Catalog
5 Dollars
| Issuer | Kingston Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1837-1843 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Dollars |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | NEW-YORK SAFETY FUND The KINGSTON Bank Will pay FIVE dollars on demand to ___ or bearer, Kingston Cashr. Prest. Rawdon Wright & Hatch New-York |
| Reverse description | The reverse is unprinted, consisting of plain cream-toned cotton paper with no vignettes, lettering, or design elements of any kind, consistent with the production standard of American state-chartered bank notes of the 1830s–1840s. |
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| Comments |
The Kingston Bank was chartered under New York's Free Banking Act of 1838, part of a wave of new state institutions that proliferated almost overnight once the restrictive older charter system was dismantled. Rawdon, Wright & Hatch — one of the most technically accomplished security printers operating in antebellum America — produced notes for dozens of these nascent banks simultaneously, which means the underlying plate work here is considerably more sophisticated than the issuing institution's brief history might suggest.
Kingston Bank itself had a short run; many Free Banking Act institutions failed or were absorbed within a decade, leaving their notes to circulate at steep discounts or become worthless entirely. Surviving examples passed through that uncertainty.