New Jersey Bank Note History

Featured Bank Note: $5 Series 1902 Red Seal, issued by Cumberland National Bank of Bridgeton, NJ, signed by R.M. Seeley, Cashier and F.M. Riley, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.ha.com

The New Jersey Bank Note History home page consolidates historical information on the National/Obsolete Banks, Bankers and Banking History of New Jersey. It also highlights What's New, along with some Famous New Jersey Banks & Bankers, and lists helpful Research Resources.

New Jersey National Banks that Issued Notes

The link below is a searchable, sortable list of the 342 New Jersey National Banks that issued notes during the National Bank Note Era (1863-1935). Information shown for each bank includes Charter#, Bank Name, Town, County, Open & Close Year, Bank Fate, Number of notes Issued and Total $ Issued. The charter number for each bank is a link to that Bank Info page on the SPMC U.S. National Bank lookup website.

• List of New Jersey National Banks that Issued Notes (1863-1935)

New Jersey County home pages

County Bank Note History home pages provide information on the Banks, Bankers and Bank Notes for that county during the National Bank Note Era (1863-1935), and also the Obsolete Bank Note Era (1782-1866) (if applicable for that county). All of the county's National & Obsolete Banks are listed with links to their Bank History pages. Prominent Bankers are also listed with links to their Banker Bio pages. Several Bank Notes are featured, as well as bank postcards and other bank related ephemera.

If you have a local County Historical Society/Museum, they may be interested in adding a link on their website to their County's Bank Note History home page in our wiki.

• (There are currently no New Jersey County home pages set up)

What's New in New Jersey Bank Note History

• Bank Histories:
  • Boonton National Bank, Boonton, NJ (Charter 4274) (1890-1967)
  • First National Bank, Bound Brook, NJ (Charter 3866) (1888-1990)
  • Bernardsville National Bank, Bernardsville, NJ (Charter 6960) (1903-1936+)
  • First National Bank, South Amboy, NJ (Charter 3878) (1888 - Still in business (Apr 2023))
  • Rutherford National Bank, Rutherford, NJ (Charter 5005) (1895-1996)
  • First National Bank, Belmar, NJ (Charter 5363) (1900-1933)
  • Belmar National Bank, Belmar, NJ (Charter 13848) (1933-1974)
  • First National Bank, Paulsboro, NJ (Charter 5981) (1901-1970)
  • Bogota National Bank, Bogota, NJ (Charter 11543) (1919-1977)
  • First National Bank, Glassboro, NJ (Charter 3843) (1888-1971)

• Banker Bios:
  • Kent, Robert Downey (Atlantic City, NJ)

New Jersey Bank Histories Index

The Bank Histories are organized alphabetically by Town, then by Bank Open Date. To find the New Jersey Bank you are looking for, select from the following Index list. You can also search the entire wiki for the Bank's town name or charter number using the Search Box in the upper right corner.

• New Jersey Bank Histories

New Jersey Banker Biographies Index

The Banker Bios are organized alphabetically by Last Name. To find the New Jersey Banker you are looking for, select from the following Index list. For an Index list of all Banker Bios for all States, use the Banker Biographies sidebar link. You can also search the entire wiki for the Banker's last name using the Search Box in the upper right corner.

• New Jersey Banker Biographies

New Jersey National Bank Stats, Lists & Graphs

The label for each of these Stats is a link to the corresponding pdf list of banks

• # Issuing Banks: 342

Issuing Banks wiki page

• # Non-Issuing Banks: 72
• # Large Size Issuers: 290
• # Small Size Issuers: 257
• # Territorial Banks: 0
• # Towns with Issuing Banks: 213
• # Counties with Issuing Banks: 21
• NBN Geo. Letter: E
• State Capital: Trenton
• Statehood Date: December 18, 1787
• New Jersey National Bank Graphs & Lists
  • # of National Banks Chartered By Year
  • # of National Bank Failures (Receivership) By Year
  • # of National Bank Closures (Receivership/Liquidation/Closed) By Year
  • # of National Banks In Operation By Year
  • List of 40 National Banks with Lowest # of Notes Issued
  • List of New Jersey National Banks (Issued Notes) Sorted by Town by Charter#

Famous New Jersey Banks & Bankers

• Penn's Grove National Bank, Penn's Grove, NJ (Charter 5387) Feb. 2, 1934, daylight robbery of the E.I. du Pont De Nemours & Co. payroll netting $130,000. The only New Jersey national bank to use an apostrophe in its title.
• Kent, Robert Downey (Atlantic City, NJ) organized numerous banks in New York and New Jersey

New Jersey Counties Index

This index lists New Jersey counties that had towns with National or Obsolete Banks (1782-1935).

• New Jersey Counties

New Jersey Towns Index

This index lists New Jersey towns that had National or Obsolete Banks (1782-1935).

• New Jersey Towns

New Jersey Obsolete to National Bank Conversions

• The State Bank at Camden (Haxby NJ-65) (1812-1865) -> The National State Bank of Camden, NJ (Charter 1209) (1865-1985)
• The Farmers Bank of New Jersey at Mount Holly (Haxby NJ-325) (1815-1865) -> Farmers NB of New Jersey, Mount Holly, NJ (Charter 1168) (1865-1911)
• Cumberland Bank at Bridgetown/Bridgeton (Haxby NJ-45) (1816-1865) -> Cumberland National Bank, Bridgeton, NJ (Charter 1346) (1865-1994)
• State Bank of New Jersey at New Brunswick (Haxby NJ-345) (1854-1864) -> National Bank of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ (Charter 587) (1864-1936+)

Wiki Links

• Information on the origin and history of National Bank Notes (Wikipedia)
• General information on New Jersey (Wikipedia)

New Jersey Research Resources

• The Higgins Museum in Okoboji, IA has a Currency Related Research Library, as well as major collections of Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska National Bank Notes on display.
• Don C. Kelly, National Bank Notes, A Guide with Prices. 6th Edition (Oxford, OH: The Paper Money Institute, 2008).
• Dean Oakes and John Hickman, Standard Catalog of National Bank Notes. 2nd Edition (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1990).
• The National Bank Note Census, nbncensus.com
• OCC Annual Reports 1863-1935 (U.S. Treasury Dept: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency).

(The OCC Annual Reports are available online at the Currency Club of Chester County (PA) website).

• The Bankers Magazine 1846-1922 (New York: various publishers over the years).

(The Bankers Magazine volumes are available online at the Currency Club of Chester County (PA) website).

• Rand McNally Banker's Directories 1879-1935 (Chicago: Rand McNally & Company).
• Polk's Banker's Encyclopedias 1895-1935 (Detroit and New York: Polk Bankers Encyclopedia Co.).
• James A. Haxby, United States Obsolete Bank Notes 1782-1866 (4 volumes) (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1988).
• Paper Money Journal, 1962-present (Published by the Society of Paper Money Collectors, spmc.org). Many articles over the years about the history of National & Obsolete Banks and Bankers. An archive of all back issues with search capabilities is online for SPMC members at spmc.org.
• FDIC, Bank Find History website.
• New Jersey Historical Society website.