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20 Dollars Central Bank of Virginia
| Issuer | Central Bank of Virginia |
|---|---|
| Year | 1860 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | At upper center, a pastoral vignette of a milkmaid tending cattle; to the left, an allegorical female figure holding a balance scale, with a female portrait medallion at upper center-left. A locomotive vignette occupies the lower right. A red overprinted denomination TWENTY appears at lower center. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE CENTRAL BANK OF VIRGINIA Will pay TWENTY DOLLARS to Bearer on demand. Staunton ______ 18__ _________Cash.r ________Pres.t American Bank Note Company |
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| Comments |
The Central Bank of Virginia was chartered in Richmond and operated branches across the state, but by 1860 it was already financially fragile. The decision to issue higher-denomination notes that year came at precisely the wrong moment — within eighteen months, Virginia's secession and the Confederacy's parallel currency system rendered most Virginia bank paper increasingly difficult to circulate outside the state.
The American Bank Note Company's New York imprint on a Virginia bank note issued on the eve of the Civil War is a small irony worth noting. Once the war began, replenishing worn notes through a Northern printer became impossible, and many Virginia banks exhausted their remaining stock rather than commission replacements.