1800s N.D. New Orleans Canal Bank 10 Dollar Banknote - Louisiana Obsolete Currency - 1800s Unsigned Ten Dollar New Orleans Banknote

This listing is for the photographed 1800s N.D. New Orleans Canal Bank 10 Dollar Louisiana Banknote. Unsigned, no issue date. The obverse of this note displays a vignette of the Canal Bank building at the left center, a bald eagle holding a shield with a banner that says "E Pluribus Unum" above it on the left end, and an allegorical woman representing the United States on the right end. Uncirculated (UNC) grade/condition, no folds or signs of circulation, crisp note! Great piece of history.

The New Orleans Canal and Banking Company was established in 1831 with a capital of $4 million to finance the construction and development of the New Basin Canal in New Orleans. The canal would connect the northern, mostly upper class, neighborhoods of the city to Lake Pontchartrain in order to form a direct route of transport to these areas. The construction of the canal began in 1832 and finished in 1838, costing the lives of many Irish immigrants who dug the 60-foot wide, 7-foot deep, and 6-mile-long canal by hand in the midst of the Cholera epidemic that struck the city during the canal's construction, disproportionately affecting working class immigrant communities. The Canal Bank merged and changed titles several times throughout its history before liquidating in 1933. 

Obsolete bank notes are also called "broken bank notes." In the days prior to the Federal Reserve, any bank could produce currency for use by the clients and members of the community. Unfortunately, not many safeguards were taken to ensure that banks stood behind the currency they were producing and circulating. Banks, more often than not, failed and their currency was rendered worthless. As a result, most bank notes of the period did not trade at their full retail value. Oftentimes notes were worth 50 cents on the dollar because the public expected the banks to fail.

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1800s N.D. New Orleans Canal Bank 10 Dollar Banknote - Louisiana Obsolete Currency - 1800s Unsigned Ten Dollar New Orleans Banknote