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1 Dollar Silver Certificate
| Issuer | United States Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1891 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in green intaglio and is dominated by three large ornamental panels of intricate guilloche lathe-work arranged horizontally across the note. The central panel contains concentric rosette guilloche enclosing a cartouche with the reissuability clause in small text, surrounded by the words 'ONE DOLLAR' above and 'SILVER CERTIFICATE' below in bold serif lettering. Flanking panels each carry a large stylised numeral '1' set within elaborate scrollwork frames, with 'UNITED STATES' arching across the top and 'SILVER CERTIFICATE' and 'ONE DOLLAR' repeated in the border rules at top and bottom. |
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| Signature(s) | James Fount Tillman and Daniel N. Morgan |
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| Comments |
The 1891 series brought a redesigned format for Silver Certificates — smaller than the "horse blanket" notes of the 1870s and 1880s, which had been widely criticized as unwieldy. Congress had pushed for the reduction, and the 1891 issues were among the first to reflect it across multiple denominations.
Tillman served as Register of the Treasury and Morgan as Treasurer simultaneously during a period of intense political friction over silver coinage. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act had passed just one year prior, and these certificates were the physical instrument of that policy — redeemable in silver dollar coins at a time when the government's ability to maintain that promise was genuinely in doubt.
The series is moderately scarce in high grades due to heavy circulation during the 1890s banking panics.