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1 Dollar Silver Certificate
| Issuer | United States Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1899 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Dollar (1 USD) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse, printed entirely in green, is dominated by large numeral "1" counters at each corner set within elaborate guilloche lathe-work borders. A central circular medallion of fine engine-turned guilloche work encloses a rectangular panel bearing the receivability clause in letterpress text. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and SILVER CERTIFICATE appear in bold serif lettering at the lower centre, with ONE DOLLAR inscribed across the upper register. |
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| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Variants | P#338a - "Series of 1899" above right serial # signatures: Lyons & Roberts P#338b(1) - "Series of 1899" below right serial # signatures: Lyons & Roberts P#338b(2) - "Series of 1899" below right serial # signatures: Lyons & Treat P#338b(3) - "Series of 1899" below right serial # signatures: Vernon & Treat P#338b(4) - "Series of 1899" below right serial # signatures: Vernon & McClung P#338c(1) - "Series of 1899" vertical at right signatures: Vernon & McClung P#338c(2) - "Series of 1899" vertical at right signatures: Napier & McClung P#338c(3) - "Series of 1899" vertical at right signatures: Napier & Thompson P#338c(4) - "Series of 1899" vertical at right signatures: Parker & Burke P#338c(5) - "Series of 1899" vertical at right signatures: Teehee & Burke P#338c(6) - "Series of 1899" vertical at right signatures: Elliott & Burke P#338c(7) - "Series of 1899" vertical at right signatures: Elliott & White P#338c(8) - "Series of 1899" vertical at right signatures: Speelman & White |
| Comments |
The 1899 $1 Silver Certificate — universally known among collectors as the "Black Eagle" — had one of the longest uninterrupted production runs in U.S. currency history, spanning over two decades and thirteen signature combinations without a change in series designation. That persistence was bureaucratic habit as much as anything else: the Treasury simply continued issuing under the same series date each time a new Register or Treasurer took office, rather than authorizing a redesign.
George Smillie's engraving work for the BEP during this period was among the finest produced by any government printer of the era. The shift from horizontal to vertical serial number placement mid-series is a minor but reliable diagnostic for collectors sorting signature varieties.