Higgins Museum National Bank Note seminar set

The speakers program for the 2016 Higgins Museum National Bank Note Seminar has been finalized, with Wendell Wolka, Lee Lofthus, Mark Hotz, and Peter Huntoon engaged as the featured presenters at the July 28 event. Also appearing will be a fifth presenter, Frank Potter, who will share with attendees the family history behind one of the notes recently added to the Higgins Museum collection of Iowa National Bank Note issues, The National Bank of Harlan.

The 2016 Higgins Museum Seminar will be hosted in Okoboji, Iowa, on Thursday, July 28, at the museum facility at 1507 Sanborn Ave. Cosponsors of the event are the Central States Numismatic Society, the Society of Paper Money Collectors, and the Professional Currency Dealers Association.

It will be kicked off with a welcome reception at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, the day will start off at 8 a.m. with a brief assembly and introductions, with the program getting underway at 8:45. Closing out the day will be a roundtable for speaker and attendee discussions.

Wolka will be the first speaker, sharing and assessing the roots of the National Bank Act and Hugh McCulloch’s insights on the formative days of the National Banking system. This will be followed by Lofthus’ presentation on the major changes that evolved where the handling and issuance of National Bank Notes inside the Treasury was concerned.

The afternoon session will get underway with a presentation by Hotz drawing upon his experiences in writing his “Hotz Off the Press” column in Bank Note Reporter over the past 15 years. The closing speaker will be Huntoon exploring his involvements with building the great Arizona and Wyoming collections of National Bank Note issues, and related insights.

The Higgins Museum has recently acquired four important additions to its featured Iowa collection, all of which will be on public view for the first time during the seminar. The most significant of these is perhaps The First National Bank of Harlan (5207) Second Charter, Brown Back $10, the discovery note for the bank and town. Participating at the seminar with a special presentation will be Frank Potter, who will share with attendees the family history associated with this note from southwest Iowa. The bank operated only from 1899 to 1905 with Frank’s grandfather, L.F. Potter, as president.

Another town and bank discovery note to be unveiled is a $5 First Charter, Series of 1875 issue of The First National Bank of Afton (2326), a town situated in south-central Iowa. This bank operated only from Feb. 23, 1876, to Aug. 15, 1879.

The other two new additions to the collection are a $5 First Charter, Series of 1875 issue of The First National Bank of Hamburg (2364), another discovery note, this one for the other bank in a two-bank town in the extreme southwest corner of Iowa; and a Second Charter, Date Back (1882 Series) issue from The Coon Rapids National Bank (6080), a unique note recently acquired at auction, so the collection now includes both banks of this west central Iowa town.

Attendance at the seminar requires the payment of a registration fee of $75 ($65 for attendees who are members of the CSNS, SPMC or PCDA).

For further information and registration contact museum curator Larry Adams at 712-332-5859, or direct your inquiry by e-mail to ladams@thehigginsmuseum.org.
Registration remittance should be directed to the Higgins Museum, 1507 Sanborn Ave., P.O. Box 258, Okoboji, IA 51355.

Overnight accommodations are available in Okoboji within a mile or less of the Higgins Museum: AmericInn Lodge, 105 Brooks Park Dr. (just off U.S. Hwy. 71), 1-800-634-3444; Arrowood Resort, 1405 U.S. Hwy. 71, 1-800-727-4561; Vintage Block Motel, 1107 Sanborn Ave. (just two blocks east of the museum), 1-712-332-8040; Bridges Bay Resort, 640 Linden Drive, 1-800-727-4561; or The Inn at Okoboji, 3301 Lakeshore Drive (west of the museum), 877-265-4386.

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