I searched back through several pages of previous posts but couldn't seem to find an answer to this one (although I wasn't exactly sure how to word it) I'm trying to understand the differences between the different "types" of bank notes the US has issued. Some are easy. For example, a silver certificate or a gold certificate could be taken to the issuing bank and redeemed for the stated amount in silver or gold coin. But it gets more confusing with National Bank Notes and Federal Reserve Bank Notes. If someone took one of these to the bank listed on the face, theoretically how could they redeem it? For gold or silver? Or simply as a means of deposit? And then you factor in US Notes (or Legal Tender Notes -- aka Red Seals). Were they like NBN's or FRBN's -- but to any bank within the Federal Reserve System? Then we have the currently produced Federal Reserve Notes that are useful only for deposit of stated amount and have no actual redemption value. So can anyone give a terse description of the difference between Brown Seals and Red Seals as far as redemption abilities? (Of course I'm referring to how they could be redeemed in the year of issue -- not today).
