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Auction: SW1012 - Bonds & Shares Certificates of the World
Lot: 365

Bank of the United States. Promissory Note £250 for 20 Months, Philadelphia, 2. October 1837. The (Second) Bank of the United States, located in Philadelphia, was the second federally authorized National Bank in the United States. During its 20-year charter from February 1816 to January 1836, it provided most of the services of the first bank and handled all fiscal transactions for the US Government, including issuing state banknotes. In 1822, Nicholas Biddle (1786-1844) took over the management of the bank. The strongest opposition to the Bank came from Andrew Jackson, President of the United States (between 1829 and 1837), who characterized the Bank as a corrupt institution that was dangerous to American liberties and mobilized his political base by vetoing the re-charter bill and easily won re-election on this anti-Bank platform. Jackson proceeded to destroy the Bank as a financial institution and political force by first removing its federal deposits and in 1833, ending its regulatory role. In February 1836, the Bank became an ordinary private corporation under the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Law. (After this the United States existed without a central bank until the creation of the Federal Reserve System in 1913.) The Bank of the United States struggled with this new role as a private corporation. It started to take new and uncontrolled risk. For instance, it speculated heavily on the price of cotton. In the difficult market conditions, the result was easily foreseeable: On 4 February 1841, the Bank of the United States had to close its doors and left many creditors with over $25 million in claims. The creditors were lucky to receive one-third of the original value for their claims (Britannica, thismatter.com, Wikipedia). Very rare Promissory Note - in the same style as the well-known 1840 Bank of the United States $1000 Note - drawn on its Agency in London. Printed by Draper, Toppan Longacre & Co. In good condition, some ink corrosion and with a clear signature of Nicholas Biddle as President. VF.

Estimate
SFr1,500 to SFr2,000