$10 note, n.d.

The note

The Series 1934C $10 (Pick 430Dc, Friedberg 2008-J) is a small-size Federal Reserve Note of the Kansas City district: a circular seal with J, 10s in the four inner corners, and the bank legend “FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF KANSAS CITY MISSOURI.” The black face with green seal and serials carries Alexander Hamilton in an oval and, at right, the Treasury seal over TEN. The signatures are W. A. Julian and John W. Snyder. The legal-tender clause promises redemption “in lawful money” at the Treasury or any Federal Reserve Bank. Plate marking J73 — position letter J and face plate 73 — sits at lower right. The green back shows the Treasury building in Washington, D.C., with the caption “U.S. TREASURY,” pedestrians, and an interwar automobile before the façade; plate number 1177 sits to the right of the vignette. The motto “IN GOD WE TRUST” is not yet present. Catalog dimensions for the type are 156 × 66 mm; they are not a measurement of this example. The type is printed on United States cotton-and-linen currency paper with security fibers; this record does not offer a fiber count of the piece. This collection piece, circulated and unslabbed, is serial J55894000A (J–A block, no star). Plate 73 falls outside the only four Series 1934C narrow-face plates (86, 87, 88, and 89), made for Kansas City alone, so the example is the wide-face variety: “wide” names the engraved face, not the width of the paper. The enhanced photographs show crossing folds, toning, softened corners, and edge wear; they do not fix a grade. The other Reserve $10 note pages are different pieces: Chicago 1934, serial G30986728A; Chicago 1934A, serial G74025286A; Cleveland 1934A, serial D78652996A; Philadelphia 1934A, serial C46924254A; Richmond 1934D, serial E60822246B. The series letter C, district J / 10, the Julian–Snyder signatures, and this serial distinguish them.

Series 1934C

Series 1934C $10 notes keep the small Hamilton engraving and change the signature pair to Julian–Snyder. The Bank Note Museum numbers the type P-430Dc, in the dark-green seal group, for all twelve districts. John W. Snyder was Secretary of the Treasury from 1946 to 1953: printed Series 1934C is the issue designation, not the year J55894000A was made. The photographs do not fix the printing date of this example. Kansas City is district J / 10. The J–A block is neither a star replacement nor a HAWAII note. The motto “IN GOD WE TRUST” is not yet on the back.

In December 1949 the BEP introduced the $10 narrow face: the face frame sits slightly closer to the interior design. The Paper Money Project records that Series 1934C used only four narrow-face plates, 86 through 89, and only for Kansas City. The rest of the 1934C $10 FRNs were printed from wide-face plates, the design used on small-size $10 notes until then. Face plate 73 on this piece is therefore wide face. Greysheet numbers the Kansas City type Fr. 2008-J. This record does not invent a printage that splits wide face from narrow face.

Scarcity and printage

Series 1934C $10 notes — Julian–Snyder signatures, dark-green seal, all twelve districts — were postwar Reserve paper. The Bank Note Museum numbers the type P-430Dc. Fr. 2008-J is Kansas City. The wide face is the ordinary issue; the variety the census sets apart is the Kansas City narrow face, plates 86–89. This piece, plate 73, is wide face. The ordinary type is common in mid grades; the keys are star replacements, the narrow face, and the HAWAII $20, which already has a note page: serial L86654132A, Fr. 2305. This record does not invent a printage by block.

Population

A PMG or PCGS census for serial J55894000A has not been independently verified. The note is unslabbed and carries no certificate number. The enhanced photographs are not enough for a firm grade.

Related pieces

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

• $10 · Series 1934D · Richmond
• $10 · Series 1934A · Philadelphia
• $500 · Series 1934A · New York
• $10 · Series 1934A · Cleveland