Hokiefan's Collection Of Arkansas Obsoletes, Scrip And National Bank Notes

Thank you, Hondo Boguss, I appreciate that! I've been having an incredible amount of fun with the Arkansas Nationals and obsolete notes this past year or so. I will have a couple very interesting notes to share tomorrow, and in the coming weeks I've got bids on some really neat (and rare) Arkansas notes on Stacks and Lyn Knight. I hope to add at least some of those to my collection!

Fantastic additions!

I have changed the Topic Title as you have requested.

Thank you jbuck and hfjacinto!

And, thanks jbuck for updating the title for me!

My other three acquisitions this week. First is an unusual note from Cut Off, Arkansas. Cut Off was a town in far southwest Arkansas, and was located on a "cut off" or horseshoe bend of the Red River. It was about midway between Washington, Arkansas and Shreveport, Louisiana. The town died once the Red River lost its importance as a means of transportation.

This is an unissued trade note from merchant Herbert Thatcher. Unlike many of these merchant scrip, this one is very specific regarding its use for purchasing "goods, wares and merchandise" and "such articles as may be necessary for raising a crop". There is no provision for redeeming for other forms of currency.

This particular note is unlisted in Rothert, though he does list a very similar note from this merchant in the denomination of $1 (Rothert 137-2). There are comments on the PMG holder that the note is cancelled (a hole punch on the serial number line) and has pinholes.


I acquired another note from Peters Landing, Arkansas. I won't repeat the information on this issuer as it is in a previous post. This $1 note is in much better condition than the 50 cent note I shared recently, as well as residing in a comment-free holder.


Lastly is an Arkansas Treasury Warrant. There are a large variety of these notes with different denominations, paper colors, obligations, and reverses. Some are interest bearing, some not. This example is on blue paper with a blank reverse, has the "with interest statement" removed from the obligation line, and "On Auditor's Warrant" removed from around the portrait.

The PCGS label states this note was issued in Washington, Arkansas, and not in the capital of Little Rock. This is because of the issue date of March 3, 1865. During the Civil War, Little Rock was captured by the Union Army in 1863. The capital was subsequently moved to Washington, located in the southwest part of the state, until the after the end of the war.

While examples of many varieties of these warrants can be found in uncirculated grades, this one is unusually well-preserved. PCGS-Banknote hasn't graded a lot of these, but for this variety (Criswell AR-56C), PMG has graded 21, with 2 in 64EPQ being the highest graded. In fact, of all the many Criswell varieties of Arkansas Treasury Warrants that PMG has graded, I couldn't find any in their pop report graded higher than 65EPQ.

Thanks again, jbuck. The remainder from Cut Off was a bit of a surprise acquisition; I put in the starting bid on that one on the off-chance no one else would bid on it, though I didn't expect to get it as it had sold a few years ago raw for almost double that amount. It did turn out I was the only bidder for it.

A great thread with some fantastic examples and a lot of history!

I agree. Often the research is more enjoyable than the item for me. Keeps the interest and excitement alive.