Here’s an opportunity to add scarce cut-canceled notes to your paper currency collection. These uniface notes date from before the Civil War. The Merrimack County Bank opened in 1824 in Concord, NH, about 85 miles from Littleton Coin Co. It was one of six depositories in the state for federal funds. When the bank closed in 1849, it had only $891.00 worth of notes that remained in circulation. Back then, once notes had been redeemed and were no longer backed by funds, they were canceled. These notes were canceled by completely cutting out the bank officials signatures at the bottom.
In my nearly three decades in the industry, I’ve never come across these notes. They were an opportunity purchase I had to jump on! They are:
- $5 Note – this scarce issue features a locomotive pulling a passenger car paired with a farming scene as the center motifs; Benjamin Franklin is seated at right while a woman holding a sword, its tip pointed down, is at left.
- $10 Note – this rare note depicts a sidewheel steamer with three visible smoke stacks paired with a seated goddess as the center designs. George Washington is seated at the right. A carpenter is standing at left with an image of the statehouse in the background.
Don’t wait – once these rarities are gone, we don’t know when, or if, we’ll be able to offer them again!