Catalog
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| Issuer | The Seattle National Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1902-1928 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Dollar (1785-date) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The central vignette presents two allegorical female figures — representing Mechanics and Navigation — seated at left and right respectively, flanking a panoramic background scene with a steam locomotive and sailing vessels. The composition is rendered in fine intaglio engraving with elaborate guilloche border work enclosing the denomination text. |
| Reverse lettering | 50 FIFTY FIFTY 50 NATIONAL CURRENCY FIFTY DOLLARS |
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| Comments |
The Seattle National Bank operated under charter number 4229, and notes from this institution fall within the Red Seal and Blue Seal Date Back and Plain Back varieties issued across the 1902 series. At the $50 denomination, national bank notes were already uncommon in circulation — high face value discouraged everyday use, and many were returned to banks quickly or held as reserves rather than passed hand to hand through commerce.
Seattle's rapid growth following the Klondike Gold Rush made it an unusual issuing city for large-denomination nationals — demand for commercial paper was genuine, not ceremonial. Charter 4229 examples at this denomination are scarce regardless of seal type.