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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;stlnats, post: 2534297, member: 41066&quot;]This exact question was coincidentally posed over on Collector&#039;s Universe this weekend.&nbsp; Here&#039;s the link which also includes a discussion of which battleship actually appears on the back of the FRBN deuce:&nbsp; <a href="https://forums.collectors.com/messageview.aspx?catid=23&amp;threadid=969861&amp;enterthread=y" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://forums.collectors.com/messageview.aspx?catid=23&amp;threadid=969861&amp;enterthread=y" rel="nofollow">https://forums.collectors.com/messageview.aspx?catid=23&amp;threadid=969861&amp;enterthread=y</a></p><p><br /></p><p>In the early 1860s, $2 US Notes and NBNs were included as the Treasury took a more active role in substituting federal currency for state chartered banknotes. By WWI deuces had also appeared as silver certificates and treasury notes so it was natural that they were included in the authorization of FRBNs in 1913.&nbsp; The history of FRBNs is dealt with fairly completely in the Hessler-Chambliss &quot;Comphrensive Catalog,&quot; but to summarize:</p><p><br /></p><p>FRBNs are different than &quot;regular&quot; FRNs in that they are essentially national bank notes (NBN) but issued by and being an obligation of a specific FR bank.&nbsp; They were initially contemplated to be substituted for NBNs but this didn&#039;t really pan out and the last issue (small size) was during the Depression. Most of the large size FRBNs were issued following the passage of the Pittman Act in 1918 (hence the 1918 series date) which authorized the melting of 370 silver dollars held by the Treasury and sale of the silver aboard following a rise in silver prices.&nbsp; These silver dollars had been securing silver certificates which then needed to be withdrawn.&nbsp; Per Hessler-Chambliss, the FRBNs were then issued as the silver certs were withdrawn (i.e., a $1 FRBN for a $1 SC, $2 FRBN for a $2 SC, etc) and continued in active circulation until silver prices dropped in 1921 when silver dollars were again minted in large quantities (1921 morgan for example) to permit the renewed issue of, especially lower denomination, silver certificates.</p><p><br /></p><p>Most of the SCs withdrawn were $5 or less so the issue of FRBNs included nearly 479 million $1s, 67.6 million $2s and about $24 million $5s (the exact number is disputed and includes the 1915 series).&nbsp; $10 - $50 FRBNs totaled less than 2.2 million, the bulk of which were $10s.&nbsp; &nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>In terms of the deuces, the largest issues were from NY (15.2 M) and Boston (12.5 M); the lowest Dallas (1.2 M) and Minneapolis (1.5 M).&nbsp; Specific #s by type within each district do not seem to exist, but have been estimated in the H-C catalog.</p><p><br /></p><p>Probably more than you wanted but hope this helps explain what the FRBNs were all about (my favorite series of federal currency btw).</p><p><br /></p><p>PS, the SF FRBNs carry a May 20, 1914 date.&nbsp; I think all of the others carry the May 18.</p><p><br /></p><p>PPS, for $5, $10 and $20, both series of 1915 and 1918 were printed, but not for every district.&nbsp; St Louis, for instance, only issued series of 1918 notes but in all denominations. By contrast, Kansas City only issued series of 1915 $10 and $20s.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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