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1 Dollar The Cochituate Bank
| Issuer | The Cochituate Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1853 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | 180 × 70 mm |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is executed in intaglio on aged cotton paper and carries a central vignette of an American eagle with wings spread, perched above a maritime scene with sailing vessels at centre. A female allegorical figure appears at the left margin and a standing male figure at the right. Circular counters bearing the word ONE appear at lower left and the numeral 1 at upper right, with the bank title in bold block lettering across the centre and the obligation text and place name BOSTON printed below. A large red letterpress underprint reading ONE overlays the lower portion of the face. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is unprinted, showing plain aged cotton paper with a faint mirror impression of the red ONE underprint bleeding through from the obverse. |
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| Comments |
The Cochituate Bank took its name from Lake Cochituate, the reservoir that had supplied Boston with running water since 1848 — a piece of civic pride that translated directly into branding for a new commercial bank looking to associate itself with municipal progress. It operated out of the Boston financial district during the early 1850s, a period when Massachusetts alone had over two hundred chartered banks, each issuing their own paper at face value against specie reserves that were rarely as robust as advertised.
The Suffolk Bank system, which dominated New England note redemption at the time, kept most Boston-area issuers in line — but smaller institutions still regularly tested the limits of their redemption obligations.