The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1907-12-20
PRICED PAPER MONEY
Rare Issues That Even Trained
Experts Seldom See.
OLD RED GOLD CERTIFICATES.
They Were the First Ones Issued and
] Seldom Got Into CircuIation-Na-
tiona Bank Notes of 1865 That Puz-
zed Financial Institutions.

lied financial institutions.
1T is 4 curious fact that not one man
out Of ten can tell you the design on
any one Of the current United States
bank notes" said collector of paper
money. "Of course don't refer to the
notes of high denomination. mean
everyday. common bank notes of low
denomination. and | do not bar in this
statement many employees in banks.
They handle money in mechanical
way. and I'll venture that many OF
them would be stumped if you were
10 ask them 10 give you a detailed de-
scription Of a dollar bill. They would
instantly recognize it when it came to
hand. but each man trusts more TO q
general impression of what constitutes
the outlines OF certain note than he
realizes. There was a very clear illus.
tration of the truth of my statement
the other day in Indiana.
"In the vaults of a bank at ROches-
ter. Ind, there had lain for number
of years package of five dollar ma
tional bank notes just as it had come
| bills all bore the name of the bank
and were OF the first issue of national
bank notes 1t will be remem bered
that the issue of 1865 showed fine
engraving of a historical character on
the reverse of each denomination, the
five dollar bills bearing on the back
representation OF the landing OF Co
! 81, III,
| liShman presenting an Indian maiden
to three women, emblematic of Eu
rope, Asia and Africa.
"A good many OF these new bills
were paid out. and not long afterward
! kilograms. letters and even personal
calls began to pour into the bank
warning the officials to be on their
guard-that a most clever and absolute
~ undetectable counterfeit of their
notes was out, and the only way the
| fact had been discovered was owing to
the difference between this and the
! present designs of national bank notes.
! The incident went to show how little
! the average business man is acquaint-
ed with paper money. for if there was
| one note that a counterfeiter could not
| duplicate with success it was the
| fresh. fat national bank note Of the
| series mentioned.
/ The cashier of the bank, however.
| curious to see for himself whether
bank employees really were suspicious
of the notes. took trip to Chicago
| and made several attempts to pass the
unfamiliar bills across the counters of
some of the banks. but without Sue
! cess. the notes being refused in every
/ case.
The same thing happened in St
Louis when some one brought into a
downtown bank a hundred dollar note
! with red back. Now, the bank en-
ployees knew of the old fractional
currency notes of small denominations
with red backs. such as the FIVE. ten.
| twenty-five and fifty cent pieces of pa
per. but this bill of large denomina-
ton with the glaring red reverse puZ-
| zled them.
Yet it was a perfectly good issue.
being a specimen of the first gold GER
tificates. which made their appearance
some time in 1863 or 1866. The law
authorizing their issue. as a matter of
fact was passed March g. 1863. at the
same time the law was passed author
izing the fractional notes which ap-
peared with red backs. The red back
ed gold certificates were of the demon
nations of $50. 500. $500. $1,000. So
600 and $4,000 and had been used
mostly for clearing house purposes
and consequently seldom got into cir
culation.
Il lost no time in acquiring the bill
and now regard it as one OF the great
est rarities in my collection and do not
believe it could be duplicated.
Il have one note that would puzzle
the average business man or banker
either. for that matter. 1t is speci
men of the three year interest bear
ing notes of July II. 1861 While thi:
one is for only $50. still other denomi
nations were 500. $500. $1,000 ant
5000. They were engraved only OF
one side. the other being mostly ii
white allowing a space for indorse
ment
All these notes were made payabl,
to order and bore interest at the rat
OF 1.3 per cent. They were known il
former days as seven-thirty notes
bearing FIVE coupons for each sil
months interest. the last six months
interest being payable upon the pres
entation and redemption of the note.
These notes were but tribe large
than the ordinary bank note and wer
J / convertible into twenty year 6 pc
cent bonds. The fifty dollar note show
ed the American eagle on rock a
the principal device, the 500 bore tn
portrait of General Winfield Scott, th
500 that of Washington. the Sl.OO
Salmon T. Chase. while the 5000 reI
resented an Indian girl. with bow
leaning on a shield. an eagle near b
and Justice at the left hand.
In 1864 congress authorized ne7
issue OF IS per cent notes. but non
. was issued In their stead came con