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50 Dollars West River Bank
| Issuer | West River Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1850-1859 |
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| Size | 180 × 75 mm |
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| Obverse description | At left, a vignette of Lady Justice holding scales and sword; at center, Lady Liberty seated with an eagle and American flag; at lower right, an engraved male portrait. A red letterpress overprint of "FIFTY" appears at lower center, serving as a denomination underprint security device. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | STATE OF VERMONT The West River Bank Will pay Fifty Dollars on demand to the bearer. Jamaica, _________185 Cash Pres Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson, New York New England Bank Note Co. Boston |
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| Comments |
West River Bank was chartered in Bondville, Vermont, and this 50-dollar obligation dates from a period when hundreds of small New England state banks were issuing their own currency with little federal oversight. The Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson imprint places it before 1858, when that firm was absorbed into the newly consolidated American Bank Note Company — a merger that effectively standardized high-security banknote printing across the continent.
Vermont state bank notes of this denomination were frequently returned to issuing banks for redemption rather than traveling far in trade, which means heavily circulated survivors are proportionally rarer than lower denominations from the same institutions.