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<h4><a name="text1">Legal Tender Notes:</a><br>
The First True National Currency</h4>
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<li><a href="legal/index.html" target="_top">Legal Tender Notes</a></li>
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<p>In 1862, Congress retired Demand notes and issued $150 million in Legal
Tender notes, also known as United States notes. These new notes -- issued
in denominations ranging from $1 to $10,000 -- embodied the first national
currency used as legal tender for most public and private debts.</p>
<p>In an effort to save metals during the Civil War, Legal Tender notes
were originally backed solely by faith in the government rather than gold
or silver. In 1879, the U.S. Treasury began redeeming Legal Tender notes
for coin. They continued to be issued up to 1966.</p>
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<h4><a name="text2">National Bank Notes:</a><br>
Currency Backed by Government Securities</h4>
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<li><a href="first/index.html" target="_top">First Charter</a></li>
<li><a href="second/index.html" target="_top">Second Charter</a></li>
<li><a href="third/index.html" target="_top">Third Charter</a></li>
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<p>Although Legal Tender notes were widely accepted as a medium of exchange,
most paper currency circulating between the Civil War and World War I
consisted of National Bank notes. These notes were issued between 1863
and 1864 by more than 14,000 federally-chartered banks across the country.
The National Bank Acts of 1863 and 1864 permitted these banks to issue
notes using U.S. government securities as collateral. From 1863 to 1877
National Bank notes were printed by private bank note companies. Since
1877, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, a division of the U.S. Department
of the Treasury, has assumed responsibility for printing all notes.</p>
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