The Atlas Obscura web site took a look this week at the 1896 Educational Series notes. Here's an excerpt. -Editor
Art and money have a complicated relationship in America. But art on money has always been pretty simple: Put a dead president on
the front of a note, some numbers and a seal on the back, and cover the whole thing in a lot of squiggly lines to make it harder for people
to print their own cash.
This hasn't always been true, though. Back in the 1890s, there was a conscious effort to turn American money into pocket-sized works
of art. It resulted in the creation of what is still regarded as the most beautiful set of bank notes ever issued in the United States: the
Educational Series of silver certificates.
Silver certificates, issued between 1878 and 1964, were a type of representative money that could be traded in at a bank for their face
value in silver dollar coins. As with most paper currency in the United States, silver certificates usually featured a portrait of a
deceased president on the obverse side of the note, which was printed with black ink. The reverse side, most often printed in green, tended
not to depict any presidents or pioneers, but instead had ornate, intricate designs that swirled around the numbers and lettering to help
prevent counterfeiting. In the case of the 1886 $5 silver certificate, pictured below, there was even an illustration of coins on the
reverse—money depicted on your money.
In an effort to bring more artistic merit to the silver certificate, the BEP approached Edwin Blashfield, Will H. Low, and Walter
Shirlaw, three artists known for their elegant allegorical paintings. As muralists, Blashfield and Low were accustomed to working at a much
larger scale than the 3.125-by-7.4218-inch dimensions of a silver certificate. But the painters' flair for eye-pleasing composition and
their ability to translate principles of national character into gorgeous tableaus of women in flowing robes was paramount. They were
encouraged to submit large paintings, which a team of skilled engravers could then translate to currency-compatible format. According to
the aforementioned Times article, 15 to 20 engravers worked on each note, each one assigned to a particular section of the design.
The resulting three artworks formed the basis for the $1, $2, and $5 silver certificates that came to be known as the 1896 Educational
Series.
The three silver certificates in the Educational Series are among 250 notes currently on display at New York's Museum of American
Finance, in an exhibit titled America in Circulation. The Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection in Washington D.C. also has a
full set of the 1896 notes, while the Money Museum in Chicago has the $5—see it for yourself and decide whether it really is the most
beautiful bank note ever released in the United States.
To read the complete article, see:
OBJECT OF INTRIGUE: THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BANKNOTE IN
U.S. HISTORY (www.atlasobscura.com/articles/object-of-intrigue-beautiful-us-banknote)
Wayne Homren, Editor
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