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20 Cents Mount Pleasant Apothecary Store - Massachusetts
| Issuer | Mount Pleasant Apothecary Store |
|---|---|
| Year | 1863 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 20 Cents (0.20 USD) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black on white paper, the note carries a small architectural vignette of a house at the upper left, with the numeral denomination "20" set within an ornate panel at center. The issuer's name and address appear in letterpress across the upper portion, with the body text clarifying the scrip's non-currency status and redemption terms. The engraver's imprint of L. Prang & Co. appears at the lower margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | MOUNT PLEASANT APOTHECARY STORE Eustis St. This is not currency, but a memorandum for change. Check for TWENTY CENTS Redeemable in current funds in sums of one or more dollars as above, or at the Book-Store of W.H. Piper & Co. 133 Washington Street, Boston. Roxbury, Jan 1st 1863. L. PRANG & CO. ENGR.S |
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| Comments |
During the Civil War, the hoarding of metal coinage left everyday commerce paralyzed. Small merchants across the North plugged the gap with privately issued fractional notes — scrip redeemable only at their own counters. This Mount Pleasant Apothecary piece is one of thousands of such local solutions, but the printer sets it apart. Louis Prang's Boston firm was better known for chromolithography and would later become the dominant force in American greeting card printing; fractional merchant scrip was decidedly minor work for the shop.
Federal law ultimately banned private fractional currency in 1864, giving notes like this one a production window of under two years.