25 Cents Bank of Lowville

The Bank of Lowville operated in Lewis County, New York, a sparsely populated lumber and dairy region that had little need for a major commercial bank but found one anyway during the free banking period. By 1862, the Civil War had triggered a severe coin shortage across the North — hoarding was epidemic, and small-denomination fractional notes from local banks, merchants, and municipalities rushed in to fill the gap. This note is a direct product of that crisis.

Lewis County institutions rarely appear in specialist collections. Kappen's listing for this type is thin on surviving examples.