1856 Mercantile Bank 5 Dollar Connecticut Obsolete Note - Connecticut Obsolete Currency - 1856 Hartford CT Five Dollars Obsolete Note

This listing is for the photographed 1856 Mercantile Bank Connecticut 5 Dollars Obsolete Banknote. Handwritten date and signature dated May 20th, 1856. The obverse of this note features a portrait of President Harrison on the left end, a steam train locomotive at the left center, and an allegorical Colombia or Liberty standing at the right end. Choice Fine (F+) grade/condition, visible folds and signs of circulation, includes a tear on the left end. 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 Mercantile Bank opened in 1854 with a state charter and operated in Hartford, Connecticut as a local bank, issuing local paper banknotes like this one. The bank operated as a local independent bank in the state until gaining a national charter in 1865 under the National Bank Act, after which it became the Mercantile National Bank of Hartford. 

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1856 Mercantile Bank 5 Dollar Connecticut Obsolete Note - Connecticut Obsolete Currency - 1856 Hartford CT Five Dollars Obsolete Note