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20 Dollars Demand Note - "Greenback"

Features

Issuer United States
Period Federal republic (1776-date)
Type Standard circulation banknotes
Year 1861
Value 20 Dollars (20 USD)
Currency Dollar (1785-date)
Composition Paper
Size 185 × 80 mm
Shape Rectangular
Number
N#
366610
References P# 127
Standard Catalog of World Paper Money (10 volumes).
, Fr US# 11-15
Arthur Louis Friedberg, Ira S. Friedberg. Paper Money of the United States. Coin & Currency Institute (2 volumes).

Series: Demand Notes of 1861

Obverse

Black and white print; red serial number; green decorations.

Liberty standing, wearing robes, looking right, left hand on shield, right hand holding sword downwards.

Scripts: Latin, Latin (cursive)

Lettering:
TWENTY
ACT OF JULY 17. 1861
ON DEMAND
THE UNITED STATES
Promise to pay
Twenty Dollars
to the Bearer
20
TWENTY DOLLARS
UNITED STATES
D
SERIES 2.
NO. 19012
PATENTED JUNE 30 1837
Washington, August 10th,, 1861
PAYABE BY
THE
ASST. TREASURER OF THE
U.S.AT PHILADA.
For the Register of the Treasury. For the Treasurer of the United States.
RECEIVABLE IN PAYMENT OF ALL PUBLIC DUES.
AMERICAN BANK NOTE CO.NEW YORK

Reverse

Green and white print.

Script: Latin

Lettering:
UNITED STATES
TWENTY
20
UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA

Printer

American Banknote Corporation (American Bank Note Company), United States (1795-date)

Comments

Issued between August 1861 and April 1862 during the American Civil War. These notes earned the name "Greenback" from the extensive green printing on the reverse.

The woman on the right is a depiction of Art.

On Varieties and Signatures
Excerpt from: Friedberg, A. L., Friedberg, I. S., & Friedberg, R. (2021). IV. THE DEMAND NOTES OF 1861: 5 Dollar Notes. In Paper Money of the United States: A Complete Illustrated Guide with Valuations (22nd ed., p. 33). The Coin and Currency Institute, Inc.

"The first plates made for the various denominations had blank spaces for two signatures, and below these spaces were engraved
'Register of the Treasury' and 'Treasurer of the United States.'

These two busy and important Treasury officials obviously could not sit down and personally autograph several million notes. Therefore, a large staff of clerks from the Treasury Department was employed to sign their own names for the two officials. The way the plates were worded made it necessary for these clerks to write also the words 'For the' in addition to their own names.

It quickly became apparent that this additional wording was both wasteful and inefficient and the plates were at once changed so that the finished printed notes read as follows, 'For the Register of the Treasury' and 'For the Treasurer of the United States.'

Compared to the total amount of notes issued, those released to the public before the plates were changed were small in number. Today, only a few survive and they are of the highest rarity and greatest historical interest."

Of the varieties:
P#127a; New York; handwritten "for the": 1 known
P#127d; Cincinnati: 1 known

See also

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Date VG F VF XF AU UNC References
1861-Aug-10  Fr US# 11
Arthur Louis Friedberg, Ira S. Friedberg. Paper Money of the United States. Coin & Currency Institute (2 volumes).
, P# 127a
Standard Catalog of World Paper Money (10 volumes).
New York
1861-Aug-10  Fr US# 11a
Arthur Louis Friedberg, Ira S. Friedberg. Paper Money of the United States. Coin & Currency Institute (2 volumes).
, P# 127a
Standard Catalog of World Paper Money (10 volumes).
New York; handwritten "for the"
1861-Aug-10  Fr US# 12
Arthur Louis Friedberg, Ira S. Friedberg. Paper Money of the United States. Coin & Currency Institute (2 volumes).
, P# 127b
Standard Catalog of World Paper Money (10 volumes).
Philad.
1861-Aug-10  Fr US# 13
Arthur Louis Friedberg, Ira S. Friedberg. Paper Money of the United States. Coin & Currency Institute (2 volumes).
, P# 127c
Standard Catalog of World Paper Money (10 volumes).
Boston
1861-Aug-10  Fr US# 14
Arthur Louis Friedberg, Ira S. Friedberg. Paper Money of the United States. Coin & Currency Institute (2 volumes).
, P# 127d
Standard Catalog of World Paper Money (10 volumes).
Cincinnati
1861-Aug-10  Fr US# 15
Arthur Louis Friedberg, Ira S. Friedberg. Paper Money of the United States. Coin & Currency Institute (2 volumes).
, P# 127e
Standard Catalog of World Paper Money (10 volumes).
Saint Louis

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