Has anyone ever compiled a listing of when countries first issued notes?

I am just curious. The majority of my collection is US notes, but I have almost a dozen non-US notes. I think it would be interesting to see when each country started issuing notes.

In my collection, I have notes from :
Australia
Bulgaria
Canada
Confederate States of America
France
Germany
Mexico
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
United States of America.

I just posted pretty much my entire collection...I don't know much about non-US notes but I would like to learn more.

 

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I would love to, but you know, there are just too many countries in my collection and I have so many notes that I don't even have imaged for my site that it would be impossible.

Plus for countries like the USA, when do you say it first issued paper money, in 1690 when Massachusetts Bay first did, or in 1775 when the Continental Congress first did, or in 1815 when the Federal government first did to finance that war? Most people would say 1861 with the Demand Notes that were issued then - but the earlier issues have some claim to being currency.

My oldest note from anywhere in the America's is from 1746 and was printed by Benjamin Franklin for the Delaware Colony. It is a Twenty shillings or 20/- or one pound note. Not the prettiest note around, colonials are basically historical only and this is the worse for wear:



My daughter owns a far far older Chinese note though, she owns a 1 Kuan that was issued from 1368-1399, and that isn't even the oldest known Chinese note, the oldest known dates to the 9th century.

 

Wow, what's left of that is pretty cool. It must have lived a rough life before you got it.
Seeing your daughter's Chinese note a few days ago from the 1300s is actually what kicked off my thoughts about this, which culminated in the starting of this thread today.

I never really considered that there could be multiple answers. Based on the info you posted, I would lean towards 1775 as the first for the USA, with the indivigual states being listed as their own seperate note-issuing entity. But...that's just me.

 

"Most people would say 1861 with the Demand Notes that were issued then - but the earlier issues have some claim to being currency."


I once thought that Paper Money from the Colonial times was also the first...it is a matter of interpretation and that being said, what folks consider money printed by the Fed, due to the organization of the BEP, that was actually dated August 29, 1862 when United States Notes were separated and sealed by hand.

So is there a definitive date? Hummmm..... it still seems that folks get confused over this, and with good reason.

Regards,

RickieB

 

Some of these are easy to answer if you are only talking about government issues.

Australia - Treasury Note issue of 1913. Prior to that private banks issued notes.

Bulgaria - Bulgarian National Bank issue of 1885.

Canada - Province of Canada issue of 1866.

Confederate States - May 1861 Montgomery issued notes.

France - Pick shows earliest issue is 1701.

Germany - The first Imperial Treasury notes date from 1874. German unification was completed in 1871. There are issues form the individual states that pre-date this time.

Mexico - Pick shows an Imperial issue of 1823.

Bohemia and Moravia -- no earlier than March 1939 when the protectorate was created. The first notes issued were Czech notes with overstamps.

 

What about the Treasury notes of 1812-1815? They have some claim to being the first paper money of the United States since they were issued by the Treasury. The smallest denomination was a $3 issued in 1815, and these did circulate as a currency - though they were of course not legal tender for all debts like the Demand and Legal Tender notes of 1861 and 1862.

There were two or three examples of these in the CAA Auction last month.

 

This site is so much better than History Class 30+ years ago. I learn something on here everyday.
Thanks to all of you

 

SM...you know this has always been a subject of questionable regard.
I have read many articles and publications on the subject and have made up in my own mind that when folks refere to the "first paper Money" they are referencing the BEP....

Well here is an article from the Comptrollers Office back in 1884 that spells it out quite nicely I think....

I wish I could a solid answer to that age old question myself...LOL


Regards,

RickieB

 

i try to find a small history of monetary development for each country i post on my website. Just visit any country to see what i mean... not sure if thats what you mean .. but there are alot of dates included lol

 

Or it could be said that the issuance of paper money was the beginning of the end for real money - ie tangible coin. You know I love collecting paper money, but to me it is fake money.

 

I have Knox's book. It is a fairly interesting read. It has pictures of some pretty scarce notes.

 

Just so everybody knows, Bank of England was started by a Scot in London in 1694, and Bank of Scotland was started by an Englishman in Edinburgh in 1695, note issues started shortly thereafter. They are both the oldest continuously issuing authorities anywhere. To this day there is no legal tender in Scotland beyond coins, all notes in circulation are NOT legal tender. Back when Bank of England still issued ten bob and twenty bob notes they were legal tender in Scotland, but those are no longer issued.

 

Lettow...
That is cool...have a Cover pic you can share?

Thanks..

RickieB

 

Unfortunately, it was deaccessioned from a library and has a new binding with only the name on the spine.

 

I wonder if the SPMC has a copy of this...do you know?

Regards,

RickieB

 

I don't know about SMPC but ANA has three copies. An 1884, and 1888 and a reprint from 1978.