Description of 1896 Series Currency

Series of 1896 Currency:
A History and Overview

A Unique Collection

America at the End of the Victorian Age
In 1893, Chicago was the site of a great world’s fair, arguably the grandest exposition ever to be held in the United States, edging the closest contender, the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Public enthusiasm for the event caused President Benjamin Harrison to recommend that "not less than $10 millions" be directed to the building of the fair. The World’s Columbian Exposition, as it was officially titled, opened to the public on May 1, 1893.

Though the Exposition was organized as a commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the 1492 voyage of Christopher Columbus (but, due to delays, did not open to the public until the 401st anniversary), its significance was far greater. The voyage of Columbus had long been widely recognized as the introduction of Europeans to the Western Hemisphere (the earlier exploits of the Vikings not being well known). Hence, from the perspective of those who would colonize North America in the three centuries to follow, and from the perspective of the descendents of those colonists who would establish the United States, the voyage of Columbus would be recognized as the beginning of a New World, which would establish a new society unlike any that had come before.

For the Americans who organized it, participated in it, and visited it, the Columbian Exposition became a grand celebration of what had transpired in the several centuries since 1492. While it celebrated the peoples of the world, it did so from a uniquely American perspective. Held on American soil, the fair was primarily a celebration of success, while to the rest of the world it served as a public declaration that the American experiment had triumphed, and that America as a nation, after numerous wrenching trials and hardships that had threatened to break its unity, had enjoyed great prosperity and had successfully come of age.

While the position of political influence and economic world dominance that the United States would enjoy after World War I had not yet begun, America in the 1890s was a strong and respected world power. America was economically healthy, advanced in industry, and accomplished in science, technology and the arts. The nation and her people were enjoying an unprecedented level of stability, which only 30 years before had been dangerously compromised by the period of the Civil War.

Over the decades that had passed since the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, and especially during those leading up to 1893, Americans had made extraordinary contributions in many fields. Eli Whitney was granted his patent for the cotton gin in 1794, Samuel Colt invented his revolver in 1833, Samuel F.B. Morse patented the telegraph in 1844, Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876, and Thomas Edison brought America the phonograph in 1877 and the incandescent lamp 1880. In 1881 the first electric power plant was constructed, in 1888 the first electric automobile was patented, and 1892 brought the first successful gasoline powered automobile.

In the arts, Gilbert Stuart, John Trumbull, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Stephen Foster, the partnership of Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives, Matthew Brady, and John Philip Sousa among many others, simultaneously recorded and influenced the American experience with their varied works.

All of these achievements were worthy of celebration, and the World’s Columbian Exposition, as an "exhibition of the arts, industries, manufactures, and products of the soil, mine and sea," as described in the Act of Congress that authorized it, proved to be an immensely successful event.

To be sure, there were problems, indeed many of them, but these were hardly the focus of national attention. Many Native Americans were living miserably on reservations, women could not vote, blacks were denied many rights, there were no national pure food laws, child labor was endemic–and more. However, there were few campaigns for human rights. Trusts and monopolies were building in many industries and trades, and nothing effective was being done to stop them.

This brief sketch of America at the end of the 19th century provides an introduction of a period dominated by national pride, and celebration of achievement, albeit at the cost of ignoring many social problems. The term often used to describe the decade, The Gay Nineties, gives the impression that many of the national wounds were healed, that the country was free of worry, enjoying an unprecedented stability, and optimistic about the future.

Silver Certificates, Series of 1896
At about the same time that the World’s Columbian Exposition was in full swing in Chicago in a vast park on the shore of Lake Michigan, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C., was beginning to plan a new issue of banknotes, which would break from traditional currency design and offer compositions executed by talented artists of the day. Although some motifs from the world of art had been used before, these had not been created especially for use on paper money–but were adapted from elsewhere.

In the autumn of 1893, authorities at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing approached a small group of prominent muralists, painters, and designers to submit proposed designs for the new series of notes. Some of these artisans had done work for the Columbian Exposition, having designed the diplomas for domestic and foreign exhibitors and creating decorations for exposition buildings. Denominations of $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, and $1,000 were planned for a series of Silver Certificates which would replace the notes currently in use, whose designs had been in circulation for several years.

Silver Certificates, which had been in use for over a decade, were backed by silver coins. Anyone with a $5 note could exchange it for a handful of an equivalent number of silver dollars. The monetary situation had been normal since mid-December 1878, at which time gold coins, silver coins, and federal currency became interchangeable at par. Earlier, extending back to 1861, each had traded for different values.

Several proposed designs were submitted for the new Silver Certificate notes, and four of them were selected for further development into compositions that would be conducive to banknote production. However, just three denominations would be issued in the new series, the $1, $2, and $5. The remaining designs, as attractive as they may have been, were abandoned.

The face designs of the adopted denominations featured beautiful allegorical vignettes titled, History Instructing Youth on the $1 note, Science Presenting Steam and Electricity to Commerce and Manufacture on the $2 note, and Electricity Presenting Light to the World on the $5 note. From the vignette titles alone, one can easily imagine how this series of notes stands as a monument to the achievements and contributions of Americans, an unintended tie-in with certain sentiments expressed in connection with the World’s Columbian Exposition.

The back designs featured portraits of famous Americans who had come to symbolize important events in history. The $1 note featured George and Martha Washington, representative of our elected leadership; the $2 featured Robert Fulton and Samuel F.B. Morse, representing the inventive minds that have advanced science and technology in America; and the $5 note featured Ulysses S. Grant, and Philip Sheridan, defenders of the Union during the Civil War.

The submitted designs were those of muralists, and the compositions were very different than any American banknote designs that had come before. The motifs were thoughtful, complex, ornate, and masterfully executed. However, they were also controversial. As a result, the development of the new issues seems to have taken more time than was expected. The notes were finally released as the Series of 1896, collectively known as the "Educational Notes." Today, they are generally recognized as the most ornate, and to many eyes the most attractive designs to appear on currency of the United States.

The Bass Collection
While the acquisition focus of Harry W. Bass, Jr. was his cabinet of federal gold coins, he truly was a collector at heart. His interests were wide enough to encompass not only the early federal gold series in depth, a monumental collecting pursuit in itself, but also to have creditable holdings in highly specialized series such as private and territorial gold coins, United States pattern coins, and medallic art from the United States and beyond. Not only did he pursue pieces for his collection in all of these areas with great enthusiasm, he collected each area and studied each item with a scholarly approach.

Although currency was collected casually by Harry Bass, with his eye for quality and his knack for being in the right place at the right time, he secured many superb pieces, including the unique suite of Educational Notes and vignettes discussed here.

A complete collection of Silver Certificate types of the Series of 1896 consists of just three notes, one each of the $1, $2, and $5 designs. The Bass Core Collection transcends completeness with 55 items relating to the series. There are multiples of the regular-issue notes in Uncirculated condition, which in itself would be a highlight of most collections. However, the Bass Collection includes proof notes, progressive proofs, and essays, some of which are undoubtedly unique, and others which seem to be unpublished until now.

In addition, the collection displays one of the most interesting currency items known in the federal U.S. Series, the bound book containing the first three sheets of issued notes. These 55 items are an unprecedented tribute to this series of banknotes, encompassing rarity, quality, and desirability.