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| 1886 Two Dollar Silver Certificate General Winfield Scott Hancock, Large Brown Seal |
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| 1886 $2 Silver Certificate |
Paper Money of the United States: 1886 Two Dollar Silver Certificate Hancock Note, Large Brown Seal
Silver certificates were first printed for the two dollar denomination in 1886. These notes are called "Hancock" notes by collectors because 1886 $2 bills feature the portrait of General Winfield Scott Hancock.
The Series 1886 Two Dollar Silver Certificate “Hancock Note” was ranked 73st most beautiful note in the book 100 Greatest American Currency Notes compiled by Bowers and Sundman.
Obverse: Bust of General Winfield Scott Hancock, Union general during the Civil War. To the right is a Large Brown Treasury Seal and at the upper right is an ornate 2.
Reverse: Several geometric devices utilized along with floral patterns..
Signatures: (as depicted) William Starke Rosecrans, Register of the Treasury and James Nelson Huston, Treasurer of the United States.
Inscriptions: Silver Certificate - Department Series 1886 - Act of August 4 1886 - Bureau, Engraving & Printing - Register Of The Treasury - Treasurer Of The United States - This Certifies That There Have Been Deposited In The Treasury Of The United States Two Silver Dollars Payable To Bearer On Demand Washington, D.C. - United States Silver Certificate - Amer Septent Sigil Thesaur - This Certificate Is Receivable For Customs, Taxes and All Public Dues, And When So Received May Be Reissued
Winfield Scott Hancock (February 14, 1824 – February 9, 1886) was a career U.S. Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service in the Mexican-American War and as a Union general in the American Civil War. Known to his Army colleagues as "Hancock the Superb", he was noted in particular for his personal leadership at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. One military historian wrote, "No other Union general at Gettysburg dominated men by the sheer force of their presence more completely than Hancock." As another wrote, "his tactical skill had won him the quick admiration of adversaries who had come to know him as the 'Thunderbolt of the Army of the Potomac'." His military service continued after the Civil War, as Hancock participated in the military Reconstruction of the South and the Army's presence at the Western frontier.
United States 2 Dollar Bills
United States 2 Dollar Bill, Silver Certificate Hancock, Large Brown Seal, Series 1886