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5 Dollars Central Bank of Tennessee
| Issuer | Central Bank of Tennessee |
|---|---|
| Year | 1855 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Cotton paper |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | TENNESSEE THE CENTRAL BANK OF TENNESSEE Will pay FIVE DOLLARS on demand to the bearer of____________ NASHVILLE |
| Reverse description | The reverse is unprinted and presents a plain aged cotton-paper surface, heavily worn and stained from circulation, with show-through of the red denomination underprint visible from the obverse. No engraved or typeset design elements are present. |
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| Comments |
The Central Bank of Tennessee was a short-lived state-chartered institution, and by 1855 it was operating in a Tennessee banking environment still dominated by the Bank of Tennessee and the Union Bank — both of which had survived the wave of failures that swept through Southern state banks in the 1840s. Notes of the smaller chartered banks from this period circulated at discounts that varied wildly depending on distance from the issuing branch, a practical problem that fueled demand for published "bank note reporters" among merchants throughout the antebellum South.
Tennessee's free banking law of 1852 reshaped which institutions could legally emit currency, and notes printed in this transitional window are worth examining for their bond-deposit backing details.