One I saw in the Heritage auction, I hadn't noticed it before the auction was live, even though I had a number of foreign notes on my watch list - this one stunned me with the imagery that now seems a bit incredible, given the time of issue:
This note was issued in the postbellum southern city of Mobile Alabama. These notes were first issued as early as the summer of 1865, obviously by a reconstructionist government that was probably pro-Union in sentiment. But the vignette is very memorable for the symbolism of the "Union" with her flag greeting the South, with their swords cast to their feet - an obvious allusion to the just ended conflict that tore the nation apart.
This lovely and fascinating banknote was printed by American Banknote Company of New York. Municipal and state issued banknotes continued in the United States until the last issues in Mississippi in 1896. While effectively they were currency, they were often masked as railroad ticket fares, or special warrants in order to circumvent the prohibition of non-government or National Bank issued currency.
Notice the centre vignette with the now sharecroppers, apparently gathering sugar cane? I love the denomination of the note, the $3, the symbolism of the North and South embracing, but coupled with the other vignettes that are so descriptive of the postbellum Southern dilemmas. This note was one of those that of course skirted the legislation of 1863 that forbid the issuance of banknotes without the obligatory tax payment. Of course this was common in the south right after the cessation of hostilities, but notes after 1870 got pretty scarce.
