1929 $ 50 FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA # 195

We are offering something new to our collectors. The 1929 National Bank Note Series.

This note is VERY RARE as it doesn’t have a charter number on it. It is from San Francisco, which is determined by the “L” on it. That is why the note has The Federal Reserve Bank on it.

This note is a 1929 $ 50 FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF SAN FRANCISCO, CA. It has a VERY LOW SERIAL# L00238195.

Here is the story on this note.

Small size National Bank Notes look very similar to the 1933 emergency issue of Federal Reserve Bank Notes. Due to time constraints, the emergency issue notes were printed using National Bank Note plates, but are not considered to be National Bank Notes.

Both say "National Currency" along the top, but the emergency issue notes had the name of one of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks printed on the note, instead of a town's National Bank. In this case, “L” for San Francisco. The 1933 emergency issue Federal Reserve Bank Notes were discontinued in 1934.

What makes these so collectable? The fact that any bank from your home town could print them. So the fun part in collecting these notes are thousands of banks that are out there.

So this was the first set of notes printed for what would become our national currency today, the Federal Reserve Note!

The problem was that before the National Banking Acts, the US had a fragmented currency system with notes issued by various state-chartered banks, leading to inconsistencies and difficulties in transactions.

The Solution was the National Currency Act which established a national banking system. So now private banks could become national banks by purchasing U.S. Treasury bonds and depositing them with the government. In return, they were authorized to issue national bank notes, backed by the value of the bonds.

The impact on the economy was that National Bank Notes helped to stabilize the wartime economy, provide a reliable currency, and lay the foundation for the modern banking system.