These notes were signed by the specific bank officers, the President and Treasurer. The banks all shared the same engraving style, with the title of the chartered bank and the bank’s unique charter numbers differentiating them from one another. This would provide in most instances for the bank’s solvency.įrom 1863 to 1908, there were different series of large size National Bank Notes issued. The minimum requirement was that the redemption fund must have at least 5% in gold or silver coins, of the outstanding balance of issued notes in circulation. One stipulation to receiving that federal charter was that the National Bank had to maintain a redemption fund in order to be able to handle redemptions of these notes for coinage. They were typically backed by US Treasury Bonds after they were deposited in the US Treasury, credited to the National Bank’s account with the Treasury Department. They were issued by different National Banks all across the country that were chartered by the United States government. National Bank Notes were issued by the United States beginning in 1863. They are not frequently encountered, but the Lincoln notes are the most available of the three types.Īn 1891 $10 Treasury Note Sheridan AU-50 PMG (Fr#371) National Bank Notes These notes sparingly survived and are valuable to extremely rare. The $10 note depicts a bust of President Abraham Lincoln, and the $20 note depicts an allegorical representation of “Miss Liberty” holding a sword and a shield. The $5 note bears an engraving of the statue of “Freedom” atop the US Capitol. That is how Federal government notes acquired the nickname of “Greenbacks.” They were printed in $5, $10, and $20 denominations with graphics on the front of the notes and ornate backs printed in green. The Federal government first printed the Demand Notes of 1861. There are numerous types of Large Size notes. While there were many “obsolete” notes in circulation when the Civil War began in 1861, the US and Confederate governments both realized that they didn’t have enough gold and silver coins minted in order to pay their respective soldiers and their war debts for weapons, munitions, uniforms, food, salaries, and other costs.

Us gold coin values