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1 Dollar United States Note - 'Saw-horse'
| Issuer | United States Treasury |
|---|---|
| Year | 1874-1917 |
| 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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| Obverse description | At center, an intaglio portrait of George Washington within an oval vignette; to the far left, a vignette of Christopher Columbus sighting land. A red Treasury seal is positioned to the left of the Washington portrait, with ornate guilloche work framing the note. Inscriptions identify the note as a United States Note, legal tender under the Act of March 3rd, 1863, payable to the bearer for one dollar. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | ONE ONE DOLLAR US UNITED STATES OF AMERICA |
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| Comments |
The "Saw-horse" nickname comes from the distinctive ornamental lathe-work pattern on the reverse — a detail that caught the public's attention far more than the Treasury apparently intended. These Legal Tender Notes were a continuation of the Civil War-era United States Note program, kept alive well past military necessity by political resistance to retiring government-issued currency in favor of National Bank Notes backed by bonds.
Ourdan's engraving work for the BEP was among the most technically demanding of the period. The series ran across several decades with signature combinations changing to reflect successive Register and Treasurer pairings — those combinations are the primary dating tool for collectors, since the printed date range spans over forty years.