25 Cents Indian Head Bank

Civil War-era fractional currency from private banks filled a genuine void — hoarding of silver coin had stripped small change from daily commerce almost entirely by mid-1862, forcing local institutions to issue their own scrip. The Indian Head Bank of Nashua was among hundreds of state-chartered banks that stepped into that gap with small-denomination notes, none of which had federal authorization.

These 25-cent obligations were redeemable at the issuing branch only, which made them functionally useless beyond the immediate locality — by design, not accident. Many were never presented for redemption at all.