I am looking for a $5 Brown back National Bank note charter 714 (Pacific National Bank of Nantucket). Does anybody know of one that is for sale?
Well with only 11 small size reported..it might be a challenge to find. Odd name, (Pacific National Bank) since it is located in the Atlantic off of Massachusetts. Good luck. RickieB
I'm curious about these notes myself and can offer this quick observation. The whaling empire of the Americas was pretty much conceived, expanded and wholly managed out of this tiny island off the coast of New England. The history of whaling in America by the English and other European settlers was established as early as first-contact with the indigenous peoples who scavenged beached whales. From that time on whaling grew in strength as the nation, and in turn, Nantucket island itself took shape. Nantucket has an amazing history to it that I have read extensively about and can only scratch the surface with in this glossary comment. Nantucket wasn't immediately settled like the rest of the mainland but it remained in a curious geo-political position throughout the colonial and revolutionary conflict era: scrutinized, blockaded, whaling ships confiscated by the British Navy, and so on. The naval blockades actually drove Nantucket fishermen to other waters, farther out to sea and down the east coast of America. Nantucket whaling companies were responsible for so much of the supply of whale oil and baleen across the Atlantic and throughout the 'new world' that, then 'global demand' forced them to explore and establish hunting grounds through the entire Atlantic, around the southern tip of South America and in much of the Pacific, up and down the entire coast line of the Americas. Only the discovery of oil in Pennsylvania in the late 19th century put a dent in demand for whale products. In social histories and literature on the subject, Nantucket is commonly referred to as a 'whaling empire'. The fantastic wealth from whaling was localized on this island and there are yet branches of Pacific Bank (Pacific National Bank of Nantucket) on Main Street, that recall the furthest extent of this island's influence and commercial domination throughout the world. "The Pacific National Bank, founded in 1804, was the leading commercial bank on the island." The Nantucket Historical Association has copious records and many published books on the island's social, religious and economical history, and each aspect of those histories has firm roots in the commercial ventures in Nantucket whaling. Here's an old advertisement that features the national bank notes: from Yesterday's Island.com archives Over the years, I've taken a certain personal interest in Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod history along within a greater interest and admiration of New England and it's place in American history. I find the area quite an amazing landscape and have visited on several occasions. I am also very interested in the writings of Herman Melville, who lived in New York and went to Nantucket to work on a whaling vessel himself to explore the real world story that became his famous novel, Moby Dick. There are huge amounts written about the story of the Essex by and about it's survivors. A local historian Nat Philbrick has published several histories and a best-seller on the story. I have not read Moby Dick in entirety, instead, holding back as I first read of the actual history that influenced it and I have found in that a much greater source of interest in this place, it's people and their activities that have captivated my attention. I continue to find more ways to link my varied personal interests to this topic such as in my growing interest in paper money collecting. I'd like to thank the OP for breaching this topic and letting me shed some light on my interests plus why a bank located on Nantucket and surrounded by the Atlantic would bear the name Pacific National Bank. Good luck to you on your National Bank Note hunt, I hope you will post an example here to share with us if you do find one for your collection. :smile
Thanks for the info. Just to add to your history (and keep it in the collectables vein), the comic strip "There Oughta Be A Law" (1944 - 1980's) was created in Nantucket in a rooming house (then called Haddon Hall) just across the street from the Jarod Coffin House. Cringely (Nantucket Native)
A SoCal / Nantucket Native! :thumb: ...and I can add, keeping this numismatically topical and geographically relevant, that when the California gold rush began in the 1840s-1850s, many Nantucket whaling vessels were abandoned in California wharves as the whalers took to the gold fields in search of the next big thing... add to that the reasoning that many of the laborers on board whaling vessels had absolutely miserable lives/jobs and were paid a horrendous pittance of a wage for their work and months spent at sea.
