Demand Note Varieties
Stephen M. Sullivan - July, 2001

After Abraham Lincoln took the office of President in March of 1861, several sessions of Congress addressed the likelihood that the country would soon be divided by war. The Congressional acts of July 17, 1861 and August 5, 1861 authorized a National Loan of $250,000,000 to finance this war. $50,000,000 of this sum would be issued as non-interest bearing treasury notes that were receivable in payment of public dues. Because these notes were "payable on demand", they became known as Demand Notes. They were issued in three denominations: $5.00, $10.00 and $20.00. They were issued "Payable on Demand" by the assistant Treasurers in five different locations: New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Cincinnati and St. Louis.

Unlike some earlier issues of Treasury Notes (including the 6% Interest Bearing Treasury Notes issued under the same congressional acts) which had a different color back for each of the denominations, all three denominations of the Demand Notes and each of the five denominations of the 7-3/10% Interest Bearing Treasury notes issued under these Congressional acts have a vividly green colored back. The circulating Demand Notes were very quickly termed "greenbacks".

The Act of July 17, 1861,Chapter V, Section 9 states "The faith of the United States is hereby solemnly pledged for the payment of the interest and redemption of the principal of the loan authorized by this act." Because they backed by a promise and not actual specie or coin and they bore no interest, acceptance was initially met with reluctance from banking institutions. To alleviate this problem, the Secretary of the Treasury declared that all Demand Notes could be exchanged for gold coin until December 28, 1861. Around the same time, specie payment was suspended by most banking institutions so these notes had the same value as gold, although they could no longer be exchanged for it. When the Legal Tender notes of March 10, 1862 were issued without specie backing, the Demand Notes, still in par with gold, started trading at premiums.

Varieties

There are three distinct varieties of the Demand Notes. The following three figures display each of the different types.

Type 1 - "for the" is handwritten on the Signature Line

Type 2 - Engraved "For the" on Re-Engraved Plates

Type 3 - Engraved "for the" on New Plates

These examples are all from the $5.00 denomination but the other denominations are similar in appearance.

Type 1 examples have the "for the" prefixes hand written after the signatures of the clerks who signed for the Register and Treasurer. Examples of this type are known for each of the three denominations.

The Type 2 Variety were made when the original plates were re-engraved to add the "For the" prefixes to the spaces provided for the signatures of the Register and Treasurer. The words "Register" and "Treasurer" are in the same positions as the notes without the engraved "for the".

The Type 2 variety of the $5.00 denomination has the capitalized "For the" only in front of the signature of the Register. The "for the" in front of the signature of the Treasurer is lower case.

The Type 2 variety of the $10.00 denomination has the capitalized "For the" in front of both signatures.

There are no confirmed examples of the Type 2 variety on the $20.00 denomination.

The Type 3 variety was printed on new plates that were engraved with smaller and closely kerned phrases "For the Register of the Treasury" and "For the Treasurer of the United States".

No examples have ever been discovered bearing the hand written signatures of either the Register or the Treasurer. It is likely that none were ever created because steps were being taken to eliminate these signature requirements prior to the initial release of these notes.

The following figure is a $50.00 2 year Interest Bearing Note issued under the act of March 2, 1861. It has a handwritten "for the" signature of a clerk signing for the Register and a hand written signature of the Treasurer. It is dated, August 9, 1861, the day before the Demand Notes were to be issued.

Handwritten "For The" in front of Clerk Signature

Notes issued prior to the Act of December 23, 1857 required the signature of the Register of the Treasury Only. Although not required by the act of March 2, 1861, there was a signature space for the Treasurer on these notes as well. National Archive records indicate that notes from this issue were printed with "old" and "new" plates. Although there are no known examples, it is speculated that the "new" plates had the "for the" engraved on the plate. Before the "new" plates were issued, the Treasurer may have had to sign hundreds or even thousands of these notes.

The Act of March 2, 1861, Chapter LXVIII, Section 2 states that these notes "shall be signed by the Register and sealed with the seal of the Treasury Department". The note was not signed by the Register and does not have the seal of the Treasury. This can be explained by examining the two acts of Congress that were enacted later that same year for the creation of the Demand Notes.

The Act of July 17, 1861, Chapter V, Section 2 states that "the treasury notes, and bonds issued under the provisions of this act shall be signed by the First or Second Comptroller, or the Register of the Treasury, and Countersigned by such officer or officers of the Treasury as the Secretary of the Treasury may designate;"

This states that the "Demand Notes" were initially designed to be signed by the Register and another officer of the Treasury.

The Act of August 5, 1861, Chapter XLVI, Section 2 states that "the Treasury notes issued under the provisions of the said act to authorize a national loan, and for other purposes, or of any other act now in force authorizing the issue of such notes, shall be signed by the Treasurer of the United States, or by some officer of the Treasury Department, designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, for said Treasurer, and countersigned by the Register of the Treasury, or by some officer of the Treasury Department, designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, for said Register, and no Treasury Notes, issued under any act, shall require the seal of the Treasury Department."

This section accounts for the "for the" signatures by authorizing someone other than a Treasury official to sign in their place. This act was approved just 5 days prior to the issuance of the Demand Notes.

There was probably not enough time to alter the plates for the initial release requirement of the Demand Notes so the hand written "for the" system was employed while the remaining plates were being altered to add it to the engraving.

3 year Interest Bearing Treasury Notes dated August 19, 1861 and authorized under the same acts that authorized the Demand Note had the "for the" designators engraved on the plates.

Stephen M. Sullivan is chairman of Capital Currency, Inc.. Stephen is the author of the definitive reference book The US Error Note Encyclopedia and is considered to be the one of foremost authorities on US error currency.