Catalog
5 Dollars
| Issuer | Kingston Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1837-1843 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Dollars |
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| 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 |
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| Obverse description | Engraved in the early American bank note tradition, the obverse carries a central upper vignette of cattle and farm buildings in a pastoral setting, flanked by ornate numeral 5 counters at left and right; an oval vignette at left contains a seated female allegorical figure with a lute. The bank title 'The KINGSTON Bank' runs in bold script across the centre, above the New-York Safety Fund obligation text promising payment of five dollars on demand, with manuscript signatures of the Cashier and President below. The printer's imprint of Rawdon, Wright & Hatch, New-York appears at the foot of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| 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.