The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1908-08-25
PRICED PAPER money
Rare Issues T;.ss zen Trained
Experts Seldom See.
OLD RED COLD CERTIFICATES.
They Were the First Ones Issued and
Seldom Got Into circulation-Na.
tionaI Bank Notes Of 1865 That pug.
xIsd Financial institutions.

i4SS ~ ~
xIsd Financial Institutions.
"1t is a 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 a collector Of paper
money. ..Of course 4 don't refer to the
notes OF high denomination. l mean
everyday. common bank notes Of low
denomination. and I do not bar In this
statement many employees In BANKS.
"They handle money in q mechanical
way. and I'll venture that many Of
them would be stumped II you were
to ask them to give you q detailed de-
scription OF q dollar bill. They would
instantly recognize 1t when It came to
hand, but each man trusts more Il a
general impression OF what constitutes
the outlines Of a certain note than he
realizes. There was q very clear illus
tration Of the truth Of my statement
the other day In Indiana.
''ln the vaults Of q bank at Roches-
ter, Ind. there had lain for q number
Of years q package OF i've dollar ma
tional bank notes Just as 1t had come
from the treasury department. These
bills all bore the name Of the bank
and were of the first issue Of national
bank notes. 1t will be remembered
that the issue Of 1865 showed a fine
engraving Of a historical character on
the reverse OF each denomination, the
five dollar bills bearing m the back a
representation Of the landing Of Co
lumbus, on the diverse being an Eng
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
~ u~ndetectable 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 IL there was
one note that a counterfeiter could not
duplicate with success 1t 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 a 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 a 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
tiicates. which made their appearance
some time i'll 1865 or 1866. The law
authorizing their issue, as a matter of
fact, was passed March 8. 1863, at the
same time the law was passed author
izing the fractional notes which APP
peared with red backs. The red back.
ed gold certificates were Of the demon
nations Of 800, 800, $500. $1,000. So
mn n~N N1n N0n r~1 hal h~o- ,,rnA
mostly for clearing house purposes
and consequently seldom got into cir
culation. &
II 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.
II have one note that would puzzle
the average business a or banker
either. for that matter. 1t is a speci-
men of the three year interest bear
ing notes Of July II. 1861. While this
one is for only $50. still other denomi-
nations were 500. $500. $1,000 and
5000. They were engraved only on
one side. the other being mostly In
white. allowing a space for indorse-
ment.
"All these notes were made payable
to order and bore interest at the rate
Of 7.3 per cent. They were known in
former days as seven-thirty notes,
bearing five coupons for each six
months interest. the last six months
interest being payable upon the pres
entation and redemption Of the note.
"These notes were but a trifle larger
than the ordinary bank note and were
convertible into twenty year 6 per
cent bonds. The fifty dollar note show
ed the American eagle On a rock as
the principal device, the 500 bore the
portrait of General Winfield Scott. the
$500 that of Washington, the $1,000
Salmon P. Chase, while the $1,000 rep
resented an Indian girl. with bow,
leaning on a shield, an eagle a by
and Justice at the left hand.
"1n 1864 congress authorized a new
issue Of 7.3 per cent notes. but none
was issued. In their stead came COM
pound interest notes at 6 per cent, COM
pounded s%emiannually, this really be-
ing less than the authorized interest.
Many of these bills were used as
general currency, and vet not one bank
employee out of a hundred would
know anything about them. On the
back of the bill was a table showing