Educational Series#Notes
{{Short description|1896 US silver certificate series}}
{{Infobox banknote
| denomination = "Educational Series," series of 1896 silver certificates
| country = United States
| value = $1, $2, $5
| unit =
| width_mm =
| height_mm =
| weight_g =
| security_features =
| paper_type =
| years_of_printing = 1896
| nature_of_rarity =
| estimated_value = US$70 – $38,400
| obverse = Industrial$2.jpg
| obverse_design = Closeup of the motif on the $2 note, Science presents Steam and Electricity to Commerce and Manufacture
| obverse_designer =
| obverse_design_date =
| reverse =
| reverse_design =
| reverse_designer =
| reverse_design_date =
}}
"Educational Series" refers to a series of three United States silver certificates produced by the U.S. Treasury in 1896, after its Bureau of Engraving and Printing chief Claude M. Johnson ordered a new currency design. The notes depict various allegorical motifs and are considered by some{{Cite web |last=Morton |first=Ella |date=2015-06-09 |title=Object of Intrigue: The Most Beautiful Banknote in U.S. History |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/object-of-intrigue-beautiful-us-banknote |access-date=2022-08-01 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=1896 silver certificates were Beautiful Failures |url=https://www.coinworld.com/news/precious-metals/series-1896-silver-certificates-were-beautiful-failures.html |access-date=2022-08-01 |website=CoinWorld |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Rowan |first=Lily |title=The Most Beautiful Currency Ever Created by The U.S. |url=https://historydaily.org/educational-series-of-silver-certificates |access-date=2022-08-01 |website=History Daily |language=en}} numismatists to be the most beautiful monetary designs ever produced by the United States.A Guide Book Of United States Paper Money: Complete Source for History, Grading, and Prices pg. 27 "It is delightful to that the most beautiful designs, in the opinion of many, are those that were used on the smaller denominations..."
Design
The term "Educational" is derived from the title of the vignette on the $1 note, History Instructing Youth. Each note includes an allegorical scene on the obverse and a pair of portraits on the reverse. Women appear on all three notes.{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Zoë |title=How the dollar has changed over the years |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/us-dollar-bill-evolution-2018-6 |access-date=18 October 2024 |work=Business Insider |date=17 October 2018}}
Denominations of $1, $2, and $5 were produced. Denominations of $10, $20, $50, $100, $500 and $1000 were also planned. The $10 and $50 designs were being prepared but were never completed or produced before the series was abandoned and replaced by the series of 1899.{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Peter Y.W. |title=The U.S. Government's Failed Attempt to Forge Unity Through Currency |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/free-silver-movements-failed-attempt-forge-unity-through-currency-180977966/ |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=Smithsonian Magazine |date=11 June 2021 |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Gibbs |first1=William T. |title=1896 silver certificates were Beautiful Failures |url=https://www.coinworld.com/news/paper-money/series-1896-silver-certificates-were-beautiful-failures.html |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=CoinWorld |date=19 December 2015 |language=en}}
Design and production credits
= $1 ''[[History Instructing Youth]]''=
The front was designed by Will Hicok Low{{cite news |title=Our New Money |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-dec-03-1895-4689483/ |access-date=25 September 2024 |work=Burlington Gazette |date=3 December 1895 |language=en}} and engraved by
Charles Schlecht.{{cite web |title=1 Dollar Silver Certificate Educational Series |url=https://en.numista.com/catalogue/note207329.html |website=en.numista.com |publisher=Numista |language=en}} The back was designed by Thomas F. Morris. The
George Washington vignette was engraved by Alfred Sealey (1867){{cite web |title=The Making of History: Educational Series (Part 1) |url=https://www.pmgnotes.com/news/article/4516/Educational-Series-Notes/ |website=pmgnotes |publisher=Paper Money Guarantee |access-date=25 September 2024}}{{cite news |last1=Green |first1=Paul M. |title=When the $1 note was silver-backed |url=https://www.numismaticnews.net/paper-money/when-the-1-note-was-silver-backed |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=Numismatic News |date=28 February 2012 |language=en}} and the
Martha Washington vignette was engraved by Charles Burt (1878).
=$2 ''[[Science presenting steam and electricity to Commerce and Manufacture]]''=
Four artists were commissioned by the BEP to produce key artwork: E. H. Blashfield, Will H. Low, C. S. Reinhart, and Walter Shirlaw.Tome Wilson. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100910095403/http://www.dieselpunks.org/profiles/blogs/late-victorianera-money-in "Late Victorian-era money in America"]}}. (September 6, 2010).Melkor-Bradley. [http://flyingmoose.org/truthfic/1896.htm "FlyingMoose"]. (1997). The central vignette was designed by E. H. Blashfield.{{cite news |last1=Friedberg |first1=Arthur L. |title=Sketch by note artist, muralist Blashfield in auction |url=https://www.coinworld.com/news/paper-money/sketch-by-vignette-artist-and-muralist-blashfield-in-auction.html |access-date=15 October 2024 |work=CoinWorld |date=25 June 2016 |language=en}}
The central frame and background were designed by Thomas F. Morris.{{cite news |last1=Noe |first1=Rain |title=The Best-Looking-Ever U.S. Money was Designed in the 1890s |url=https://www.core77.com/posts/24800/the-best-looking-ever-us-money-was-designed-in-the-1890s-24800 |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=Core77 |date=29 April 2013 |language=en}}
The vignette was engraved by G.F.C. Smillie and the border was engraved by Charles Schlecht. The back was designed by Thomas F. Morris.{{cite news |last1=Noe |first1=Rain |title=The Best-Looking-Ever U.S. Money was Designed in the 1890s |url=https://www.core77.com/posts/24800/the-best-looking-ever-us-money-was-designed-in-the-1890s-24800 |access-date=28 September 2024 |work=Core77 |date=29 April 2013 |language=en}} The Robert Fulton and Samuel F. B. Morse vignettes were engraved by Lorenzo Hatch.
= $5 ''[[Electricity as the Dominant Force in the World]]''=
The central vignette was designed by Walter Shirlaw and engraved by G.F.C. Smillie.{{cite web |title=1896 $5 Silver Certificate |url=https://www.pmgnotes.com/gallery/featured-note/featured-note-4/ |website=pmgnotes.com |publisher=Paper Money Guarantee |access-date=15 October 2024}}
The border was designed and engraved by Thomas F. Morris.{{cite book |last1=Friedberg |first1=Arthur |last2=Friedberg |first2=Ira S. |title=Paper Money of the United States: A Complete Illustrated Guide with Valuations |date=October 2006 |publisher=Coin & Currency Institute |location=Clifton, New Jersey |isbn=978-0-87184-518-4 |pages=54–56 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l7Qund5xP7gC&dq=Thomas+F.+Morris+5+dollar&pg=PA54 |access-date=15 October 2024 |language=en}} The back was designed by Lorenzo J. Hatch and Thomas F. Morris
and engraved by G.F.C. Smillie. The Ulysses S. Grant and Phillip Sheridan vignettes were engraved by Lorenzo J. Hatch.
Controversy
The naked breasts of the female figures on the $5 silver certificate reportedly caused some minor controversy when several Boston society ladies took offense to the design. Some bankers reportedly refused to accept the notes in transactions, and the term "banned in Boston" allegedly originates from the $5 silver certificate.A Guide Book of United States Paper Money: Complete Source for History, Grading, and Prices pg. 106 "The uncovered bosoms of certain of the figures in the scene caused several Boston society ladies to rally against the design and some banks to resist taking them - the origin of the term "banned in Boston.""{{cite web | author=Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco | author-link=Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco | date=2006-04-05 | url=http://www.frbsf.org/currency/metal/show.html | title=American Currency Exhibit: Metal Standards - Showcase of Bills | accessdate=2006-10-31}}
Notes
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%"
!colspan=7|Educational Series | |||
| rowspan=2| Image | rowspan=2| Value | rowspan=2| Dimensions | colspan=3| Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allegorical motif | Obverse | Reverse | |
| File:US-$1-SC-1896-Fr-224-(3923429).jpg
| $1 |rowspan=3| Large-sized | History Instructing Youth | A personification of History instructing a youth, pointing to a panoramic view of the Potomac River and Washington, D.C. The Washington Monument and the Capitol are visible in the background. The United States Constitution is displayed to the right. Circling the motif are the last names of famous Americans. Some of those listed are: (George) Washington, (Benjamin) Franklin, (Thomas) Jefferson, (Robert) Fulton, (Samuel F.B.) Morse, & (Ulysses S.) Grant. | |||
| 250px
| $2 | Science presents Steam and Electricity to Commerce and Manufacture | Science (center) presents the two children, Steam and Electricity, to the more mature figures of Commerce (left) and Manufacture (right). | |||
| 250px
| $5 | Electricity as the Dominant Force in the World | Electricity surrounded by other allegorical figures, representing the dominant force in the world. The United States Capitol building can be seen behind the female figures. | |||
| colspan=7|{{Standard banknote table notice}} |
See also
References
{{Portal|Money|Numismatics|United States}}
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commonscat}}
- A Guide Book Of United States Paper Money: Complete Source for History, Grading, and Prices by Arthur L. Friedberg (Compiler), Ira S. Friedberg (Compiler), and Q. David Bowers. {{ISBN|0-7948-1786-6}}
- [http://www.frbsf.org/currency/ FRBSF currency exhibit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060126085330/http://www.frbsf.org/currency/ |date=2006-01-26 }}
{{US currency and coinage}}
{{Obsolete U.S. currency and coinage}}
{{Portal bar|Money|Numismatics|United States}}
Category:Currencies introduced in 1896
Category:1896 in the United States