Catalog of Obsolete United States Banknotes

A brief history of obsolete banknotes in the United States (1782–1866)

Before the federal government issued a single, standardized paper currency, the nation relied on a chaotic but fascinating monetary system known today as obsolete paper money —often called by collectors “broken banknotes” or “wildcat notes.” This is the story of how it worked, why it failed, and how it shaped modern U.S. money.

1. The era of private money

From the end of the American Revolution until the Civil War, the federal government coined gold and silver (specie) but did not issue paper banknotes. To meet the need for a circulating medium that would drive commerce, the states licensed private institutions to print their own paper money.

• Who issued them? Private commercial banks, state banks, railroad companies, canal companies, and even merchants or municipalities, each with custom designs.
• The promise: each note was, in essence, a promissory note stating that the issuing bank would pay the bearer the face value in gold or silver coin on demand.

2. The chaos of “wildcat” banking

With thousands of different institutions printing their own currency, the financial landscape quickly became the “Wild West.”

• “Wildcat” banks: some unscrupulous bankers opened offices in remote areas —“where only wildcats roamed”— making it nearly impossible to redeem their notes for real gold or silver.
• Banknote detectors: monthly guides appeared, the Banknote Reporters and Counterfeit Detectors, to indicate which notes were genuine, which banks had failed (hence “broken banks”), and which traded at a discount.
• Mass counterfeiting: the variety of currency in circulation came to exceed 10,000 different designs, making the counterfeiters’ work easier.

3. The golden age of American engraving

Despite the economic volatility, this period represents the peak of banknote engraving art in the United States. To combat counterfeits, banks hired elite printing firms, such as the American Bank Note Company, for highly complex steel-plate engravings. The notes featured detailed vignettes that reflected nineteenth-century life and ideals.

• Allegorical figures representing Liberty, Commerce, Justice, and Industry.
• Local pride and infrastructure: locomotives, steamboats, Southern cotton fields, Northern factories, and scenes of everyday life.
• Color technology: backs in bright red ink (the “redbacks”) or anti-photographic green underprints, forerunners of the iconic federal “greenbacks.”

4. The end of obsolete currency

The system collapsed under the weight of the Civil War. To finance the Union effort, President Lincoln and Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase pushed through the National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864, creating a new system of National Banks with a uniform currency backed by government bonds. In 1865 (effective in 1866), a 10% tax on notes issued by state banks overnight eliminated the profitability of private currency, closing a turbulent, colorful, and deeply artistic era of U.S. financial history.

The State Bank at New Brunswick

New Brunswick, New Jersey · private issuer of the era before national banking.

Citizens' Bank of Louisiana

Shreveport, Louisiana · known for its bilingual notes with red-ink backs, the so-called “Redbacks.”

The Hagerstown Bank

Hagerstown, Maryland · founded in 1807, one of the longest-lived banks in western Maryland.

City Bank of New Haven

New Haven, Connecticut · a note with a harbor vignette honoring the maritime tradition of “the City of Elms.”

The Adrian Insurance Company

Adrian, Michigan · a note of an insurance company that issued currency during the state’s “wildcat banking” era.