15777

3% Adjusted Service Bond of 1945 A most interestin 3% Adjusted Service Bond of 1945

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:250.00 USD Estimated At:600.00 - 900.00 USD
3% Adjusted Service Bond of 1945 A most interestin 3% Adjusted Service Bond of 1945
<B>3% Adjusted Service Bond of 1945</B></I><BR>A most interesting United States Bond, as this lot and the two that follow contain examples of U.S. Government bonds paid in 1936 to World War 1 veterans. These instruments were the culmination of a long struggle by many veterans to obtain payment of so-called bonuses promised after the end of the First World War. The "Bonus Army," whose march on Washington ended in a contentious melee when regular army troops commanded by then Colonel Douglas MacArthur ousted them from their Washington campground, had long agitated for these bonds to be issued, which they were after approval by Congress in 1936.These bonds were given upon application only to veterans of the War, in an amount based on length of service between specified dates. They were redeemable only by the veteran or his estate, with each bond containing space on the reverse for four fingerprints from the right hand of every applicant for payment, a feature we have seen on no other government obligation of any kind. The final maturity date was June 15, 1945, and they drew no interest unless held for one year. Likely because of their issuance during the depths of the Depression, and their many restrictions, most all of these bonds were speedily redeemed. These are the first items of their kind we have ever had, and they offer an interesting sidelight to a little remembered chapter of American history. <B>Uncirculated.</B></I>