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1 Dollar Silver Certificate, 'Educational Series'
| Issuer | United States Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1896 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The face is dominated by a large central intaglio allegorical vignette after Will H. Low's design, in which History instructs Youth before a backdrop that includes the Washington Monument and the United States Capitol, with the Constitution visible at right. The names of distinguished Americans are inscribed within decorative wreaths arranged along the upper and lower borders, while intricate guilloche underprinting fills the surrounding field. The denomination and Silver Certificate obligation text are printed in letterpress across the lower portion of the note. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse, printed in green, presents two facing intaglio portrait vignettes set within ornate circular guilloche frames: Martha Washington to the left and George Washington to the right, each engraved after established portrait sources. A large numeral "1" rendered in elaborate filigree script occupies the central field between the two portraits, flanked by "ONE DOLLAR" legends at lower left and right, with "SILVER CERTIFICATE" on ribbon banners below each portrait. Decorative heart-motif guilloche panels fill the outer corners, and a small panel of legal tender text appears centrally beneath the numeral. |
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| Comments |
The Educational Series of 1896 is widely regarded as the most ambitious artistic program ever attempted by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing — and the public largely hated it. Complaints poured in about the allegorical female figures, considered by many subscribers to be insufficiently clothed for a currency note. The backlash was direct enough that the Treasury abandoned the large-note artistic experiment entirely when the series was redesigned.
Charles Burt, who engraved the reverse, was in his eighties and near the end of a career spanning decades of BEP work. Alfred Sealey completed portions he could not finish.