Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-04-20
THE MOST CURIOUS BLUNDER.
A National Bank Mote Which Is For
$50 on One Side and For 500 on the
Other sideHoW the Error Was
Made and How II Was Discovered.

a. clerk in Chicago hotel III making
up his accounts one day found a dis
crepancy he couldn't explain. He
placed the pile of bills on his left hand
side, and as he counted each one turn
ed the note over and deposited it on
pile at his right.
He found that when he counted from
left to right his cash exactly balanced,
but when he counted It back again a.
shortage Of 80 was shown. After
spending two hours In q vain endeavor
to find out what was the matter he
called In the manager.
The manager had no better success
Backward and forward he counted the
bills, but always with the same result
-one time the cash balanced and the
next the shortage was developed. FL
nally each bill was examined separate
", both diverse and reverse.
And then the mystided men discover
ed the canse OF their trouble One of
the bills had the design Of $50 on the
diverse and that Of 500 on the re-
verse.
The clerk had received the bill as
800.
The United States treasury was COM
lnunicated with, and It was admitted
that such a bill was out and that the
department had q record OF 1t. It was
discovered In 1890 that one sheet Of
bank notes OF the denomination Of $50
and 500, printed for the Aetna Nation
al bank OF Kansas City, Mo-, had been
reversed In the press. One plate bore!
the diverse Of fifty dollar bill at the
top and the diverse OF a hundred dol
lar bill at the bottom. The other plate
bore the reverse Of the two notes.
After each sheet was printed 1t was
laid aside to dry before being run,
through for the diverse printing. In
some way the pressmen turned one
sheet upside down, with the result that
two misprinted bills came forth, one
with q fifty dollar diverse and hum
dred dollar reverse, the other with a
hundred dollar diverse and a fifty dol
lar reverse.
The cashier OF the bank was the first
{ to become aware Of the error He
found that something was wrong after
he had paid out The note with tie fifty
dollar face and the hundred dollar
hack by coming across the one with
the hundred dollar face and the fifty
dollar back. The note held by the
cashier was returned to the treasury
and destroyed, perfect note being is
sued IN Its place. sf5 IS
E The other note is now in the posses
sion Of collector of paper money,
who values 1t at several thousand dol
lars. III
In the sixties an error OF a similar
nature occurred In which bank note
was printed with the ten dollar oh.
verse and a twenty dollar reverse.
While this bill Is not as great asrarity
as the other, still Its owner would not
part with 1t for a sam much less than
that at which the fifty dollar bill IS
valued. 81
The reason why it Is less valuable
than the other in the eyes Of the coll
leetors Is the belief that more bills like
1t were issued and probably some OF
them are still In existence OF the for
mer denomination the owner Is abso-
lutely certain that his specimen is
unique, its companion error having
been destroyed, but there Is no known
record Of the redemption OF the error
with the ten dollar face. It Is reason
ably certain that at least four OF them
got into circulation.
Errors were found In the design OF
B the 1880 silver certificates. These
were rather the fault OF the engrayer
than the printer.
On the 1880 notes is found treasury
seal entirely different from any other
ever used by the government. The
key, which Is one Of the most iInpor-
Rant symbols Of the seal. shows han
die at the left hand side instead OF to
the right as on all others.
y The shield Is OF different shape and
the stars are larger. The two ends Of
the band surrounding the symbols are
fastened with a buckle, which Id no
other instance plays part In the de-
sign Of q treasury seal. This Ii the
only issue OF notes on which the pc
5culiar seal was used, and collectors Of
paper money include them among the
errors Or freaks.
The one, two and Ave dollar certifi-
Gates and the ten dollar legal tender
bills OF the present Issue occur with
what are known as inverted backs. As
q matter OF fact this LIS q wrong de-
scription, as they are really inverted
fronts, for the backs Of all bills are
printed first These bills are sought BY
collectors, who pay premium for them
when IN fine condition.
Another curiosity Is one dollar note
of the Second National bank Of Raven
ma Q. This lacks the signatures OF"
both the president and cashier, al
though 1t was generally circulated and
never challenged.
A one dollar national bank note OF
the First National bank Of Fall River,
Mass, also lacks both signatures, which
seems not to have interfered With It'll
being onsred and accepted rs money.