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1 Dollar The Erie & Kalamazoo Rail Road Bank - Michigan
| Issuer | Erie & Kalamazoo Rail Road Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1853 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | State of Michigan The Erie and Kalamazoo Rail Road Bank Will pay ONE DOLLAR to Bearer on demand. ADRIAN, August 1st 1853 _______Cash.r _________ Pres.t Toppan, Carpenter, Casilear & Co. New York & Phila |
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| Reverse lettering | ONE |
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| Comments |
The Erie & Kalamazoo Rail Road Bank was one of the more unusual issuing institutions of the Michigan free banking period — a bank whose charter was tied directly to a railroad company rather than organized as an independent commercial bank. The Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad itself holds a particular distinction: completed in 1836, it was the first steam-powered railroad to operate west of the Alleghenies, running between Toledo, Ohio and Adrian, Michigan.
Toppan, Carpenter, Casilear & Co. produced some of the most technically accomplished banknote engraving in antebellum America, and their work on this series reflects the security-printing standards of the early 1850s. Michigan's free banking law, passed in 1837 and revised in 1849, allowed note issuance backed by deposited state bonds — an arrangement that attracted both legitimate institutions and outright fraudsters.
Kelly records this as MI80-05, placing it within a documented series rather than an isolated emission.