Broken Bank Notes Message Board

Hello folks, I was recently told that my tiny little town of Wappingers Falls, New York, issued Nationals. But...only 4 are known.

I have a couple questions about them:

The first is, why only 4? Are the rest missing, were few printed? Or, were they destroyed somehow?

Does anyone have a scan of one of the 4?

What would one of these cost me, were it to come onto the market today?

Where did the 4 known come from? I am wondering if they were found locally or not.

I would actually like to write a small article for the local newspaper and see if maybe some more might be found that way.

I am just plain fascinated by the fact that my little town had a national bank, let alone issued banknotes!

Sorry for the barrage of questions in my second ever post, but I'm new at this and don't know a whole lot!

Thanks, Billy

PS, sorry if this is in the wrong place!

_________________
Billy Kingsley
http://public.fotki.com/ElCaminoBilly/
Just a rookie, don't know much but trying to learn!

Billy,

The reason it took so long to respond is that this board concentrates on "obsolete" notes, which predated the national banking system for the most part. You might try pcgscurrency.com's forums -- there are lots of experts over there.

That said, I'll take a crack, even though it's outside my expertise.

The NB of Wappingers Falls only had a total of $201,860 printed, all in $10s and $20s (specfically, 6081 large 10s, 2027 large 20s, 4535 small 10s, and 1438 small 20s). So your first idea is correct -- there weren't that many to begin with. Beyond that, those notes were backed by securities of that bank, and once the national system went away in the 1930's, those notes were taken out of circulation when they arrived at a bank (someone else can bettter describe this process than me). Long story short, by 1935 there was only $50,000 in circulation by 1935, and each time one of those notes reached a bank thereafter, it pretty much was never seen again. So you're actually right on both counts.

All this information is from Don Kelly's book. He (donckelly.com) is one of the true experts in the field, and although he doesn't have any in stock right now, might know where they are and how likely it is that one would reach the market soon.

Hope that helps.