National Bank Note Company, at times hardly appeared to be worth the bother. The smallest was delivered to the Comptroller on Sep- tember 12, 1867, and consisted of two sheets of Original Series 500-1000 notes for the Union National Bank of Maryland, Baltimore (1489), bank serials 71 and 72; both sheets were issued. It would have been rather annoying to have to set up a press and later clean the plate for just two sheets. Table 5 con- tains no shortage of printings consisting of ten sheets or less. The manufacture of plates such as the 500-1000 for the Chatham National Bank of New York (1375) or the 500-500-500-1000 for the Western National Bank of Phila- delphia (656) probably evoked some comment among their handlers. They were used to print a total of only ten and twelve sheets respectively. KNOWN NOTES Only three $500 national bank notes are known to have sur- vived from the 32,033 high denomination notes pressed into circulation. These are listed in Table 11 and consisted of two Original Series notes in institutional hands, and one Series of 1875 note owned by a private collector. As improbable as it seems the two Lowell, Massachusetts $500s came from the same printing, being only nine serial numbers apart. The serial 197 specimen was formerly owned by The Chase Manhattan Bank but was donated to the Smithsonian Institution when the bank closed its New York Money Museum about ten years ago. The serial 206 specimen was credited by Reinfeld (1960) to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, but its current whereabouts is unknown. The First National Bank of New York Series of 1875 note is the famous Amon Carter specimen that used to cause such envy at the Memphis paper money shows. Carter used to place the note at the top of a pack of very rare nationals in his case for all to enjoy. It has now found a new home in another great private collection. Table 11. Known $500 National Bank notes. Serb. Bank Sltx St•t• Charter Serial Signeur. Sour. °RIC Appleton Ile Lowell MA 986 M16419-197-A Colby - Spinner Hontier, 1910 OFUG Appleton NB Lowell MA 986 M16428-206-A Colby - Spinner Roinfekl, 1960 1875 Float NB New York NY 29 A1815-865-A AllIcon - New Amon Cart•r Page 121 No $1000 national gold bank notes are extant, all having been redeemed in 1871. The records for the outstanding $500 national gold bank notes were merged with those of the regular issues in 1915. At that time, four $500 national gold bank notes were still out from the 685 issued. None are known to exist. When published reports ceased in 1938, there were 173 $500 and 21 $1000 notes still outstanding. The last docu- mented $1000 was shown as redeemed in 1917. The last two $500s came in in 1937. These were the first $500s redeemed since 1920. They could have been some of the four outstanding gold notes for all we know. CONCLUSION The $500 and $1000 National Bank note issues between 1864 and 1885 were a spectacular footnote to the national cur- rency issues authorized by the National Bank acts. However, these beautiful notes could hardly be considered workhorses of the nation's currency like the $5, $10 and $20 denominations. Their purchasing power was simply too great to allow them to circulate freely. The 32,033 of them shipped to banks in nine states, including 760 $500 and $1000 national gold bank notes, probably rarely saw the outsides of vault cages. When the fad of ordering them collapsed in 1866, they were issued thereafter only in minute quantities until circumstances combined to stop their continued issuance after 1885. Nothing in the law pre- vented $500 and $1000 notes from being used in later national bank note series. In fact, they were specifically authorized by the Emergency Currency Act of May 30, 1908. along with the addi- tion of the $10,000 denomination. They were again called for in the Act of March 3, 1919. However they were not revived. Who needed them! SOURCES OF DATA The photographs for this article are through the courtesy of the Numismatic Collections at the Smithsonian Institution, and are certified proofs made by the Bureau of Engraving and Print- ing. Lynn Vosloh helped me to locate all of the $500 and $1000 National Bank notes proofs in the Smithsonian collections so that we could abstract the plate dates and signature combina- tions from them. Three sets of Comptroller of the Currency ledgers housed in the National Archives including ledgers show- ing receipts from the engravers, deliveries to the banks by sheet combination, and individual bank ledgers provided plate dates. dates of deliveries from the engravers to the Comptroller, dates of shipments to the banks and serial numbers received and is- sued. In addition, I scoured the numismatic literature for photo- graphs of $500 and $1000 Series of 1875 proofs in order to record signature combinations. A framed display containing high denomination notes in the Bureau of Engraving and Print- ing Annex Building also provided a few morsels of additional information. REFERENCES Comptroller of the Currency, issued annually, Annual Reports of the Comptroller of the Currency: Government Printing Office, Wash- ington, D.C. Hessler, G., 1979, U.S. essay, proof and specimen notes: BNR Press, Portage, OH, 224 p. Hessler, G., 1983, The comprehensive catalog of U.S. paper money: BNR Press, Port Clinton, OH, 502 p. Huntoon, P., 1984, Evolution of treasury serial numbering on Na- tional Bank notes: Paper Money, v. 23, pp. 181-185. Reinfeld, F., 1960, A simplified guide to collecting American paper money: Hanover House, Garden City, NY, 128 p. Page 122 Paper Money Whole No. 136 Major John S. Fillmore U.S.A. Paymaster by RODNEY BATTLES ©1987. All rights reserved. John S. Fillmore The author, a collector of western checks, has researched and written several articles pertaining to check collecting, western banks and bankers. For a list of current titles, please write to: Rodney Battles, P.O. Box 210004, Bedford, TX 76021. M AJOR J.S. FILLMORE. a native of the state of New York, was appointed Paymaster by Colorado's first Territor- ial Governor, William Gilpin, on August 26, 1861. On June 18, 1862, he married Miss Bettie M. Kehler, daughter of the officiating clergyman, at the residence of the Reverend Keh- ler. He was commissioned Paymaster U.S.A. by President Abraham Lincoln November 8, 1862. Major Fillmore possessed marvelous energy and great capaci- ty for the successful conduct of public affairs. His official duties as paymaster required constant journeying from one part of his district to another. His responsibilities extended from southern New Mexico northward into Idaho, and from Utah to Nebraska and Kansas. Neither hostile foes nor inclement weather ever stopped or delayed him from making his appointed rounds. Travelling in those days was necessarily arduous and fatiguing. The Major frequently slept upon open prairie or in the moun- tains without food or shelter. Probably the most severe trip he ever made, and the one that did most to hasten his death, was to the posts in the upper North Platte in late 1862. He was ex- posed for days without food or shelter, floundering through deep snow with the temperature more than twenty degrees be- low zero. Reportedly, neither he nor his companions ever re- covered from the effects of that journey, and they always spoke of it with a shudder. Added to his almost ceaseless duties in the field, he was frequently obliged to make hasty journeys to Washington, which were always coupled with the weighty re- sponsibilities of his office. In addition to his official duties, Major Fillmore found time to transact an immense amount of private business. Less than five years after moving to Denver in 1860 almost penniless, he had accumulated property that was unequalled in value to that of any other citizen of the city at that time. He was considered one of the more prominent Denver citizens and a prudent business- man. On the night of Christmas, Sunday, December 25, 1864, Ma- jor John S. Fillmore met his death. After he retired to bed about 10:00 pm, a gale took off one of the chimney tops, which, fall- ing with a great noise upon the roof above his head, filled him with alarm and nervous excitement, so that he arose and went downstairs. When at the foot of the stairs he turned and called to his wife, requesting her to come down. The words had scarcely left his lips when he fell forward and immediately expired from a sudden hemmorhage of the lungs. June 30, 1863 Paymaster draft issued to Captain John W. Alley at the Denver, Colorado Territory Depot. Paper Money Whole No. 136 4 I I II I I I I I I I I I I I I II I I I I I I I I I I I I I II I I I I • - 5 " fj . ,41etekl&v. A crx - • , 4$' e , • .440 v • flott.t tt;, The Green Goods Game Conducted by Forrest Daniel Page 123 Sept. 2, 1863 Paymaster draft issued to Thomas J. Evans at Fort Lyon, Colorado Territory, April 23, 1864 Paymaster draft issued to John C. Thomkins at Fort Garland, Colorado Territory. Paymaster draft written by Fillmore to a soldier named Geo. Jolloff at Fort Laramie, Idaho Ter- ritory November 18, 1864, the month preceding Fillmore's death. The December 27, 1864 issue of the Rocky Mountain Daily spirit has gone out forever and we are no more to meet his famil- News reported . . . "The deceased had been in failing health for iar footsteps in the streets." some time past. His system was overworked and worn out. And As a token of respect to his memory, the officers of the district at last, on that stormy Christmas evening, 'mid the roaring wore a badge of mourning on their left arm for thirty days. winds, a howling storm whose equal our city has not seen, his The Colorado Historical Society is acknowledged for supplying biographical data and the lithograph of John S. Fillmore. • BROWNSVILLE MONEY We learn that some of this miserable trash has been circulated in this city, without the endorsement of any responsible, or irre- sponsible party written thereon. It may be proper to add that a bushel of the notes are traded for an iron spoon at the place where it is issued, and gradually loses its value while traveling to remote sections of the country. —Pioneer and Democrat, St. Paul, Minn., July 24, 1858. Page 124 Paper Money Whole No. 136 Wailroad Notes and Scrip of the United States, the Confederate States and Canada by RICHARD T. HOOBER (Continued from PM No. 135, Page 81) URBANA —MAD RIVER & LAKE ERIE RAILROAD The company was the first railroad chartered (1832) and built within the state. The road opened to Bellvue, in 1839, a distance of 16 miles. The line was extended to Dayton in 1844, thus connecting Dayton with Sandusky and Lake Erie. 26. 25(C (L) Reverse of two reales piece, riverboat above. (C) Train, between 25s. (R) Reverse of two reales piece, train above, CENTS below. R7 Date — June 4, 1841. Imprint — Rawdon, Wright & Hatch, Cincinnati. Ohio No. 26 PENNSYLVANIA BELLEFONTE—TYRONE & LOCKHAVEN RAILROAD COMPANY The railroad was chartered February 21, 1857, to build a line connecting the Pennsylvania Rail- road at Tyrone with the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad at Lockhaven, a distance of 54 miles. It completed 4.2 miles from Snow Shoe intersection to Milesburg, and from Milesburg to Bellefonte. 1. 1.00 (L) Indian woman, ONE above and below. (C) State seal. (R) "Chartered Feb. 21, 1857," ONE above and below. R7 2. 5.00 Similar to No. 1, except denomination. R7 CARLISLE— CUMBERLAND VALLEY RAIL ROAD COMPANY 3. 25C (L&R) Female seated. (C) Ceres, between 25s. R6 , a, 48 tx4tsr cent. peran from.data Th. $iack prop;tty qi said Cosr,P4,tV is-Aort4 ?tali redetitie tins of +,iritnersintk sntetest dun:mu, afreeabla to as stet otaa 471)01t.: wmttY.first day: of -February...04e than ngh47x rt 4sru1'file {cuarr;t',aathoriziasgtkasaal:F.ailroud Gamynnytnimr money* be received aa aeoirseer fsite Treasurer at all eve -• Iri Witmal•roVaeaf i'maart and 2i•p,as Wired thew sirmiterm mai Ma tify that th. -se db duc tvo IMERLAND RAIL the, FIFT CIA Ts. 0 , , tyabi, -at curt. , horns _V■:tss. itt Me Carib'', or ( irooder8V, f lc Pa, Sept.. 3t. 1837. Paper Money Whole No. 136 Page 125 Pennsylvania No. 1 Pennsylvania No. 4 4. 50(C Similar to No. 3, except denomination. R6 5. 50(r (L&R) Female seated. (C) Canal scene. R6 6. 1.00 Similar to No. 3, except denomination. R6 7. 5.00 Similar to No. 3, except denomination. R6 Date—Sept. 30, 1837. Imprint—E. Morris, Philadelphia. CHAMBERSBURG —FRANKLIN RAIL ROAD COMPANY The road was chartered March 12, 1832. 7A. 5.00 (L) Name in panel. (C) Name, $5 lower left. (R) "Capital $300,000" in panel. Imprint—None. Date-15th January 1840 in ink. R7 Paper Money Whole No. 136Page 126 3;4431i AO Cup ti