St. Louis, (M.T.) - Bank of St. Louis (1st) $1 October 12, 1817 MO-45 G12 SENC. PCGS Very Fine 20. A rare example of one of St. Louis's earliest banknotes from an intriguing two-denomination series that merits examination. It is from the first series, printed prior to the Leney & Rollinson engraved notes being delivered. They served as temporary notes, or were used as needed later, based on the date of this example compared with some dates observed on the engraved notes that follow in this sale. There is no imprint on this \"set type\" note (as Eric refers to these in his research) making it difficult to prove whether or not it was printed locally. The signing cashier here, John B. N. Smith, along with out-of-town conspirators, surreptitiously bought banknotes from poorly and speculatively backed Illinois (particularly Edwardsville), Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania banks. Those notes, deemed \"rag money\" at the time, were bought with Bank of St. Louis notes he alone signed, without the required president's signature (see Hubbard and Davids, Banking in Mid-America, pp. 30-33). Later, his cohorts redeemed the bank's good bills, received for this worthless \"rag money,\" for specie at the St. Louis main bank. Eventually, the bank's limited specie (it was not audited, but was only required to hold 50% reserves versus its capital stock sales) could not pay legitimate claims and the bank failed. The notes were printed on rag paper. A charming, folk-style was used, with a very spare layout. End panels show ST. LOUIS at left within a shaded cartouche and an outlined ONE DOLL: at right on a dark background (similar to an 1816-dated Kentucky Insurance Co. $1 note), both oriented perpendicularly. Title, obligation, and city are across with an oval \"1\" die (also similar to the Kentucky note cited) at top center. Plate A. No. 5712. Signed by John B. N. Smith as cashier and S.[amuel] Hammond as bank president. This typeset series was not in the 1981 Vacca collection sale. We cataloged and sold a lesser-grade example, dated March 1, 1817, in Newman part VII graded PCGS Fine 12 Apparent, for $1,057.50. The exact origin and use of these notes is worthy of further research, but their rarity indicates most were redeemed, and it might suggest many were the bills used to dupe the bank out of its specie in exchange for bad money. More Leney & Rollinson engraved notes are known than this rustic type. This very sharp example might be the finest known, and it exhibits another fascinating facet of early St. Louis frontier banking history. Ex: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society \n\n
From Newman VIII (Heritage Auctions, 11/2017), lot 28350, realized $2040. Image and description courtesy of Heritage Auctions, https://ha.com.
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