Set Description:
Large size $5 Silver Certificates.
The large size Silver Certificates of the $1, $2 & $5 denominations were authorized by the General Appropriations Act of August 4th, 1886.
They were produced in response to silver agitation by citizens who were angered by the fourth coinage act, which had effectively placed the United States on a gold standard.
The Certificates were initially redeemable for their face value of silver dollar coins and later on (for one year-June 24, 1967, to June 24, 1968) in raw silver bullion.
Large size Silver Certificates of this era measure approximately 3.125 by 7.4218 inches versus 2.61 by 6.14 inches for the currency of today.
The notes from this time period were made of 75% cotton & 25% linen.
Red & blue silk fibers were distributed evenly throughout the paper.
After WW1, the fibers were made from synthetic materials.
Crane & Company patented Banknote paper with silk threads in 1844, and has supplied paper to the United States Treasury since 1879.
Silver Certificates were produced from 1878 until their ending with the series of 1953 which remained in production until 1965 with a total of $17,115,870,850. in $5 notes being released.
In 1893, Claude M. Johnson, the chief of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) commissioned three artists (who were paid $800 for each approved design) to design the $1, $2 & $5 Educational Series notes of 1896.
$800 doesn't seem like a lot, but equates to nearly $2,000 in today's money!
Because of the way that they were designed, all lathe work was eliminated when the engraving work was conducted.
Morris did not agree with the lack of lathe work and cited a concern for counterfeiting.
The $1, $2 & $5 Educational Series notes are the only notes in U. S. history to contain no lathe work on the front and very little lathe work on the back.
In a press release dated May 13, 1968, the U. S. Treasury published procedures for exchanging Silver Certificates for silver bullion rather than silver dollars.
To obtain silver bullion in exchange for Silver Certificates, a holder of the Certificates must present them in person at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or San Francisco or at the United States Assay Office in New York or San Francisco.
In the case of Certificates presented to the two Federal Reserve Banks, the holders receive receipts which may be exchanged for silver bullion at the assay offices.
In its notice in the Federal Register, Treasury urged holders of Certificates who want to redeem them for silver bullion to do so promptly, since the exchange period is now nearing an end.
A proclamation issued by then President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson, stated that henceforth, all Federal Reserve Silver Certificates were merely legal tender and could not be redeemed in silver.
Clarence Douglas Dillion, the 57th Secretary of the Treasury (1961-1965) halted all redemption of the notes, in silver, on June 24, 1968.
Since 1968, Silver Certificates have been redeemable only in Federal Reserve Notes & are thus obsolete, but still valid Legal Tender.
All notes in this set are graded PMG 65 EPQ & are in first generation (2005) holders.
Notes in this set as well as my $1 & $2 sets were sent in together to be reholdered to include the EPQ designation & are also sequentially numbered from 001 to 014.
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