20 Dollars Central Bank of Virginia

Carpenter, Casilear & Co. operated briefly as a security printing partnership before its principals — including John W. Casilear, the engraver trained under Asher B. Durand — were absorbed into the American Bank Note Company upon its 1858 consolidation of the major New York and Philadelphia firms. Notes produced under the Carpenter, Casilear imprint therefore have a narrow issuance window, which helps date surviving examples with some confidence.

The Central Bank of Virginia was a Staunton-chartered institution, one of several Virginia state banks whose antebellum paper was rendered worthless by the Civil War. Notes from 1853 predating secession by nearly a decade but circulating into a period of profound monetary disruption are frequently found with condition issues tied to heavy wartime use.