Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
2 Dollars State Bank of Michigan
| Issuer | State Bank of Michigan |
|---|---|
| Year | 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 |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | American Bank Note Company |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Dimension scale |
| Protection description | Lyman's Protection: a printed scale on the note face correlating each denomination to a specific fractional length of the paper, allowing recipients to verify authenticity by measuring the note against the stated proportions. |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The State Bank of Michigan was a product of the state's 1837 free banking law, which allowed almost anyone to establish a bank provided they deposited approved securities as backing. The system produced hundreds of short-lived institutions and an ocean of depreciated paper — Michigan became one of the better-known examples of antebellum wildcat banking excess, though by 1859 tighter regulation had thinned the field considerably.
American Bank Note Company's Detroit operation handled this issue, a detail worth noting because ABNC's Detroit work from this period is less thoroughly documented than its New York output. The dimension scale security device was a deliberate countermeasure against photographic reproduction, then an emerging threat to currency integrity.