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Pillar of the Community
United States
822 Posts |
Every so often, I come across these little slips attached to stocks and bonds. They are about the size of a postcard and all have the same lithographic portrait of John Marshall. So what are they? In 1941, before the U.S. had entered WWII, President Roosevelt wanted to prevent hostile nations like Germany from trading securities that were seized from occupied nations. So the Treasury required these small forms to be attached, showing that the owner was a friendly national, not involved in hostilities. The owner had to prove that they were "free from any blocked interest," which was likely done by filling out and submitting Form TFEL-1. This practice continued for the duration of the war and even a little after, until the end of 1945. I can't really estimate the value of these TFEL-2 slips, by themselves. I think they enhance the value of whatever article they are attached to, but some dealers still detach and try to sell them separately. I've spent some time picking out images that I've found online and determined that there are at least six varieties, with suffixes from A to G. There is very likely an F variety but I haven't spotted one yet. The lowest and highest serial numbers I've seen are 12667 and 1007784. The most common variety is TFEL-2 B. I'm not sure what these letters designated, possibly a specific country or region where the owner or trader resided. There is still a lot of mystery surrounding these and if other members have attached forms I'd like to hear about them!       Edited by GregAlex
12/04/2022 7:14 pm
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Moderator
 United States
187446 Posts |
Very interesting.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
742 Posts |
I recommend you venture over to FRASER at the St. Louis Fed website to find more information than you would ever possibly want on the TFEL-2.
The applications were submitted through the Federal Reserve Branches who had to sign off on granting the TFEL-2. The letter after the serial number indicates the Federal Reserve District that processed the application.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
742 Posts |
The BEP printed 1,039,000 as follows:
FY41: 249,000
FY42: 653,200
FY43: 36,800
FY44: 49,000
FY45: 10,000
FY46: 41,000
In FY47 961,000 unused forms were destroyed.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
822 Posts |
Quote:
The applications were submitted through the Federal Reserve Branches who had to sign off on granting the TFEL-2. The letter after the serial number indicates the Federal Reserve District that processed the application. That is quite interesting! This means there ought to be significantly more letters out there. It also explains why one of these examples says 4-D -- D, the Cleveland FRB, is the the 4th bank in the system. I will definitely hunt down the Federal Reserve site you mention. Many thanks! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
822 Posts |
This one has always been a puzzler to me. It's dated 1940 -- a year before the practice began. So it was either mis-dated, or intentionally back-dated, though I can't figure a reason for that.  ADDENDUM: After sifting through the government documents at https://fraser.stlouisfed.org it appears that FDR signed an executive order launching the use of Form TFEL-2 in April 1940. So that means the BEP must have started printing them that year. Edited by GregAlex
12/10/2022 4:50 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
742 Posts |
FY41 started on July 1, 1940. The BEP Annual Report for FY40 does not show any printed in that year.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
742 Posts |
The use of the TFEL-2 as a general license for trading in certain securities was first authorized July 25, 1940.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
822 Posts |
I finally bought one of these little forms. I was hoping to get one that was still attached to a bond, but this will do for now. I actually have a Chicago & Erie RR bond that closely matches the one listed on this Form TFEL-2.   Edited by GregAlex
07/05/2024 4:37 pm
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Moderator
United States
187446 Posts |
Excellent! |
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Replies: 9 / Views: 2,078 |
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Posted 12/06/2022 1:39 pm
