Nothing better than a very lovely lady to grace a note.
But this note of all, takes the prize for my personal favourite, the larger denomination, the small town with a rich history, the locomotive on the reverse, and oh no, another, bare breasted feminine allegory! This note features a unique hometown son, John Sherman, whilst not so well known as his brother, William Tecumseh Sherman now, during the 19th century. John Sherman, like his now more famous brother, was born in Lancaster, OH in 1823 and rose to prominence during the early part of the Civil War when he was elected to the Senate seat vacated by Salmon Chase when the latter assumed the Treasury Secretary position in the Lincoln Administration. Curiously he opposed Hugh McCullough's desire to retire the Legal Tender notes issued during the Civil War, but remained an advocate of hard money, ie metal backed currency. He was appointed Treasury Secretary by President of the US Rutherford Hayes in 1877. He finished his term with the Hayes administration and resumed his Senatorial seat from Ohio, which he served from until 1897, his most notable piece of legislation was the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. He served as Secretary of State briefly durin the McKinley administration before retiring in 1898. It was not often that a National Bank anywhere could have a hometown son be prominently displayed on their local currency. With the new aspirations and manifest destiny theme so emblematic of this time in American history, it should be no surprise that the reverse of this lovely note portrays a worker, with tools, a contemporary steam locomotive, and yes, the attractive, and very topless Miss Liberty. This note is Friedberg number 677, and may very well be a unique denomination on this bank.
