MACERATED CURRENCY BUST OF PRESIDENT HARRISON

c. 1900, Macerated Currency Bust Portrait upon a Pedestal of President Benjamin Harrison, “Made of U.S. National Greenbacks, redeemed and macerated at the U.(S.) Treasury.” Choice Very Fine.

This original made c. 1900 Large size Macerated Currency Bust of President Benjamin Harrison upon a Pedestal that measures about 4.5" tall. Its original printed Paper Label affixed to the bottom of the base reads: “Made of U.S. National Greenbacks, redeemed and macerated at the U.(S.) Treasury. Estimated $25,000. Manufactured at 715 14th St. N.W., Washington, D.C.” The paper tag is fully intact having some wear, and there is some faint handling to the bust yet it has no major distractions and appears nice for display. This extremely rare example is the one and only President Benjamin Harrison large Bust Portrait upon a Pedestal we have seen and offered.

Souvenirs made of Macerated Paper Money are collected by a handful of people, and are sold at paper-money shows. Instead of burning old U.S. National Greenback bills as they do today, the staff at the U.S. Treasury Department used to shred them and sell chopped pieces to souvenir manufacturers.

From the 1890s until the Hoover administration, souvenir stands in the capital sold busts of the presidents, American Eagles, top hats, vases, slippers, postcards and models of Washington landmarks made of macerated currency and suitable for parlor ornaments.

Your top hat containing $2,000 worth of old bills probably cost 35 cents at the turn of the century.

Hats, Washington Monuments and Abe Lincoln upon a small card are among the more common souvenirs; far rarer are the large busts of Presidents Grover Cleveland, William McKinley and George Washington. They are worth several hundred dollars or more. A simple postcard with a picture of the Treasury building on it was auctioned recently at a paper-money show in Memphis for $260.

They look rather moldy but on close inspection, you can see bits of green paper and red thread and sometimes dollar signs or numbers on the surface. The macerating process was carefully controlled by the Treasury Department. According to an advertising notice on the backs of some of the souvenirs, the old notes being exchanged for new were shipped to Washington and turned over to a special destruction committee of four that watched over the shredding and dissolution.

To read the complete lot description, see:
President Benjamin Harrison Macerated Currency Rare Large Bust Portrait “Made of U.S. National Greenbacks” (https://www.earlyamerican.com/Auctions/ClientPages/lots.item.php?auction=98&lot=264)

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