Fairbanks, AK - $5 1902 Red Seal Fr. 587 First National Bank Ch. # (P)7718 PMG Choice Extremely Fine 45.. ...

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Fairbanks, Alaska First National Bank $5 1902 Red Seal

Fairbanks, AK - $5 1902 Red Seal Fr. 587 First National Bank Ch. # (P)7718 PMG Choice Extremely Fine 45.
The District of Alaska is well represented with this great note. The District of Alaska was the governmental designation for Alaska from May 17, 1884, to August 24, 1912, when it became the Alaska Territory. This $5 displays white paper and ideal inks to go along with the mystique of the farthest north national bank. Charter number 7718 was the second of five national banks chartered in Alaska during the National era. However, two of those did not issue notes, charter numbers 10705 of Seward, chartered in 1915, and 12072 of Anchorage, chartered in 1921. The First National of Fairbanks has the distinction of being the only bank of the three note issuers to issue Series 1902 Red Seals. The bank was founded in 1905 by "Square Sam" Bonnifield and his brother. Previously, Sam was a miner and then next an honest gambler and saloon owner, which earned him his nickname. The First National Bank shipped out $3,000,000 in gold dust before the Panic of 1907. Soon afterward, financial difficulties caused "Square Sam" to sell the bank, and then he had a nervous breakdown. He went home to Kansas to recuperate on the family farm. After a year on the farm, he showed back up in Fairbanks in August 1910. However, he was not free of mental illness as the Alaska Citizen newspaper in October 1911 ran the headline, "Sam Bonnifield is Insane Once More." He was arrested on a charge of insanity and found insane by a jury of six men. He was committed to a hospital in Portland, Oregon. He was released in 1914 and given a letter that stated he had "recovered." Not much is known about Sam's life over the next 30 years. However, he was hit and killed by an automobile in Seattle in 1943. Beautifully pen signed by Cashier Daniel N. Freeman and President Samuel A. Bonnifield, this is a boldly printed and embossed note that has just a small edge tear that can only be found after close examination.
From the Dr. Paul Balter Collection

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