National Bank Notes 1902 Five Dollar Blue Seal National Currency, The First National Bank of West Chester in Pennsylvania
Obverse: Portrait of Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States.
Reverse: Landing of the Pilgrims. The Landing of the Pilgrims by Edwin White was engraved by Charles Burt
Signatures: (as depicted) Judson Whitlocke Lyons, Register of the Treasury and Ellis Henry Roberts, Treasurer of the United States.
Inscriptions: National Currency - Secured By United States Bonds or Other Securities - United States of America Will Pay To The Bearer On Demand Five Dollars - Register of the Treasury - Treasurer of The United States - Cashier - President - Series of 1902 - This note is receivable at par in all parts of the United States in payment of all taxes and excises and all other dues to the United States except duties on imports and also for all salaries and other debts and demands owing by The United States to individuals corporations and associations within the United States except interest on the public debt.
The First National Bank Of West Chester in Pennsylvania printed $5,482,600 dollars worth of national currency. Once a bank issues that much money there really isn’t much room for rare issues. However, there are certainly exceptions to every rule. This national bank opened in 1863 and stopped printing money in 1935, which equals a 73 year printing period. That is considering a long operation period for a national bank. During its life, The First National Bank Of West Chester issued 30 different types and denominations of national currency. We have examples of the types listed below. Your bank note should look similar. Just the bank name will be different. For the record, The First National Bank Of West Chester was located in Chester County. It was assigned charter number 148.
The First National Bank Of West Chester also printed 61,305 sheets of $5 1902 blue seal national bank notes. Sadly, a printing range that high means that these blue seal bank notes from this bank are not going to be extremely rare. Ben Harrison is on the front of all 1902 $5 blue seal bank notes. This happens to be the smallest denomination issued for the 1902 series. Each note is complete with a blue seal and blue charter number. Despite saying series of 1902, these were actually issued by national banks between 1908 and 1928. There are two different types of blue seals. The first type is called a date back and it has “1902-1908″ written on the back of the bill. The other type is called a plain back; it does not have the date stamps on the back of the bill. The values for these notes range widely based on condition and the bank of issue.
Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833 – March 13, 1901) was the 23rd President of the United States (1889–1893); he was the grandson of the ninth President, William Henry Harrison. Harrison had become a prominent local attorney, Presbyterian church leader and politician in Indianapolis, Indiana. During the American Civil War, he served the Union for most of the war as a colonel and on February 14, 1865 was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as a brevet brigadier general of volunteers to rank from January 23, 1865. Afterwards, he unsuccessfully ran for the governorship of Indiana but was later elected to the U.S. Senate by the Indiana legislature.
Harrison, a Republican, was elected to the presidency in 1888, defeating the Democratic incumbent Grover Cleveland. Hallmarks of his administration included unprecedented economic legislation, including the McKinley Tariff, which imposed historic protective trade rates, and the Sherman Antitrust Act; Harrison facilitated the creation of the National Forests through an amendment to the Land Revision Act of 1891. He also substantially strengthened and modernized the Navy, and conducted an active foreign policy. He proposed, in vain, federal education funding as well as voting rights enforcement for African Americans during his administration.
Due in large part to surplus revenues from the tariffs, federal spending reached one billion dollars for the first time during his term. The spending issue in part led to the defeat of the Republicans in the 1890 mid-term elections. Harrison was defeated by Cleveland in his bid for re-election in 1892, due to the growing unpopularity of the high tariff and high federal spending. He then returned to private life in Indianapolis but later represented the Republic of Venezuela in an international case against the United Kingdom. In 1900, he traveled to Europe as part of the case and, after a brief stay, returned to Indianapolis. He died the following year of complications from influenza.
United States 5 Dollar Bills
1902 Five Dollar Blue Seal National Currency | The First National Bank of West Chester
5 Dollar Bills : United States Military Payment Certificates US MPC