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State banks opposed recharter of the national bank because when state bank notes were deposited with the First Bank of the United States, the Bank would present these notes to state banks and demand gold in exchange, which limited the state banks' ability to issue notes and maintain adequate reserves of specie, or hard money.
Before the Civil War, the United States used gold and silver coins as its official currency. Paper currency in the form of banknotes was issued by privately owned banks, the notes being redeemable for specie at the bank's office. Such notes had value only if the bank could be counted on to redeem them; if a bank failed, its notes became worthless.
Early in the war, customs duties were a large part of government tax revenue and by making these payable in gold, the government would generate the coin necessary to make the interest payments on the bonds. Lastly, by making the bonds available for purchase at par in United States Notes, the value of the latter would be confirmed as well. [3]
Discounting to face value: Before national currencies and efficient clearing houses, banknotes were only redeemable at face value at the issuing bank. Even a branch bank could discount notes of other branches of the same bank. The discounts usually increased with distance from the issuing bank. The discount also depended on the perceived safety ...
National Bank Notes were issued by banks chartered or authorized to do so by the Federal Government. The charter expired after 20 years, but could be renewed. They were of uniform appearance except for the name of the bank and were issued as three series or charter periods: 1869–1882, 1882–1902, and 1902–1922.
The most recent state currency issue prior to this were the Colonial American banknotes issued during the 18th century. Many North Carolina banks also issued currency during this period. Many of the North Carolina banknotes are similar to period issues from other Confederate States ; this is not surprising, as the North Carolina banknotes were ...
A wildcat bank is broadly defined as one that prints more currency than it is capable of continuously redeeming in specie. A more specific definition, established by historian of economics Hugh Rockoff in the 1970s, applies the term to free banks whose notes were backed by overvalued securities – bonds which were valued at par by the state, but which had a market value below par. [2]
National Bank Note Company New York, NY 1–4 Part of the American Bank Note Company: Southern Bank Note Company New Orleans, LA 5, 6, 15, 19, 22, 31 Southern branch of the American Bank Note Company [26] Hoyer & Ludwig Richmond, VA 7–11, 13–14, 17–18, 27–28, 35–36, 46 Louis Hoyer and Charles Ludwig, in operation 1861–64 [27]