Warsaw, MO - Mechanics Bank, at their Bank in Warsaw $5 Nov. 1, 1859 MO-20 G46b. PCGS Fine 12 Apparent. This branch note is from one of the rarest banks from Missouri. If seven proofs (four $20s, two $50s, and one $500) had not appeared in the 1990 ABN Sale, examples from the bank would be virtually unheard of. The bank was one of two that printed $500 notes (1990 ABN Sale lot 855, later sold in the June 2005 Schingoethe Part 3: lot 1897 at $8,625). There was also a $20A-$20B-$20C-$20D proof sheet in the 1981 Vacca sale (that realized $4,515 thirty-six years ago), but no issued notes were in those auctions. The note is signed by J. W. Wills as bank president. Wills succeeded to the post after Joseph Charless (his portrait is on the $20 notes of the bank) was murdered on June 4, 1859. Charless had testified against Joseph W. Thornton, Boatmen's Saving Institution's secretary, in a trial regarding an inside robbery from that bank. Although eventually acquitted, the vengeful Thornton shot him dead on Market Street. This type and branch is listed, but not illustrated, in Haxby (however, we believe the Haxby plate note is G46a, formerly from the Western Reserve sale). Printed from plates by Toppan, Carpenter, & Co., New-York & Philada., with an ABC monogram at the upper right edge. The first half of the title arcs over the blacksmith's shop where a farrier shoes a horse; the word MISSOURI curves over the portrait of a girl wearing a fur collar; and a harvester is at lower right. A red tint is across the note, and a micro-lettered protector grill in a deeper color outlines the large white FIVE at the bottom. Denomination dies are at lower left and upper right. Plate B. No. 15162. The commissioner's signature at the left is faint. Noted with \"Small Edge Tears; Minor Paper Scuffs.\" The faults are noticed in the interior, not the solid perimeter. It still has pleasing color despite circulation. This has been in the Newman Collection for decades. Few issued notes from the bank have ever been cataloged for public sale. The Haxby-plated, issued $5 Warsaw branch note mentioned (MO-20 G46a), was sold in the 1996 Western Reserve Historical Society sale and has been in the same collection for over two decades. A key St. Louis bank and issued note. Ex: Eric P. Newman Numismatic Education Society \n\n
From Newman VIII (Heritage Auctions, 11/2017), lot 28438, realized $840. Image and description courtesy of Heritage Auctions, https://ha.com.
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