Twenty-five Cent Fractional Currency

Washington DC: United States Government, c1875. Fifth issue February 1874 to 1876. Fractional currency. Format is approximately 3.5 inches by 2 inches, printed on both sides. Two pinholes (one pin) on right side. The front has the image of former Secretary of the Treasury Robert John Walker and the seal of the Treasury Department. The reverse is a basic greenback with 25 cents presented in a large image. There is a notation that this is a Columbian Bank Note Washington, D.C. Columbian Bank Note Company was founded by John Geikie Wellstood in 1871 in Washington D.C. The American Bank Note Company acquired Columbian in 1879, and took over the contract printing. This note has either a 1308 or a 1309 designation, probably the former with a long, thin key. Robert John Walker (July 19, 1801 – November 11, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a member of the U.S. Senate from Mississippi from 1835 until 1845, as Secretary of the Treasury from 1845 to 1849 during the administration of President James K. Polk, and briefly as Territorial Governor of Kansas in 1857. He was responsible for drafting the 1849 bill that eventually established the United States Department of the Interior. Walker supported the annexation of Texas. As Secretary of the Treasury, he held responsibility for the management of funds relating to the Mexican–American War,. He contributed to a bill called the Walker tariff, which reduced rates to some of the lowest in history. Walker was appointed Governor of Kansas in 1857 by President James Buchanan. After his retirement from politics, Walker supported the United States during the American Civil War and continued to practice law in Washington, D.C. Walker depicted on the 5th issue 25-cent Fractional currency note Fractional currency, also referred to as shinplasters, was introduced by the United States federal government following the outbreak of the Civil War. These low-denomination banknotes of the United States dollar were in use between 21 August 1862 and 15 February 1876, and issued in denominations of 3, 5, 10, 15, 25, and 50 cents across five issuing periods. The Civil War economy catalyzed a shortage of United States coinage—gold and silver coins were hoarded given their intrinsic bullion value relative to irredeemable paper currency at the time. In late 1861, to help finance the Civil War, the U.S. government borrowed gold coin from New York City banks in exchange for Seven-thirties treasury notes and the New York banks sold them to the public for gold to repay the loan. In December 1861, the Trent Affair shook public confidence with the threat of war on a second front. The United States Department of the Treasury suspended specie payments and banks in New York City stopped redeeming paper money for gold and silver. In the absence of gold and silver coin, the premium for specie began to devalue paper currency. After the New York banks suspended specie payments (quickly followed by Boston and Philadelphia) the premium on gold rose from 1–3% over paper in early January 1862 to 9% over paper in June 1862, by which time one paper dollar was worth 91.69 cents in gold. This fueled currency speculation (e.g., redeeming banknotes for silver coin which was then sold at a premium as bullion), and created significant disruption across businesses and trade. Alternate methods of providing small change included the reintroduction of Spanish quarter dollars in Philadelphia, cutting dollar bills in quarters or halves, refusing to provide change (without charging a premium for providing silver coins), or the issuance of locally issued shinplasters (i.e., those issued by businesses or local municipalities), which was forbidden by law in many states. Treasurer of the United States Francis E. Spinner has been credited with finding the solution to the shortage of coinage: he created postage currency (which led into the use of fractional currency). Postage (or postal) currency was the first of five issues of US Post Office fractional paper money printed in 5-cent, 10-cent, 25-cent, and 50-cent denominations and issued from 21 August 1862 through 27 May 1863. Spinner proposed using postage stamps, affixed to Treasury paper, with his signature on the bottom. Based on this initiative, Congress supported a temporary solution involving fractional currency and on 17 July 1862 President Lincoln signed the Postage Currency Bill into law. The intent, however, was not that stamps should be a circulating currency. The design of the first issue (postage currency) was directly based on Spinner's original handmade examples. Subsequent issues would no longer include images of stamps and were referred to as Fractional Currency. In 1863, Secretary Chase asked for a new fractional currency that was harder to counterfeit. The new fractional currency notes were different from the 1862 postage currency issues. They were more colorful with printing on the reverse, and several anti-counterfeiting measures were employed: experimental paper, adding surcharges, overprints, blue endpaper, silk fibers, and watermarks to name a few. Fractional currency shields which had single-sided specimens were sold to banks to provide a standard for comparison for detecting counterfeits. Postage and fractional currency remained in use until 1876, when Congress authorized the minting of fractional silver coins to redeem the outstanding fractional currency. Condition: Good.

Keywords: Robert John Walker, Fractional Currency, Fifth Issue, Twenty Five Cents, Secretary of the Treasury, Money, Shinplasters, Low-denomination Banknotes, Columbian Bank Note Company

[Book #83161]

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