Numismatic News Surveys 3¢ U.S. Obsolete Notes Issued During 19th-Century Coin Shortages

This article is based on "3¢ U.S. Obsolete Notes," published by Numismatic News on February 17, 2026. It is part of a series on low-denomination obsolete notes, and this installment covers 3¢ notes that private merchants, banks and municipalities issued in 19th-century America. The author covered 1¢ and 2¢ notes in the May, June and July 2025 issues of Bank Note Reporter; this installment turns to the 3¢ note.

A Shortage of Coins

According to the article, many low-denomination fractional notes were issued after the economic depression that followed the War of 1812, because coins were widely hoarded. In most cases, they were made by private companies, banks or municipalities.

The same circumstances arose during the Civil War, when coins of intrinsic value were in short supply. The article says the situation was made worse by a lack of gold and silver after mines in the West dried up at the end of the Gold Rush.

With coins scarce, merchants and financial institutions had to issue their own currency to keep doing business. The article notes that a day's wage in 1862 was $1, and that 3¢ would buy a loaf of bread, a postage stamp or a half-gallon of fuel.

The Weakness of Private Notes

A privately issued note would not be accepted in many places, and if a business went bankrupt, its notes became worthless.

By 1862, according to the article, uncertainty had grown so great that the U.S. Treasurer at the time, Francis Spinner, created fractional currency. It was not met with much enthusiasm (the public preferred coins), but the article says it was a much better alternative and was backed by the U.S. government.

Privately issued currency had almost disappeared by the end of the Civil War, replaced by fractionals. By the end of the fractional currency era in 1876, enough coins were being produced that currency valued at less than $1 was no longer needed.

Notes From 1814 to 1816

The article shows many 3¢ notes. Early examples include a December 27, 1814, toll note from the Germantown and Perkiomen Turnpike Road Company in Philadelphia and a December 26, 1814, municipal note from the Corporation of the City of New York.

A merchant note signed January 1, 1816, came from a tavern and store on the Great Western Turnpike, 16 miles from Albany. According to the article, three turnpikes feeding Albany were built between 1799 and 1811. They were profitable until the Erie Canal opened in 1825; railroads in the 1830s further reduced their commercial value, and toll collection had ended by the mid-1850s.

Civil War Era Notes

The Civil War era examples come from merchants and banks in Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and Connecticut, among other places.

- A note from the R.R. Higgins Oyster House, dated January 1, 1863, was redeemable at the Maverick Bank in Boston. Its back has scrollwork that the article says is rarely seen on such a low denomination. - A November 1, 1862, note from the Brooklyn Bank in New York bears the engraved signature of industrialist J. P. Morgan. - A note dated January 24, 1863, from Franklin Knauss, a ready-made clothing dealer in Allentown, Pennsylvania, shows an elephant carrying a banner reading "CHEAP FRANK" in its trunk. - A scrip note came from Frank Leslie's Publishing House. The article says the firm was founded in 1855 and ran an illustrated magazine in New York City for 72 years.

The article also shows a note given when no change was available, with no mention of the location, the merchant or the bank.

The Treasury's 3¢ Note

According to the article, the U.S. Treasury issued only one 3¢ fractional note, from the 3rd issue released in December 1864. A one-sided (uniface) note from L.W. Wallace & Co. and Miller, Davis & Webster of Ann Arbor, Michigan, dated January 1863, mimics the design of the first issue 5¢ Treasury postage currency.

College Notes and 20th-Century Savings Scrip

The article also includes notes from colleges. It shows four 3¢ Eastman College notes; one shows Harvey J. Eastman in its central portrait; the article says the college was founded in 1859. A college currency note from Yale Business College of New Haven, Connecticut, was redeemable only in school funds.

The article ends with two 20th-century savings scrip marketed to children: a 1912-dated piece from the Stork Systems of Savings and a piece issued around 1923 by the National Children's Savings Association.

Source: Numismatic News, "3¢ U.S. Obsolete Notes" (February 17, 2026).