1853 Waterbury Bank 20 Dollar Connecticut Obsolete Note - Connecticut Obsolete Currency - 1853 Waterbury CT Twenty Dollars Obsolete Note

This listing is for the photographed 1853 Waterbury Bank Connecticut 20 Dollars Obsolete Banknote. Printed date, January 1st, 1853. Rarer large denomination note for this bank! The obverse of this note features portraits of women at the left and right ends, and an allegorical woman posed at the center with the notes denomination flanking her on either side. Fine (F) grade/condition, visible folds and signs of circulation, fragile note. Excellent note that that has an interesting history!

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.

The Waterbury Bank was founded in 1838 and operated locally in Waterbury, Connecticut and the surrounding areas under a state charter. The bank received a national charter in 1865 under the National Bank Act, becoming the Waterbury National Bank with the charter number 780.

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1853 Waterbury Bank 20 Dollar Connecticut Obsolete Note - Connecticut Obsolete Currency - 1853 Waterbury CT Twenty Dollars Obsolete Note