Bank of Chattanooga Obsolete

Overview

Prior to the War Between the States, the Federal government issued copper and silver coinage up to $1 as well as gold coins up to $20. Private or state chartered banks issued currency. Treaties with the Indians in 1805-1806 opened up Tennessee for settlers and brought about the need for private and state banks. The first bank chartered by the State of Tennessee was the Nashville Bank on November 26, 1807. By 1856 Tennessee had been settled from east to west, and most major cities had local banks.

The Bank of Chattanooga was chartered in 1854 with a capital of $500,000, reduced to $212,000 in 1856. The bank president was William Williams, who served from 1854 to 1858, and Captain W. D. Fulton was the cashier for the whole time the bank existed. The owners of the Bank of Memphis also owned the Bank of Chattanooga located on Market Street near Third.

There are 77 Bank of Chattanooga obsolete notes listed in the standard reference book, "The History of Early Tennessee Banks And There Issues" by Paul E. Garland. Rather than displaying the notes by denomination by type and variety within in each denomination, as they are listed in Garland's book and similar references, the notes are organized and displayed in the seven issue periods in order to explain the historical background of each type. There were 27 major design types.