Tombstones, Portholes & Jackasses.

Nicknames Applied to U.S. Paper Currency.

 

Canadian paper money collectors are not much given to nicknames when it comes to their currency; once we get beyond "Devilhairs", there isn't much. Perhaps that's because our paper tends to run in fewer, similar series over longer lengths of time than the U.S. once did. Even their government paper tended to be of many types: Legal Tender, Treasury, National Bank, Gold Certificates, Silver Certificates, Federal Reserve - and others. Sometimes simultaneously. With this abundance of types, the odd one was bound to standout in some way, possibly acquiring a nickname from the general public at the time and since adopted as an "inside-speak" of today's collectors, long after its demise in circulation.

For instance: a collector may inquire of a reasonably knowledgeable dealer in U.S. paper "Got a decent 69 Jackass in stock?" The dealer would probably know exactly what he meant.

It would be this one: The 10-Dollar " United States " note that appeared in 1869. There were three other series: 1875, 1878 and 1880. The closeup is of one of these later series when the background was slightly changed. But on all of them, the eagle over the lower red seal, when inverted (as it has been here), resembles the head of a jackass. The public at the time were quick to pounce on this little quirk and to this day it lives on in the vernacular of the U.S. paper money collector.

 

Yet another that acquired a contemporary nickname at the time was the $10 Silver Certificates of 1886 and 1891 (with a completely revamped back). These notes showed the portrait of Vice-President Thomas A. Hendricks who was so honoured after his death in 1885. The notable characteristic is the frame (actually a "cartouche") into which his portrait has been placed: it resembles nothing so much as a tombstone and the public readily picked up on this, "Tombstones" becoming slang for the $10 notes. Today a collector may be heard to ask after an "'86 (or '91) Tombstone " and a dealer in no doubt as to what is being referred to.

 

U.S. Silver Certificate, 1891 Series " Tombstone .

Much later, another Silver Certificate received its own nickname for a similar reason: This was the $5 Silver Certificate released only in 1923. This particular note (shown below) displayed the portrait of Abraham Lincoln within a double-circular frame, dubbed at once a "porthole" and since termed the "Porthole Note" by collectors.

 

Some notes acquired nicknames not because of accidental or unintended features but rather according to their straightforward designs. Two such examples that lent colourful slang to the American vernacular at nearly the same time appeared around the turn of the 20 century. One was a $5 Silver Certificate of 1899, the other a $10 Legal Tender note of 1901. In both cases, there was but a single issue.

The $5 Silver Certificate featured the war-bonneted portrait of a Sioux Chief, variously identified as Onepapa or Standing Antelope. In any case, it was a striking design and for a time, "Chiefs" was a slang word for a $5 note. Soon superceded by others, the term dropped from general usage but continues to this day in the special language of the U.S. paper money collector, all of whom know what a "Chief" is.

 

Top: $5 Silver Certificate "Chief", 1899. Bottom: $10 Legal Tender "Bison", 1901

 

The other note, equally striking, was the $10 Legal Tender of 1901 featuring a central design of a bison (from which the nickname was derived) as well as flanking portraits of Lewis and Clark. Although only of the Issue of 1901, the notes - like the "Chiefs" exist with a number of signature combinations. Both were released over a considerable period.

This note would have probably been termed (inaccurately) a " Buffalo " had not a rather strange event occurred: No sooner had the note appeared than two investors - Adam Kessel Jr. and Charles O. Baumann - who were funding what was to become a major film studio in the first decades of the 20th century, chose to name the company after the note, taking advantage of the huge interest in all things "Wild West" at the time. Thus "The Bison Company" was formed, its name and logo splashed all over many early films - and "Bison" the note became. As usual, the term dropped from common usage soon after the disappearance of the notes from circulation but lives on as a collectors' term.

Some collectors' nicknames probably did not originate with the general public at the time. A couple originated in the National Bank Note category, national banks being a sort of group of chartered banks with their notes guaranteed by the U.S. government. In each case, a given denomination was essentially the same for every bank save for the bank name itself on the face and one specific device on the back.

In 1875, such a series appeared, sheets of four being printed as $1-$1-$1-$2. It is the $2 that collectors have named the "Lazy Deuce" for obvious reasons. In the case of the above, the note is on the National Union Bank, Boston . This wording - plus " Massachusetts " at the bottom - was made specific to each bank; the backs varied only in that an oval vignette to the left contained the arms of the state in question. Many banks scattered throughout the U.S. issued similar notes at this time.

 

 

Only a little later (the above note is of the Issue of 1882), higher denominations in the National Currency system appeared, again essentially the same for each of many banks throughout the nation. In this case, it is the backs that collectors notice. With the exception of Gold Certificates, which usually had orange backs, practically every U.S. federal banknote was a "greenback". But the above is an exception. These notes had backs of a reddish brown colour, collectors thus calling them "Brownbacks". In the above case, the note is a $10 National Currency note of 1882 issued by the National Bank of Commerce, New York . Like the "Lazy Deuces", the bank name and state was the changing particular and, like them, the backs also varied with the state by including the appropriate arms in a vignette to the left. Beyond that, however, was the addition of the charter number - in this case, 733 - which appeared as a red overprint on the face and as a large blue overprint on the central back. The National Union Bank of Boston , for instance, would have issued the same general design except that its number would have been 985 face and back.

 

A collector might inquire of today's dealer whether he had a "Minneapolis Battleship" and the dealer know exactly the note to which he was referring: the $2 Federal Reserve note of 1918 from the Minneapolis district; there were 12 in all, ranging from A ( Boston ) to L ( San Francisco ). Minneapolis was "I".

These notes were first issued in 1918 at the height of the U.S. involvement in WWI, thus the rather bellicose design on the back. Although the government insisted that the ship portrayed was generic, collectors proved without doubt that it was the U.S.S. New York . The notes were in use about ten years.

Finally is the series of notes collectors habitually term the "Educationals": the Silver Certificates of 1896 in denominations of $1, $2 and $5. Considered to be among the most beautiful notes issued in the U.S. , they honour teachers, mothers and - for the $5 - Electricity lighting the world, a very early example of this newfangled technology.

 

These are the main "collectors' nickname notes" for the U.S.

Wayne Jacobs is numismatic expert. He is the award winning author of numerous articles. He is the secretary and editor of the "Mid-Island Coin Club Numismatic Journal"of Nanaimo, Vancouver Island , British Columbia. The MICC journal are hosted here: MICC webpages Copyright 2006 Wayne Jacobs. This article may be reprinted freely for non commercial purpose only if the resource box is left intact, linking back to us.