Small Sized National Currency Issuing Banks

Does anyone have a resource that lists the issuing banks for small sized national currency? I have always had a fondness for these notes and I wanted to research the notes issued from banks in the state of Oregon. I would like to put together a small collection of these...but I first wanted to see if any were issued from my home town of Eugene. I have found references online to a Eugene National Bank of Eugene City, Oregon (charter 3986)...so I assume national currency was issued from there, but I don't know if small sized currency was.

In an ideal world (for me as a collector)...that bank would have issued them and they would not be supremely rare. I would then focus on collecting notes from that bank.

I guess the better question would be, what banks from Oregon issued small sized national currency notes? Also, when and what types of notes did the Eugene National Bank of Eugene City, Oregon issue and how rare are they?

Thanks.

 

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This site shows them by state Richie.

http://www.rarenationalcurrency.com/National_Bank_Notes.html

 

Thanks Steve,

By clicking through a few links...I found this table:

http://www.rarenationalcurrency.com/Oregon_National_Banks.html

I see on the right side of the column...that there is a date. Does that date indicate the date the bank received its charter? Is it then safe to assume that those banks issued notes from that date and beyond?

For example, the Eugene National Bank of Eugene City, Oregon is dated 1886. Therefore, it must have been issuing notes from 1886 and later. The small sized notes that originally peaked my interest was issued from June 1929 until May 1935. Is there anyway to know if that bank still existed then and if they were still issuing notes?

I think an ideal collecting goal would be to compile a list of notes issued from this bank from 1886-1935 and then see if they can be collected (they might be so rare they simply can't be found). My initial interest is with small sized currency, but I would also like to research large sized.

I sorta feel that there are so many issuing banks that focusing on a single one...especially from a city that isn't that big today (about 130,000)...let alone in 1886, might be very difficult if not impossible. But I suppose if I don't look...I'll never know.

 

Try this site also....http://www.antiquebanknotes.com/Rare-Currency/First-National-Bank-Eugene-City-Oregon-3458.aspx

 

OK, great. I also made a post about this at CU (they seem a little snooty...but that's OK). Someone recommend the "Kelly Catalog" to me, but since I'm pretty amateur when it comes to paper...I'm not familiar with that resource and without the full name I haven't been able to find one. Do you know what this is?

They also told me that bank 3986 was short lived and went out of business in 1892 after only issuing brown backs. But, 3458 FNB of Eugene City and 10345 US NB of Eugene did issue 1929 notes. I think I should track down that book.

I also did a little searching online on HA and found a few that had sold. Mostly between $300-$1000.

 

I figured out the Kelly Catalog thing. It's "National Bank Notes: A Guide with Prices" by Don Kelly. I'm to try and track down an affordable copy.

 

They are speaking of Don Kelly, http://www.donckelly.com/books.html , he has a book available for serious National Collectors, and for really serious National Bank Note collectors try, http://nbncensus.com/ , National Bank Notes Census, which I believe runs $100 per year membership fees.

 

There are a couple of census reports available, the Kelly census is the established one.

In 2010 Heritage sent out a CD-Rom with the census data they had available at that time, I have it loaded on my PC for reference and turn up the following:

Charter 3458 Large Known = 12 notes, small sized known = 21 reported notes. Those are actually pretty good numbers for a National Bank especially for a western USA bank outside of LA or SF. I collect a couple of small locations and want to collect a couple of others with much lower numbers.

I also have the updated Kelly census, but I will have to dig out the CD in a bit.

 

OK, thanks for the information. When it says 21 reported small sized notes...I assume that means 21 total (both type 1 and type 2). Is that correct?

What would be a good way to start looking for these notes?

 

Check ebay, heritage, teletrade, stacks, and any other auction you can think of. Try donckelly, denleys, and any other dealers as well.

We also have a thread for towns we are looking for-

http://www.cointalk.com/t209582/

 

Focusing on a single bank is a good idea but can be frustrating if you only see one bill for sale every year (not always reasonable prices).

The Kelly book puts an estimate of $350 and up for the Eugene bills, this is about the same as the Chico Ca notes I am looking for ($300)
There are three Chico notes currently for sale different places on the web, $600, $550, $500. I also saw a note at the last show that is estimated at $450 and they were asking $1000. All I am saying is that finding the notes may only be the first step due to some paper collectors who purchased 2000-2008 when the prices seemed to be much higher. (I wasn't buying then but the completed sales show the difference).

 

12 Large sized notes and 21 small sized notes - sorry my bad.

 

Price estimates are so subjective especially with smaller locales. One place I collect has lower prices than listed whilst another has much higher prices in practice.

 

Here is a question for you...with so few examples known to exist, do standards have to be lower. For example, I don't collect any problem coins...that's a rule I have for myself. However, I feel that with such a limited number of available examples, I can't afford to be so selective. I should purchase what I can find and then upgrade down the road if possible. Is that the way I should approach this?

So, case in point. I found this note: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330788696022

I have no idea if this price is reasonable. $259 seems like a lot of money to me...but they are rare. It is damaged and "repaired." Is this a note I should consider or should I simply pass? What is a reasonable price for this piece?

Also, I have never owned any large-sized currency. So, this would be my first if I bought it (not that that matters...but it would be special).

 

Does anyone have any thoughts about that note? It's in pretty bad shape and has problems...but it seems that with so few examples out there I might not be able to be too picky. What about the price? Does that seem reasonable or crazy?

 

The seller, Ty Carnes, is a good guy to deal with, he prices stuff fairly and I think the note is a good note for that price. He notes the wear and tear and it is reflected in the price. I will add because I collect large sized nationals from small locales that you are not afforded much privilege of being too picky with what you can collect. I have a $5 from my Missouri town that is practically awful. I can vouch for the seller, he is one of my main suppliers of Nationals since he takes want lists and fills them.

 

Great to know. Thanks!!!

 

If you can find someone who subscribes to track&price (or do the free one month trial) you can find the condition of the known bills.

An example on condition- the main Chico bank I collect has 12 large notes listed, the grades range from 8 to 20. Using coin standards you would probably never find a bill worth buying, currency is a different monster. (Uncirculated bills do exist for banks but the prices can explode for those notes).

If I collected that bank I wouldn't have an issue spending $259 for it.

 

OK, I downloaded it and am doing the 1 month free trial. When I searched for Eugene, I get 3 banks and I clicked on 3458 which is for this paricular note. This note is a series 1902 $10 note. When I look this note up...I see three different 1902 $10 notes: 1902RS, 1902DB, and 1902PB. My initial thought was the letters correspond to the signatures...but the signatures are Lyons-Treat. So, if my idea was correct I would think it would be 1902LT. So, what does the RS, DB, and PB mean?

Also, the signatures at the bottom of the note are for the cashier and the president. I assume these are officials from the First National Bank of Eugene. Did they have to personally sign each issued note or are they stamped/printed?

 

The signatures varied from bank to bank. Sometimes they were all handsigned for smaller banks, some had the cashier sign and the president had a signature stamp, some had both signatures stamped and some were custom printed on the notes when the bank got them - the latter would be more likely the larger NYC banks that issued tonnes of notes. For my little locale they had the same president handsigning the notes from ca. 1893 on up to their last issues of large sized in 1927, then his signature was printed on the small sized notes issued through 1935. He continued on as president of the bank until his death in 1950. The best part for me is that he is a very distant relative of mine.