Catalog
3 Dollars Frederick-town Branch Bank - Maryland
| Issuer | Frederick-town Branch Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1832 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Dollar (1785-date) |
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| Obverse description | Letterpress-printed note on yellow paper with black ink throughout. Vertical side borders on both left and right edges carry repeated ornamental lozenge-and-flower medallion panels with the denomination "THREE DOLLARS" printed vertically within each border. The central field carries the serial number upper left, a small decorative flourish vignette at centre-top, and the bold denomination "$3." at upper right, below a printer's imprint line at the very top; the body text is set in a mixture of italic and blackletter typefaces carrying the promise-to-pay inscription, place and date line, and two manuscript signature lines for Cashier and President. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | PRINTED AT THE CITIZENS "OFFICE" FREDERICK. No._________ $3. Cashier of the Frederick-town Branch Bank, pay to the bearer THREE DOLLARS, on demand. Greenfield Mills, Md. ____________ 183__ _________CASH. ______________PRES. |
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| Comments |
The Frederick-town Branch Bank operated as part of Maryland's decentralized antebellum banking structure, in which state-chartered institutions issued their own currency with minimal federal oversight. By 1832, Maryland had dozens of such banks, each printing notes through local job shops rather than specialist security printers — the Citizens' Office in Frederick was a newspaper and general commercial printer, not a firm with engraved steel plates or anti-counterfeiting infrastructure.
The yellow-tinted paper was a rudimentary deterrent against photo-mechanical copying, a technique then emerging as a counterfeiter's tool. It didn't work especially well.