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2 Dollars - The City Trust New York
| Issuer | The City Trust & Banking Company, New York |
|---|---|
| Year | 1839 |
| Type | Replica banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse carries three circular vignettes: a central seal with an eagle, a Native American, and a merchant figure flanked by guilloche roundels bearing the denomination numeral. A sailing ship vignette and a classical Greek goddess figure appear among ornamental letterpress borders. The lower register is filled with a repeated microtext underprint of the word TWO. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 2 No 5509 2 A THE CITY TRUST & BANKING COMPANY Will pay TWO DOLLARS to the Bearer on demand Nine months after date. NEW YORK Dec. 21 1839 (signature) Cashr. (signature) Pres! TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO TWO |
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| Comments |
The City Trust & Banking Company was a short-lived New York institution operating under the relatively permissive banking environment that preceded the New York Free Banking Act of 1838 — legislation that paradoxically made entry into banking easier while also exposing noteholders to greater risk from undercapitalized or fraudulent operators. Whether City Trust fell into either category is unclear, but its brief appearance in the record fits the pattern of dozens of small New York banks that issued currency during this period and vanished within a few years.
The $2 denomination was common among these smaller institutions precisely because it filled the gap left by the scarcity of silver coinage in everyday transactions.