50 Dollars Canal Bank, 'Redback'

The Canal Bank was among the most respected antebellum financial institutions in Louisiana, surviving multiple panics that destroyed its competitors — only to be finally liquidated in the aftermath of the Civil War and Reconstruction-era banking chaos. The unusually long date span on this series reflects reissues and reuse of original plate stock rather than continuous operation under stable conditions.

Toppan, Carpenter & Co. produced some of the finest siderographic work in mid-nineteenth-century America, and their output for Southern banks before the war is generally well-executed. The "Redback" nickname derives from the green-tinted reverses — a color choice that predates the Federal greenback by decades and caused occasional confusion in the historical record.