2 Dollars Large-Size Federal Reserve Bank Note

The 1918 Federal Reserve Bank Notes occupy an odd constitutional position: unlike Federal Reserve Notes, they were obligations of the individual issuing bank rather than the United States government, backed by U.S. bonds deposited with the Treasury. Each of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks issued its own version, with the bank name and city printed directly on the face — which is why the Fr. number range spans 747 through 780, with distinct catalog entries for Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and so on through San Francisco.

The series was discontinued after 1918. Congress never authorized another large-size FRBN issue, and the type was effectively replaced by the small-size series that arrived in 1929. Notes from the less commercially active districts — Minneapolis, Dallas, Kansas City — turn up far less often than their New York or Chicago counterparts.