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3 Dollars Frederick-town Branch Bank - Maryland
| Issuer | Frederick-town Branch Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1832 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Dollar (1785-date) |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| 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. |
| Reverse description | Completely unprinted reverse, presenting a plain yellow paper surface with no text, vignettes, or ornamental elements of any kind. |
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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.