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1 Pound Dartmouth General Bank
| Issuer | Dartmouth General Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1820 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Upper left corner bears an ornate monogram within a laurel wreath accompanied by a handwritten serial number; the denomination appears in letterpress at upper right and lower left. The body of the note carries a manuscript promise-to-pay text with the issuing town, date, and the names of the responsible partners. The word ONE is repeated as a textual denomination guard. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is essentially plain aged paper with a central letterpress bank-name stamp enclosed within a simple ornamental cartouche, applied as a validation impression. Manuscript endorsements in ink appear at lower left, consistent with circulation-era transfer notations. |
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| Comments |
The Dartmouth General Bank was one of dozens of small English country banks that issued their own notes under the permissive pre-1826 banking framework. The Bank of England's monopoly on joint-stock banking within 65 miles of London left the provinces to private partnerships, many of which were dangerously undercapitalized. The 1826 Country Bankers Act, passed in the wake of a catastrophic wave of country bank failures in 1825–26, would eliminate the six-partner limit and allow larger joint-stock banks to form — effectively ending the viability of houses like Dartmouth General.
Whether this particular bank survived to 1826 is not certain. Devon saw several failures in that panic year.