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1863 $5 Farmers and Exchange Bank Note, Charleston, South Carolina Grades Choice AU/BU Slider

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:20.00 USD Estimated At:75.00 - 150.00 USD
1863 $5 Farmers and Exchange Bank Note, Charleston, South Carolina Grades Choice AU/BU Slider
1863 $5 Farmers and Exchange Bank Note, Charleston, South Carolina Grades Choice AU/BU Slider. Toppan, Carpenter, Casilear & Company printed this five dollar note for the Farmers and Exchange Bank of Charleston, South Carolina around 1863. The note bears an image of three slaves picking cotton in fields, while another slave drives a team of oxen pulling bales of cotton. The number 5 is in a medallion in the upper right and left corners; the lower left features a portrait of F. H. Elmore, while John C. Calhoun is on the lower right. The signature line for the bank’s cashier is unsigned; the president’s line is signed by William Whaley. The Farmers and Exchange Bank was established in 1852, and operated until the end of the Civil War in 1865. From 1790 to 1863, states and private banks issued their own currency to supply capital in a young nation without a national currency. This currency was backed by the hard money the banks had on deposit, and was only used locally where the bank and its operators were trusted in the community. However, banks often oversupplied notes, and this overextension caused bankruptcy among private and state banks when financial panic struck, particularly in 1837. Currencies from these failed banks are known as “obsolete bank notes” or “broken bank notes,” and several are held in the National Numismatic Collection.