What's New

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This page lists updates and enhancements to the Banks & Bankers Database and the Bank Note History Wiki as they become available, as well as relevant news about the SPMC Bank Note History Project.


2024 News & Updates

April 4, 2024: Bank Note History Wiki

  • A wiki page has been created for each State listing of all of the National Banks for that State that issued bank notes during the National Bank Note Era (1863-1935). Information shown for each National Bank includes Charter# (with link), Bank Name, Town and County, Open & Close Year and Bank Fate, Number of Notes Issued for Total, Large Size & Small Size, and Total $ Issued.
  • The National Banks are listed in a wiki table that can be searched and sorted for analysis. You can also click on each bank's NBCharter link to view that Bank Info page in the Banks & Bankers Database.
  • These National Bank wiki lists for each State can be accessed on the NB Stats & Lists - By State page (link on the left sidebar). There is also a link to each State's Bank list on that State's Home page under the National Bank Stats, Lists & Graphs section.


January 7, 2024: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Basic banker data (full name and birth/death dates) has now been entered for over 20,000 of the 65,000+ bankers in the SPMC Banks & Bankers Database.
  • Go to the Banker Data Challenge by State wiki page to see how your favorite State is doing, and how you can help us out with gathering basic banker data for your state.

2023 News & Updates

September 15, 2023: National Bank Lookup website


June 17, 2023: Significant National Bank Note Collections


March 26, 2023: Significant National Bank Note Collections

  • Official Online Release of the Significant National Bank Note Collections website to showcase important National Bank Note Collections.
  • The notes in each collection are listed in an easily searchable and sortable table with links to high resolution images.
  • Two important NBN Collections are currently showcased on this website:
    • The Huntoon Collection of U.S. National Bank Notes
    • The Walton Collection of Nebraska National Bank Notes
  • A link to the NBN Collections home page is also available on the SPMC.org website under the Education & Research menu.


March 18, 2023: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Basic banker data (full name and birth/death dates) has now been entered for over 15,000 of the 65,000+ bankers in the SPMC Banks & Bankers Database.
  • Go to the Banker Data Challenge by State wiki page to see how your favorite State is doing, and how you can help us out with gathering basic banker data for your state.

2022 News & Updates

October 27, 2022: Bank Note History Wiki

This handy reference page has a table including one row for each of the 50 States and the District of Columbia. Each row contains useful information for that state and bank stats with links to corresponding bank lists (pdf).


October 23, 2022: Bank Note History Wiki


October 22, 2022: Bank Note History Wiki


September 30, 2022: SPMC Paper Money Articles Index


August 10, 2022: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Basic banker data (full name and birth/death dates) has now been entered for over 10,000 of the 65,000+ bankers in the SPMC Banks & Bankers Database.
  • Go to the Banker Data Challenge by State wiki page to see how your favorite State is doing, and how you can help us out with gathering basic banker data for your state.


June 28, 2022: Huntoon-Shiva National Bank Note Encyclopedia


June 22, 2022: Bank Note History Wiki


April 16, 2022: Bank Note History Wiki

  • Added a Banker Data Challenge by State page to the wiki to show users how their favorite State is doing with banker data and how they can help us out with gathering basic banker data (full name and birth/death dates) for the SPMC Banks & Bankers Database.


February 25, 2022: Bank Note History Wiki


January 27, 2022: Bank Note History Wiki

2021 News & Updates

December 22, 2021: Bank Note History Wiki


November 20, 2021: Bank Note History Wiki


October 18, 2021: Bank Note History Wiki


September 26, 2021: Bank Note History Wiki


August 28, 2021: Bank Note History Wiki


July 30, 2021: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Bank Information page Enhancements (for National Banks):
    • A new Smithsonian NBN Proof Links section lists links to all of the Smithsonian NBN Proofs available for that bank. Clicking a link will display the selected Proof sheet on the Smithsonian website.
    • For those National Banks that survived past 1935 (and have history data available on the FDIC BankFind website), there is now a FDIC Bank History link that will show in the Bank History Summary section on the Bank Info page. This will link directly into that bank's Bank History section on the public FDIC website, showing historical info since 1935, as well as info on when the bank closed and why, if no longer active.


June 28, 2021: Bank Note History Wiki


May 10, 2021: Bank Note History Wiki


April 11, 2021: Banks & Bankers Database

  • In the Banks & Bankers Database, there are now three Banker Bio Links available instead of one.
    • The 1st link is reserved for the Bank Note History Wiki Banker Bio link, and is labeled 'BNHWiki.
    • The 2nd link is for 'Other Bio info'. It will be labeled Wikipedia if a wikipedia page, otherwise it will be labeled Other Bio.
    • The 3rd link is reserved for the FindAGrave.com link, and is labeled FindAGrave.
  • The Banker Info page has a new Bio Links line added that shows all three of the Banker Bio links. If a bio link is not used, the label will still show, but it will be disabled.
  • The Bio Link showing at the top of the Banker Info page will now link to the highest priority bio link that is available. The link priority order is BNHWiki, Other/Wikipedia, Findagrave.com.
  • On the Bank Officer search page, in the search results list, the Bio/Wiki link label has been renamed Bio Link, and will also now use the highest priority link available.


March 24, 2021: Bank Note History Wiki

  • A new general article has been added to the Other Articles section of the Bank Note History Wiki:
The SPMC Bank Note History Project - Bank Note History Wiki
This article provides an overview of the Bank Note History Wiki. It also lets you know how you can help us out with historical content for the Wiki and the Banks & Bankers Database.


March 13, 2021: Bank Note History Wiki


March 4, 2021: Bank Note History Project Video


February 27, 2021: Bank Note History Wiki


February 18, 2021: Bank Note History Wiki

  • Categories have been set up and assigned to the pages in this wiki that will provide automatic index pages. This will allow users to easily view related groups of pages using Category links at the bottom of the page. For example, if you are viewing a Bank History page, you can use a Category link to view a list of all Bank History and Banker Bio pages in that bank's County.
The following Categories and Sub-Categories have been set up for this wiki:
  • Bank Histories: Organized alphabetically by Town, with Sub-Categories for each Town, County and State.
  • Banker Biographies: Organized alphabetically by Last Name, with Sub-Categories for each Letter of the alphabet.
  • Banker Biographies: Organized alphabetically by Bank Town, with Sub-Categories for each Town, County and State.
  • State Home pages.
  • County Home pages.


January 24, 2021: Bank Note History Wiki

  • Added the State Home page for Tennessee, along with a Davidson County home page and several Nashville Bank Histories and Banker Bios.


January 17, 2021: Bank Note History Wiki


January 10, 2021: Bank Note History Wiki

  • A new general article has been added to the Other Articles section of the Bank Note History Wiki:
The SPMC Bank Note History Project - Banks & Bankers Database
This article is a detailed tutorial on how to use the National Bank Search procedures in the Banks & Bankers Database, and shows the information available for each bank. It also provides a brief overview on how to use the Bank Officer Search.


January 3, 2021: Bank Note History Wiki

  • Another very useful feature in the new version of the MediaWiki software (v1.35) that runs this wiki is an enhanced API (application programming interface).
  • Administrator utilities have now been written using this new API to automatically create Bank History and Banker Bio pages in the wiki (for specified banks/bankers or all banks in a town or county) using templates with relevant data filled in from the Banks & Bankers Database.
  • These utilities greatly simplify the process of adding new Bank History and Banker Bio pages to the wiki. This basically just leaves uploading images (contemporary postcards/photos of banks, photos of bank note signers, and bank note scans) and 'cleaning up' the rest of the page text as needed. Additional Bank History/Banker Bio information can be added as it becomes available.

2020 News & Updates

November 15, 2020: Bank Note History Wiki

  • The wiki has been upgraded to the latest version of the MediaWiki software (v1.35).
  • One of the primary features of this upgrade is the integrated Visual Editor, which works like a word processor (ie Microsoft Word), rather than directly editing the wiki source text like before. This makes it much easier for users to edit wiki pages and upload images. The 'old' way of editing pages with the Source Editor is still available when needed for more advanced editing.
  • So now both ways of editing the wiki will be available. When you login to edit a page, you will see two edit tabs at the top. Clicking on the 'Edit' tab will use the Visual Editor, and the 'Edit Source' tab will use the Source Editor.


October 15, 2020: Bank Note History Wiki

  • A new general article was added to the Other Articles section of the Bank Note History Wiki:
An Overview of National Bank Note Types issued 1863-1935
National Bank Notes were issued from 1863 to 1935 in five different Series including eleven Types. This article gives an overview of these Types, with links to a page displaying note images for each denomination issued for that Type. Each Bank History page in this wiki also provides links to these National Bank Note Type pages for each Type issued by that bank.


October 8, 2020: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Pennsylvania National Banks & Bankers
  • Note: The data review process is now complete for all 14,348 National Banks in the Banks & Bankers Database.


September 12, 2020: Banks & Bankers Database

  • New information on the Bank Info page:
    • Sheet Comments are now displayed in the Bank Note Types Issued section on the Bank Info page. Examples of sheet comments include Plate dated 1922, Territory, District, Serial#s not issued, etc.
    • One of the most important sheet comments is Type uncertain for those Serial# ranges where the Type of note issued is still uncertain, due to incomplete or missing dates in the National Currency and Bond Ledgers. These Type uncertain Serial# ranges straddled the Series of 1882 and 1902 Date Back to post-Date Back printings.
      • If the Bank Note Types Issued section for a bank includes any Type uncertain sheet comments, a message will be displayed indicating how you might be able to help us clarify the Type uncertain situation.
      • For more information, see this wiki article which explains why some National Banks have Notes issued with serial number ranges where the Type is still uncertain. A current list of those banks is also provided.
      • Collectors are invited to help us identify surviving notes for these banks that would allow us to assign the proper Type to these serial number ranges.


September 5, 2020: Bank Note History Wiki

  • A new general article was added to the Other Articles section of the Bank Note History Wiki:
National Banks with Notes issued where the Type is uncertain
This article explains why some National Banks have Notes issued with serial number ranges where the Type is still uncertain. A current list of those banks is also provided. Collectors are invited to help us identify surviving notes for these banks that would allow us to assign the proper Type to these serial number ranges.


August 27, 2020: Bank Note History Wiki


August 15, 2020: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Texas National Banks & Bankers


July 19, 2020: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Oklahoma National Banks & Bankers


July 11, 2020: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Kentucky & West Virginia National Banks & Bankers


June 25, 2020: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Kansas National Banks & Bankers


June 5, 2020: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Indiana & Michigan National Banks & Bankers


May 16, 2020: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Ohio National Banks & Bankers


April 27, 2020: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Illinois & Virginia National Banks & Bankers


April 2, 2020: Bank Note History Wiki

  • County Bank Note History home pages:
    • County Bank Note History home pages can be set up in the wiki to 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.
    • County home pages are listed on their State home page for easy access.
    • If you have a local County Historical Society/Museum, they may be interested in adding a link on their website to their County Bank Note History home page.
    • Here is an example of what a County home page can look like: Pipestone County, MN Bank Note History


March 15, 2020: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Database Search Website Enhancements:
    • On the Search Website Home page, the Bank Search by Town method has been enhanced to allow Bank Searches by Town OR County. Options have also been added to allow for Exact or Fuzzy searches for the Town or County entered, as well as whether to Only show Note Issuing Banks in the results list. See How to use Bank Search for further information on the new National Bank Search methods and related options.
    • On the Bank Information Page, the Bank History Summary will now include links (if available) to the Bank Note History Wiki for the Bank History page, County Home page, and State Home page.


February 25, 2020: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for New Jersey & North Carolina National Banks & Bankers


February 9, 2020: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for California, Oregon, Washington & Arkansas National Banks & Bankers


January 20, 2020: Bank Note History Wiki


January 2, 2020: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Database Search Website Enhancements:
    • The Database Search Website has a new Home page with quick & easy National Bank search methods - By Charter number or Town name. See How to use Bank Search for information on the new Home page and how to use the new National Bank Search methods.
    • There is also a link to the advanced Bank Officer Search on the new Home page.
Note: The Home page and the Bank Search pages were designed so they should work well on most smart phones, however the Bank Officer Search page is not 'phone-friendly', since it displays so much information. So you're better off using the Bank Officer Search on a device with a larger screen, such as an iPad or laptop computer.

2019 News & Updates

December 19, 2019: Bank Note History Wiki

  • Added the State Home page for Iowa


December 8, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Bank Information page Enhancements (for National Banks):
    • A new Bank Officer Pairs section lists the Cashier-President pairs with years served for all National Banks.
This list is helpful for identifying Bankers that have signed a bank note, since this would be the normal pairing of signing officers. It also helps narrow down the year that the note was actually issued by the bank. (Note: This list is generated 'on-the-fly' from the current data in the database. So it will always be up to date with the latest Bank Officer changes and fixes).
  • A new Bank Note Types Issued section shows the Van Belkum Issuance Data (Series/Types & Serial#s Issued) for all National Banks.


December 5, 2019: Bank Note History Wiki

  • Added a new National Bank Stats & Graphs section to each State Home page including the following info:
# of Issuing Banks, # of Non-Issuing Banks, # of Small Size Issuers
# of Towns with Issuing Banks, # of Counties with Issuing Banks
Graph of the # of National Banks Chartered By Year
Graph of the # of National Bank Failures (Receivership) By Year
Graph of the # of National Bank Closures (Receivership/Liquidation/Closed) By Year
Graph of the # of National Banks In Operation By Year
List of the 40 National Banks with Lowest # of Notes Issued


November 30, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for New York, Louisiana & Mississippi National Banks & Bankers


November 4, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • (National) Bank Information page enhancements
We have imported additional National Bank succession data from Bankers Magazine, transcribed by Andrew Pollock. Bankers Magazine stopped reporting this information in March of 1909, so this information is only available from 1863 to March 1909. If available for a bank, this succession data will be listed in the Bank History Summary/Timeline section on the Bank Information page under a 'Bankers Magazine Succession Info (1863-1909)' sub-heading.
Note: Some of this data is redundant with succession information shown elsewhere in the Bank History Summary. But this redundancy reinforces the validity of such data, and sometimes highlights discrepancies that need further research.
  • We have also added data fields to allow for a couple of brief Bank History Highlights. If this information has been added for a Bank, it will be listed at the end of the Bank History Summary/Timeline section. Bank robberies (especially if the outlaws are famous!) are always a good History Highlight.
  • If you want to see an example of both of these new enhancements, you can search on Charter 2073 (FNB Northfield, MN) in the Banks & Bankers Database, and then click on the Bank title to bring up the Bank Information page.


October 25, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • (National) Bank Information page (future) enhancements
We have imported the Van Belkum Issuance Data (Series/Types & Serial#s Issued) for all of the National Banks. This information will show in a new section labeled 'Bank Note Types Issued' on the Bank Information page in the next version of the Banks & Bankers Database Search website (that should be available sometime in December).
  • There will also be a new Bank Officer Pairs section on the Bank Information page that will list the Cashier-President pairings with years served.
This list is helpful for identifying Bankers that have signed a bank note, since this would be the normal pairing of signing officers. It also helps narrow down the year that the note was actually issued by the bank.
(Note: This list is generated 'on-the-fly' from the current data in the database. So it will always be up to date with the latest data changes and fixes).


October 18, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Georgia & Tennessee National Banks & Bankers


October 8, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Nebraska National and Obsolete Banks & Bankers


September 22, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Maine & Massachusetts National Banks & Bankers


September 2, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Connecticut & Florida National Banks & Bankers


August 22, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Bank Officer Summary enhancements
The Bank Officer Summary has been enhanced to show exact date ranges for Presidents and Cashiers for National Banks (instead of just First-Last years), and also clarify 'complete' vs 'incomplete' date ranges for all officers in the summary. See Bank Officer Summaries for detailed information on the information included in the new Bank Officer Summary.


August 18, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • 1921 Bank Officer Data Imported from July 1921 Bankers Directory
For the years 1863-1935, the annual OCC Reports included the names of the current President and Cashier for all years except 1863-1866 and 1921. We had previously imported the missing bank officer info for 1863-1866 from contemporary Bankers Magazine entries. We have now imported the President and Cashier names from the July 1921 Rand-McNally Bankers Directory for all 8,141 National Banks that were in business in 1921.


July 29, 2019: Bank Note History Project Overview Video

  • A link to a video of the Bank Note History Project Overview presented at the 2019 IPMS show in Kansas City is now available on the Project home page, and also on the Help page for this wiki.


June 30, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Colorado National Banks & Bankers


June 17, 2019: Bank Note History Wiki

  • Added the State Home page for Ohio


June 5, 2019: Bank Note History Wiki

  • Added the Project News wiki page and sidebar link


May 2, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Rhode Island & Vermont National Banks & Bankers


April 18, 2019: Bank Note History Wiki


April 3, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Delaware & New Hampshire National Banks & Bankers


March 15, 2019: SPMC/Bank Note History Project Home page brought online (spmc.org).


March 10, 2019: Bank Note History Wiki


February 24, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Missouri & Montana National Banks & Bankers
  • Added Bank Balance Summary section to the Bank Info page


February 10, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Added Bank History Summary section to the Bank Info page


February 1, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Alabama: Updated Basic Banker Info (including Full Name and Birth/Death dates) for 700+ bankers (from David Hollander spreadsheet)


January 15, 2019: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for Alabama, Iowa & North Dakota National Banks & Bankers

2018 News & Updates

Dec 6, 2018: Bank Note History Wiki brought online (banknotehistory.spmc.org)


Nov 20, 2018: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Boston, MA: Imported Bank Officers (President & Cashier) 1790-1870 for all Boston Obsolete & National Banks


Nov 15, 2018: Banks & Bankers Database

  • Full Data Review finished for National Banks & Bankers of the following States:
Alaska, Arizona, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nevada, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming


Oct 15, 2018: Banks & Bankers Database brought online (banknotehistory.spmc.org)

  • SPMC membership login is required to search the Banks & Bankers Database.
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