Joshua R Greenberg
@joshrgreenberg.bsky.social
Historian. Author: Bank Notes and Shinplasters: The Rage for Paper Money in the Early Republic. Editor: commonplace.online. joshuargreenberg.com
It appeared in the New Orleans Picayune on Oct 31, 1857 during the height of the Panic. Several great political cartoons appeared around then including this one in Harper’s Weekly a week later (Nov 7, 1857) showing female shoppers transforming into birds attacking a fallen goods store.
November 8, 2025 at 12:06 AM
It appeared in the New Orleans Picayune on Oct 31, 1857 during the height of the Panic. Several great political cartoons appeared around then including this one in Harper’s Weekly a week later (Nov 7, 1857) showing female shoppers transforming into birds attacking a fallen goods store.
I had the pleasure of speaking to my daughter's high school history class today on antebellum economics, money, labor, and financial panics. Lots of fun and I got to show them this great image from the Panic of 1857. 🗃️
November 7, 2025 at 11:41 PM
I had the pleasure of speaking to my daughter's high school history class today on antebellum economics, money, labor, and financial panics. Lots of fun and I got to show them this great image from the Panic of 1857. 🗃️
Abolitionst Elijah P. Lovejoy was murder OTD in 1837 by a proslavery mob as he defended the Alton, IL warehouse where his printing press was hidden. This 1850s bank note also from Alton ironically features among its images an allegorical vignette of Prosperity & Liberty. Alton Bank, IL, $3, 185-.
November 7, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Abolitionst Elijah P. Lovejoy was murder OTD in 1837 by a proslavery mob as he defended the Alton, IL warehouse where his printing press was hidden. This 1850s bank note also from Alton ironically features among its images an allegorical vignette of Prosperity & Liberty. Alton Bank, IL, $3, 185-.
In honor of the not guilty verdict in Sean Dunn’s Sandwichgate trial, here is a note from Sandwich, NH made by Waterman Ormsby in his elaborate unit system of bank note design. Carroll County Bank, Sandwich, NH, $1, Jan 1, 1855. 🗃️
November 6, 2025 at 7:56 PM
In honor of the not guilty verdict in Sean Dunn’s Sandwichgate trial, here is a note from Sandwich, NH made by Waterman Ormsby in his elaborate unit system of bank note design. Carroll County Bank, Sandwich, NH, $1, Jan 1, 1855. 🗃️
Good evening, moon.
November 6, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Good evening, moon.
Election Day bank note:
I will bet one thousand dollars that G. B. McClellan will have won a majority in the state of Maryland. Signed George F. Laney Port Deposit Post, ML, If Mr. Laney wants to get sheet of his thousand dollars he will please bring that amount one thousand dollars to E. Uhler.
I will bet one thousand dollars that G. B. McClellan will have won a majority in the state of Maryland. Signed George F. Laney Port Deposit Post, ML, If Mr. Laney wants to get sheet of his thousand dollars he will please bring that amount one thousand dollars to E. Uhler.
November 4, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Election Day bank note:
I will bet one thousand dollars that G. B. McClellan will have won a majority in the state of Maryland. Signed George F. Laney Port Deposit Post, ML, If Mr. Laney wants to get sheet of his thousand dollars he will please bring that amount one thousand dollars to E. Uhler.
I will bet one thousand dollars that G. B. McClellan will have won a majority in the state of Maryland. Signed George F. Laney Port Deposit Post, ML, If Mr. Laney wants to get sheet of his thousand dollars he will please bring that amount one thousand dollars to E. Uhler.
My daughter and I have started making a weekly early American history TikTok that uses something from the news as a jumping off point. The first one covered Pat Lyon and the Bank of PA Heist in 1798. For Halloween this week we discuss grave robbing and the 1788 Doctor’s Riot. Check it out: 🗃️
November 4, 2025 at 12:57 AM
My daughter and I have started making a weekly early American history TikTok that uses something from the news as a jumping off point. The first one covered Pat Lyon and the Bank of PA Heist in 1798. For Halloween this week we discuss grave robbing and the 1788 Doctor’s Riot. Check it out: 🗃️
Happy Birthday, Artemis! He is turning 6 today (we aren't really sure, but it is the anniversary of the day we brought him home from the Pasadena Humane Society). Birthday #Caturday. 🐈⬛🎂
November 1, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Happy Birthday, Artemis! He is turning 6 today (we aren't really sure, but it is the anniversary of the day we brought him home from the Pasadena Humane Society). Birthday #Caturday. 🐈⬛🎂
Most of my Halloween revolves around the treats, so today's obsolete paper money is an advertising note from the late 1860s-1870s. Issued by the First National Candy Bank, it championed Dr. Carter's cough candy for colds, coughs, and sore throats. It was apparently the people's friend. 🗃️
October 31, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Most of my Halloween revolves around the treats, so today's obsolete paper money is an advertising note from the late 1860s-1870s. Issued by the First National Candy Bank, it championed Dr. Carter's cough candy for colds, coughs, and sore throats. It was apparently the people's friend. 🗃️
Interesting use of this language here as the cartoon blames Democratic politicians James Buchanan, Lewis Cass, Stephen Douglas, and Franklin Pierce for Bleeding Kansas problems.
Forcing slavery down the throat of a freesoiler (1856).
Forcing slavery down the throat of a freesoiler (1856).
October 30, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Interesting use of this language here as the cartoon blames Democratic politicians James Buchanan, Lewis Cass, Stephen Douglas, and Franklin Pierce for Bleeding Kansas problems.
Forcing slavery down the throat of a freesoiler (1856).
Forcing slavery down the throat of a freesoiler (1856).
Happy Birthday, John Adams! The second president did not feature on as many bank notes as the sixth, his son John Quincy Adams, but he is seen here on a bill from bank named after Adams' Federalist rival Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton Bank, North Scituate, RI, $2, 184-.🗃️
October 30, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Happy Birthday, John Adams! The second president did not feature on as many bank notes as the sixth, his son John Quincy Adams, but he is seen here on a bill from bank named after Adams' Federalist rival Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton Bank, North Scituate, RI, $2, 184-.🗃️
I see that it is #NationalBlackCatDay and while Artemis is a tuxedo cat and doesn't qualify, here is a shinplaster with a sweet vignette of a black cat curled up on a girl's lap. C. Harrison & Co., Irondale, MO, $2 in merchandise, 1870.
October 27, 2025 at 8:21 PM
I see that it is #NationalBlackCatDay and while Artemis is a tuxedo cat and doesn't qualify, here is a shinplaster with a sweet vignette of a black cat curled up on a girl's lap. C. Harrison & Co., Irondale, MO, $2 in merchandise, 1870.
The Erie Canal was officially completed on this day 200 years ago, so here is a bank note from Albany where it began. It features a lovely canal vignette and portrait of DeWitt Clinton who ushered through the 363 mile project as governor of New York. Merchants Bank of Albany, NY, $1, July 3, 1862. 🗃️
October 26, 2025 at 7:09 PM
The Erie Canal was officially completed on this day 200 years ago, so here is a bank note from Albany where it began. It features a lovely canal vignette and portrait of DeWitt Clinton who ushered through the 363 mile project as governor of New York. Merchants Bank of Albany, NY, $1, July 3, 1862. 🗃️
Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness
October 22, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness
In support of today's #NoKings inflatable animals, here is the vignette, The Battle of the Frogs. It commemorated a 1754 event in Windham, CT where a loud noise feared to be French or Native soldiers turned out to be a pond with thousands of dead bullfrogs. Windham Bank, CT, $1, April 1, 1862.🗃️
October 18, 2025 at 4:30 PM
In support of today's #NoKings inflatable animals, here is the vignette, The Battle of the Frogs. It commemorated a 1754 event in Windham, CT where a loud noise feared to be French or Native soldiers turned out to be a pond with thousands of dead bullfrogs. Windham Bank, CT, $1, April 1, 1862.🗃️
On that note, here is the front page of an amazing pamphlet attacking Brownson as a Loco Foco in favor of "Robbing Children of the Property of Their Parents!"
October 17, 2025 at 7:30 PM
On that note, here is the front page of an amazing pamphlet attacking Brownson as a Loco Foco in favor of "Robbing Children of the Property of Their Parents!"
My birthday is this weekend, so here is a beautiful vignette from my hometown of West Orange, New Jersey. It is the gatehouse to Llewellyn Park, one of nation's first planned residential communities, opened in the 1850s. Mercantile Bank, Orange, NJ, $1, June 2, 1862. (w/bonus 1857 map of community)
October 17, 2025 at 5:11 PM
My birthday is this weekend, so here is a beautiful vignette from my hometown of West Orange, New Jersey. It is the gatehouse to Llewellyn Park, one of nation's first planned residential communities, opened in the 1850s. Mercantile Bank, Orange, NJ, $1, June 2, 1862. (w/bonus 1857 map of community)
Women don't like the vehicle
October 16, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Women don't like the vehicle
This is more fun than I can handle.
October 16, 2025 at 7:51 PM
This is more fun than I can handle.
Happy Birthday to Noah Webster who published A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language in 1806 and An American Dictionary of the English Language first in 1828. He appeared on this bank note from a short-lived, Panic of 1837 safety fund institution in Michigan. Bank of Brest, MI, $5, 183-.🗃️
October 16, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Happy Birthday to Noah Webster who published A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language in 1806 and An American Dictionary of the English Language first in 1828. He appeared on this bank note from a short-lived, Panic of 1837 safety fund institution in Michigan. Bank of Brest, MI, $5, 183-.🗃️
Artemis doesn't bother walking on my keyboard to prevent me from working. He completely blocks me from accessing my desk.
October 15, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Artemis doesn't bother walking on my keyboard to prevent me from working. He completely blocks me from accessing my desk.
On Commonplace (commonplace.online), we are running a great new article by Ariel Ron on the overblown Eli Whitney legend and the myth of individual inventors in the early republic. So, today we see a portrait of Whitney on this 1820s bank note. Mechanics Bank, New Haven, CT, $5, 182-.🗃️
October 14, 2025 at 6:51 PM
On Commonplace (commonplace.online), we are running a great new article by Ariel Ron on the overblown Eli Whitney legend and the myth of individual inventors in the early republic. So, today we see a portrait of Whitney on this 1820s bank note. Mechanics Bank, New Haven, CT, $5, 182-.🗃️