Long Table 122. Banknotes and the Paradox of Private Monetary Sovereignty in the Antebellum US
Channel: American Numismatic Society
Date: 2023-01-23

Bank notes, issued by banks with (and often without) state charters, quickly became a ubiquitous money medium in the antebellum United States. The number of issuers increased greatly during this period, forcing the nation to reconcile its hunger for credit with the proliferation of potentially risky money mediums. Jonah Estess, PhD Candidate at American University and 2022 ANS Summer Seminar student, will discuss how problems arising from bank note inscriptions led people to engage in political and, importantly, legal action. Unlike state legislatures, Congress, or the federal judiciary, state supreme courts tried to circumvent the politics of paper currency, resolve common disputes over bank notes’ real value, and set fair and legally permissible monetary policy. Consensus in the courts, however, proved as elusive as in the court of public opinion.

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