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1 Dollar The Merchants and Planters Bank
| Issuer | Merchants and Planters Bank, Savannah, Georgia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1856-1859 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Danforth, Wright & Co., New York and Philadelphia |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The upper register carries the bank title 'THE MERCHANTS AND PLANTERS BANK / STATE OF GEORGIA' in bold serif lettering within a scrollwork banner. A central intaglio vignette illustrates a rural agricultural scene with figures, horse-drawn machinery, and a locomotive, reflecting the mercantile and planting economy of antebellum Georgia. Denomination counters appear in each corner — an ornate '1' at upper left and a microprint lathe-work 'ONE' medallion at upper right, with smaller oval counters at the lower corners — while the promise text 'Will Pay ONE DOLLAR to bearer on demand / SAVANNAH' and the printer's imprint of Danforth, Wright & Co. appear in the lower register. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is unprinted, consisting of plain paper stock now heavily aged and discoloured, with a portion of the note backed by a later repair patch of lighter paper. No typeset or engraved design elements are present. |
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| Comments |
Danforth, Wright & Co. was one of the premier security printers of the antebellum South's banknote trade, supplying engraved plates to dozens of state-chartered institutions that lacked any practical means of printing their own currency. The Merchants and Planters Bank of Savannah was a mid-tier commercial institution serving Georgia's cotton economy — not one of the dominant Savannah banks, which makes surviving examples of its notes less common than those from larger regional issuers.
Georgia's free banking framework of this period permitted a proliferation of chartered banks whose notes circulated at varying discounts depending on perceived solvency. By 1861, Confederate requisitions and the Union blockade of Savannah's port had effectively ended normal commercial banking in the city.