Paper Money Market: Searching for the U.S. Commemorative Bank Note
Commemorative bank notes have a history stretching back two centuries, but the United States has yet to embrace them. Could non-circulating legal tender notes be next?
Commemorative coins have been minted almost since the dawn of the use of coinage. Commemorative bank notes were introduced much later.
China is usually given credit for the first use of bank notes, likely during the 10th- and 11th-century Song Dynasty. It took until 1661 for bank notes to be introduced into Europe, that being notes printed in Sweden. Scotland gets credit for the first commemorative bank notes. This didn’t take place until 1822, when the privately held Leith Bank marked an official royal visit by King George IV to Edinburgh with £1 (20 shillings), guinea (21 shillings), and £5 notes.
Bank notes on which an event is commemorated are commonplace, but the notes themselves are seldom short-lived, even today. This is one of the reasons the Series 1976 $2 bank note (and those $2 Federal Reserve notes since) might be seen by the public as commemorative. In reality, they are about as commemorative as are Washington quarters, which in 1932 were initially planned to be commemorative.
Commemorative bank notes, if they are truly commemorative, should be issued for a limited time. This has been done by several nations other than the United States. Some of these commemorative bank notes are printed in denominations that aren’t normally issued for circulation. That is what brings up my point. Why can’t the United States issue non-circulating legal tender bank notes? Commemorative notes don’t have to be in mainstream denominations. They would obviously be profitable to print, likely more than coins. A lot of effort is being put into commemorative coins, some of which don’t make much money for the Treasury. Why not notes?
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