The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 30, July 29, 2007, Article 14

RESEARCHER SEEKS RECORDS OF 1943 U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE BANK NOTE ISSUES

Writing in the Friday July 20, 2007 MPC GRAM, Jim Downey discusses
some interesting new information on U.S. WW II emergency paper
money issues.  With permission I'm republishing his article here:

"Most military paper money collectors are familiar with the North
Africa and Hawaii notes that were printed during WWII. The North
Africa notes are Federal Reserve Notes and Silver Certificates with
yellow seals; the Hawaii notes have brown seals and were overprinted
on face and back with the word Hawaii. The purpose of these notes
was to create a currency that would be used in the areas of conflict
that could be segregated from the domestic US currency in case it
should fall into the hands of the enemy.

"Information from the Bureau of Engraving suggests the United States
may have issued an emergency currency in the continental United States.

"A Bureau report from 1946 indicates that in fiscal year 1943 (July 1,
1942-June 30, 1943) $450,800,000.00 in Federal Reserve Bank Notes was
delivered to the Federal Reserve for circulation. Federal Reserve
Bank Notes (FRBN) are different from Federal Reserve Notes (FRN).
FRBN were first issued as large size notes in 1914. The small size
FRBN were printed in 1933 and 1934. These were printed and issued
as a result of the Bank Holiday of 1933. The Federal Reserve needed
to get currency into the banking system quickly. FRBN were printed
on unfinished stock of sheets for National Currency Notes and are
titled "National Currency" at the top.

"They have brown seals like Nationals but carry the identification
of the Federal Reserve Banks and signatures of officers of the
branches of the Federal Reserve Banks.

"The FRBN notes that were released in 1943 were notes that had been
printed for the 1933 banking emergency but were unissued during this
time because the crisis passed and these notes were excess. They
remained at the BEP awaiting further order for their disposition.

"The BEP documents indicate that these notes were delivered to the
Federal Reserve because of the urgent need for new currency and to
conserve labor and materials. This suggests that they would not
have been otherwise issued except for the exigency of the wartime
circumstances.

"This information on these notes is only now coming to light. At
this point it is unknown whether there are records of the serial
numbers for the FRBN that were issued in 1943. It is very probable
that these records exist. If so, it would be possible to distinguish
between the notes issued for the 1933 banking crisis and those
issued because of the wartime necessity."

Editor Fred Schwan added: "I knew about this issue of FRBNs. That
may or may not be a surprise. What I think is surprising (or at
least interesting) is how I knew about it.

"For many years the Treasury issued a pamphlet titled Know Your
Money (or something VERY close). It is possible that this same
pamphlet is still published.

"Anyway, I collect these pamphlets for the war years (no surprise
there, I am sure). I became interested when I learned that the 1943
(or was it 1942) version included HAWAII notes. I thought that that
was wonderful, important, and even interesting so I started looking
for all of the war years' pamphlets. In doing that I found mention
of the FRBN use described by Jim. Researching it further was on my
(growing) list of things to do. Thank you, Jim, for doing it for me!"

[Can any of our readers provide additional information on these
emergency notes?  -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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