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1 Dollar
| Issuer | Bank of Clifton |
|---|---|
| Year | 1860 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Dollar |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a large central vignette of a armoured figure on horseback slaying a serpent, rendered in fine intaglio engraving. The bank title 'BANK OF CLIFTON' arches across the top in bold serif lettering, with 'ONE DOLLAR' repeated in red overprint at left and right of centre. Four circular medallions bearing the numeral '1' occupy the corners, set against a pink guilloche underprint, with the place name 'CLIFTON' and 'on demand' inscriptions flanking the central vignette. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in a monochromatic blue-violet tone and mirrors the general layout of the obverse, with the central equestrian vignette visible as a ghost impression through the thin paper stock. The design elements are largely obscured by the blue tint of the back printing, with numerals and panel borders faintly discernible. |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Clifton was one of dozens of short-lived New Jersey free banking institutions that sprang up under the state's 1850 free banking law, which allowed virtually anyone to back note issues with approved securities deposited with the state comptroller. The system was notoriously loose, and a number of these banks — some skeptics called them "wildcat" operations — were thinly capitalized from the start.
The New York Bank Note Co. handled the printing, a firm that supplied a large share of the antebellum small-bank note market before consolidating with competitors in the 1860s. Clifton's issues circulated only briefly; the bank did not survive the disruption of the Civil War years.