The E-Sylum:  Volume 8, Number 22, May 29, 2005, Article 6

NEW HAMPSHIRE PAPER RESEARCHERS INTERVIEWED

David Bowers and David Sundman, who are researching for a
new book on New Hampshire obsolete currency, were interviewed
in an article in the Concord Monitor May 22:

"... the hype that comes with every currency change these days
(colored twenties!) would be laughable to our New Hampshire
ancestors.

During colonial times they were accustomed to new, locally-
produced paper currency every few years - and knew the notes
were practically worthless outside New Hampshire's borders.
Then, through most of the 19th century they had their pick of
dozens of different New Hampshire bank notes, with different
bank logos (and different values) from places like the Amonoosuc
Bank of Bath or the Pemigewasset Bank of Plymouth.

A pair of New Hampshire coin collectors are working on a
book about New Hampshire currency, stretching from the
state's first paper bank note in 1709 until the federal government
finally standardized U.S. dollars in 1935, wiping the signature
of local banks like the Mechanicks National Bank of Concord
from the bills. They say interest in collecting paper money is a
relatively recent phenomenon too - collectors, like early
currency users, have not always known what to make of it."

"... private banks issued their own paper money, complete
with their own logos and insignia. A $50 bill from the
Somersworth Bank, for example, features an industrial scene.

"It was branding, too, a little bit," Bowers said. "They tried
to make the currency attractive, an artistic note was nice to
have. As engraving became more perfected, notes became
more beautiful. They had goddesses on them and sea
serpents and chariots."

The value of the notes, however, varied widely. And although
New Hampshire was fairly scandal-free, there was not much
to ensure that private banks actually had the money they said t
hey did (Michigan's private banking system, for one, was a
scandal-ridden mess). And the notes were still pretty
worthless if you wanted to travel far out of town.

"You had this wild collage of notes circulating, thousands of
different notes," Sundman said. "It was a wild and woolly time."

To read the full article, see: Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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