Just who was Joseph W. Barr? He was born on January 17, 1918 and died on February 23, 1996. His place of birth was Bicknell, Indiana. He received a BA from Depauw University and an MA at Harvard University in the field of economics. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1945 during World War II with his duties assigned as a subchaser in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. He received a bronze star and was credited with the sinking of a submarine off of Anzio Beach. After the war he worked in grain elevators, theaters, real estate and publishing businesses. In 1958 he was elected to Congress from the 11th district in Indiana but was defeated two years later. During his two-year term he made friends with then Senator John F. Kennedy. After his defeat President Kennedy appointed him Secretary of the Treasury for Congressional Relations. In 1963 he was appointed chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the FDIC. From 1965 to 1968 he served as Undersecretary of the Treasury under Lyndon B. Johnson. In December of 1968 the then Secretary of the Treasury, Henry H. Fowler resigned. He became Secretary of the Treasury for the remainder of President Lyndon B. Johnson's term. He served as the Secretary of the US Treasury from December 21, 1968 to January 20, 1969 under President Johnson. He was the 59th Secretary of the Treasury. Henry H. Fowler proceeded Joseph W. Barr and David M. Kennedy succeeded Mr. Barr as the Secretary of the Treasury. His term was only 28 days, the shortest term of any Treasury Secretary. His signature only appears on one dollar bills. From 1969 to 1974 he was President of the American Security and Trust company. From 1977 to 1981 he was chairman of the Federal Home Loan Bank in Atlanta, Georgia. Joseph W. Barr died of a heart attack in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. He is buried in Leeds Episcopal Church cemetery in Home, Virginia. He was 78 years old and he had five children. Here are some circulated Barr notes that I have. These two are uncirculated. The bills are crisp and very clean. Please take note of the serial numbers as they are consecutively numbered. To this day Barr notes remain collectible. They are relatively inexpensive and can be found in most local coin shops.
I love "Barr" notes. If you pay attention very carefully to the seal, the seal is different from the modern green seals we have today. It's a little bright green and the seal in not in English. This is my contribution. I have one from my collection with a cool serial number of "G23455555I" and this serial is hybrid - half ladder (2345) & half solid (5555).
