$1 note, 1917

The note

The Series 1917 $1 (Pick 187(5), Friedberg 39; Numista N#207333) is a large-size United States Note — also a Legal Tender Note, or greenback. The black face with a red seal and serials carries Columbus sighting land at left and George Washington’s portrait at center. Numista names Joseph Prosper Ourdan as designer of the face. The upper arc reads THIS NOTE IS A LEGAL TENDER FOR ONE DOLLAR; below it, SERIES OF 1917. The blackletter title United States introduces the promise Will pay to Bearer ONE DOLLAR. The scalloped red Treasury seal sits to the left of the portrait. At right a medallion with ONE over DOLLAR sits above WASHINGTON, D.C. The left border cites the ACT OF MARCH 3RD 1863. The signatures are Harley V. Speelman’s (Register of the Treasury) and Frank White’s (Treasurer of the United States). Red serials T55297699A repeat at lower left and upper right (TA block). Plate letter G is on the face; C133 is printed at right. The lower tablet reads UNITED STATES NOTE. The green back crosses the banners UNITED STATES OF AMERICA in the X collectors call Sawhorse — Numista spells it Saw-horse — with ONE at the crossing, ONE DOLLAR in the borders, and the legal-tender clause in the right panel. The imprint cites the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Washington, D.C., and SERIES OF 1917 in the left margin. Collectors call these large-format notes horse blankets, the size in use before the 1929 reduction. This collection piece, circulated and unslabbed, is shown on both faces.

The Sawhorse $1

The act of 25 February 1862 authorized United States Notes as legal tender for public and private debts. They replaced the Demand Notes of 1861; the nickname “greenback” was born on those green backs and traveled with this class. A red seal and red serials mark the type. The BEP engraved them from Series 1869. The last delivery to the Treasury was in 1971; none have been placed in circulation since 21 January 1971. Outstanding notes remain redeemable at face. The U.S. Currency Education Program and the BEP FAQs place that line.

The Series 1917 $1 closes the large-size Legal Tender with Washington and Columbus, the back USPaperMoney.Info calls Sawhorse. Numista numbers Fr. 36 Teehee–Burke (P#187(1)), Fr. 37 Elliott–Burke (P#187(2)), Fr. 37a Burke–Elliott with reversed signatures (P#187(3)), Fr. 38 Elliott–White (P#187(4)), and Fr. 39 Speelman–White (P#187(5)), plus star replacements and an Elliott–White mule, Fr. 38m. The printed year is the series, not each sheet’s press date: Speelman and White overlapped in office in the 1920s, so Fr. 39 was printed after 1917. Numista gives the type as 187 × 79 mm and calls this reverse Saw-horse, the last of that design. The next United States Note $1 is Series 1923, still large-size and with a different face. The cut to small size came in 1929.

Scarcity and printage

Speelman–White (Fr. 39; P#187(5)) is the most common signature pairing of the 1917 $1 on Numista: 44 percent of members who own type N#207333 have that variety, a measure of presence in collections, not of auction supply. USPaperMoney.Info places serial T55297699A in the last regular block of that pairing, T1A–T66368000A. Counter 55297699 is an ordinary high serial. Numista records an Elliott–White mule on this design, Fr. 38m. This reverse photograph does not show a readable back-plate number, so the piece is recorded as Fr. 39 and this record does not identify it as a mule. No census and no market premium are invented.

Population

A PMG or PCGS census for serial T55297699A has not been independently verified. The note is shown unslabbed, with no certificate number.

Related pieces

Other records from the same issuer or era in this case.

• $2 · United States Note · Series 1917
• $5 · United States Note · Series 1907