Dubuque, IA - $20 1882 Date Back Fr. 552 Hessler UNL The Second National Bank Ch. # 2327 Essay Proof PCGS New 60, mounted on t...

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$20 Essay Proof for 1882 Brown Back to Date Back Conversion

Dubuque, IA - $20 1882 Date Back Fr. 552 Hessler UNL The Second National Bank Ch. # 2327 Essay Proof PCGS New 60, mounted on thick cardstock.
The history behind many of the changes seen on United States paper money have been lost with the passing of many of those intimately involved in the process. Fortunately in this case, Louis A. Coolidge, Assistant Treasurer of the United States set aside some of the mock-ups from his tenure at the Treasury Department. These Essay Proof/Printer's Models were printed, then cut and pasted to cardstock in order to reflect recent changes in the law. This particular example has "Or Other Securities" pasted at upper center. We originally auctioned Mr. Coolidge's five different denomination $5-$100 mock-up examples in January 2013.

In 1907, a financial panic started when Wall Street investors tried to corner the market of the United Copper Company. When the bid failed, there was a run on the banks backing the scheme, which quickly spread like wildfire. Soon there were runs on banks all over the country. Unlike European nations, the United States did not have a central bank. A need for a more elastic money supply was apparent and by May 30, 1908, Congress passed the Aldrich-Vreeland Act. The legislation allowed national banks to issue paper money backed by other securities other than United States bonds. Those securities included municipal bonds and various types of short term loans.

The changes in the law required design changes for National Bank Notes. Two types of Nationals were currently in circulation, Brown Backs and Red Seals. Some of the proposed changes to the Brown Backs can be seen in this lot. The two most important changes were the addition of the dates "1882-1908" on the back at center where the charter number was previously engraved and an addition of "or Other Securities" was added to the end of the clause on the face stating, "This Note is Secured by Bonds of the United States."

To reduce the work load on the engravers, the new plates for the Brown Back to 1882 Date Back conversion revealed an uniform back design as the new back design no longer featured the bank's charter number at center and the state seal was removed to be replaced either by an eagle vignette, a vignette representing Mechanics, or a portrait of either George Washington or William Fessenden depending on the denomination.

This Essay Proof has both sides mounted to cardstock in order to form a complete note. This example is an interesting insight into design developing. Seldom do examples of Essay Proofs for National Bank Notes escape into the collector domain. A second example from Mr. Coolidge's set is the Fr. 566 example for Burlington, Iowa, charter number 1744 in this auction session.