THE TICKER CONNEC TING TO COLLEC TIONS
The $3 War of 1812 Treasury Note
By Sarah Poole, Collections Manager
An exceedingly rare example of US
paper money in the Museum’s collection
is a $3 Treasury Note issued in 1815. This
note was part of five series of notes issued
between 1812 and 1815 created to help fund
the War of 1812.
On June 18, 1812, the United States
declared war against Great Britain over
conflicts including the British impressment of American sailors, as well as
British attempts to restrict American
trade and expansion in North America.
Although tension between the two nations
had been building for years, the United
States was unprepared for war. The Army
was small and the national sentiment was
divided. The New England states vehemently opposed the war, undermining
the effort by withholding their militias,
trading with the enemy and threatening
possible secession.
Furthermore, the US economy lacked
the strength to financially support the
war. In 1811, Congress refused to renew
the charter of the First Bank of the United
States, the quasi-central bank established
by the first Secretary of the Treasury,
Alexander Hamilton, in 1791. Without a
national bank to facilitate funding, the
Treasury had to raise funds directly.
Led by the fourth Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin, the United States first
resorted to war loans. Congress authorized a loan of $11 million in March 1812 in
anticipation of the war, to be issued as 6%
bonds (known as “stock” at the time). The
issue was not particularly successful, and
the Treasury was forced to come up with
other solutions.
One such solution was to issue Treasury
Notes. The first four issues between 1812
and 1814 bore 5.4% interest and totaled
$40.5 million. They were denominated
in $20, $100 and $1,000 notes. Congress
authorized the fifth issue on February 24,
1815. Although the Treaty of Ghent was
signed on December 24, 1814, word of the
peace agreement did not reach the United
States until February 1815. Congress officially proclaimed the end of the war on
February 18, 1815, but the fifth issue of
notes still funded the costs of the conflict.
The Museum’s rare $3 Treasury Note from 1815 is currently on view in “America in Circulation:
A History of US Currency Featuring the Collection of Mark Shenkman.”
DEC 13
1961
The longest bull market on record,
which began June 14, 1949,
ends as the Dow Jones Industrial
Average peaks at 734.91.
8 FINANCIAL HISTORY | Fall 2016 | www.MoAF.org
DEC 15
1886
For the first time, total daily trading volume
on the NYSE exceeds one million shares.