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50 Dollars Bank of Monroe - Michigan
| Issuer | Bank of Monroe |
|---|---|
| Year | 1861 |
| Type | Local banknote |
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| Obverse description | Printed in a darker brown tone, the note carries multiple vignettes including a central allegorical figure of Liberty at the upper center, flanked by two oval counters bearing the Roman numeral "L" for fifty. A portrait of James Monroe appears at the right, framed by rectangular scalloped counters above and below. The note bears handwritten serial number, payee, and cashier and president signatures, with a partially handwritten date, all produced by the engraving firm Rawdon, Wright & Hatch of New York. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Michigan. No. The BANK OF MONROE, Will pay Fifty Dollars on Demand JAMES MONROE to ____ or Bearer ____18__ MONROE ____ Cashʳ. ____ Presᵗ. Rawdon, Wright & Hatch, New York |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Monroe operated in Monroe County, Michigan, a town whose early commercial ambitions outpaced its banking infrastructure more than once. This note dates to 1861 — secession year — when the Union's financial system was under severe strain and state-chartered banks in the Midwest were flooding circulation with notes of wildly varying reliability. Michigan's Free Banking Act of 1837 had already produced one catastrophic collapse, and public confidence in state paper was never fully restored.
The Rawdon, Wright & Hatch imprint is worth scrutiny: that firm merged into the American Bank Note Company in 1858, three years before this note's date. A 1861-dated note carrying their name almost certainly used an older plate engraved during the firm's active years, redeployed under successor arrangements.