United States · Silver Certificate · Educational Series
$2 note, 1896
$2 · Silver Certificate · Series 1896
Face with Science presenting Steam and Electricity to Commerce and Manufacture, a red Treasury seal, and blue serials 1712091; green back with Robert Fulton and Samuel F. B. Morse. Series of 1896, Fr. 247, plate C, Tillman–Morgan signatures.
Catalog facts
- Pick reference
- P#336(1) · Fr. 247
- Serial number
- 1712091
- Signatures
- James Fount Tillman (Register of the Treasury) and Daniel N. Morgan (Treasurer of the United States)
- Condition
- Unslabbed, in a sleeve; no numerical grade from the photographs (private collection)
- Printage
- Series of 1896, printed as SERIES OF 1896. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Washington, D.C. Plate letter C. Large-size note: Numista gives the type as 189 × 79 mm. That is not a measurement of this sleeved piece. The printed signatures are Tillman–Morgan, which Friedberg numbers Fr. 247 and Pick numbers P#336(1). The later pairing, Bruce–Roberts, is Fr. 248 (P#336(2)). PCGS estimates 11,252,000 notes for Fr. 248, printed in 1897–1898; that is not an audited BEP total for this piece. No BEP ledger here fixes the last Fr. 247 serial, and this record does not publish a cutoff between Fr. 247 and Fr. 248. The counter of 1712091 is 1,712,091. The serial is ordinary: it is not low (1–100) and it is not fancy. This record does not invent a BEP printage for that serial.
Face
Back
The note
The Series of 1896 $2 Silver Certificate (Pick 336(1), Friedberg 247; Numista N#307145) is the middle denomination of the Educational Series, large-size Treasury paper, not a Treasury Note and not a United States Note. The black face carries the allegory Science Presenting Steam and Electricity to Commerce and Manufacture: Science, standing, presents two children — Steam and Electricity — to the seated figures of Commerce and Manufacture. Edwin Howland Blashfield painted that composition; Thomas F. Morris designed the background and frame; Charles Schlecht and G. F. C. Smillie engraved it. The arc certifies a Treasury deposit of TWO SILVER DOLLARS, payable to the bearer on demand. The printed series is SERIES OF 1896. The small red Treasury seal sits at right. Blue serials 1712091 repeat at left and right. Plate letter C sits beside both blocks. The imprint cites the ACT OF AUG. 4, 1886. The signatures are James Fount Tillman, Register of the Treasury, and Daniel N. Morgan, Treasurer of the United States: that pairing is Fr. 247 (P#336(1)). The later pairing, Blanche K. Bruce and Ellis H. Roberts, is Fr. 248 (P#336(2)). Thomas F. Morris designed the green back and Lorenzo James Hatch engraved it: Robert Fulton at left and Samuel F. B. Morse at right, with TWO and SILVER DOLLARS in the arc. This collection piece is shown in a sleeve, unslabbed; no numerical grade is assigned from the photographs. It is not the Educational Series $1, Fr. 224, serial B3207078, nor the Series 1917 United States Note $2, Fr. 60, serial B50400302A. Redemption of these certificates in silver ended in 1968; they remain legal tender at face value.
The Educational Series
In 1896 the Treasury placed three large-size silver certificates — one, two, and five dollars — into circulation. Collectors call them the Educational Series. The two-dollar note shows Science presenting Steam and Electricity to Commerce and Manufacture. They are not the Treasury Notes or Coin Notes of 1890–1891, and they are not the 1917 United States Note $2. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing printed them in Washington. In 1929 the format was cut by about 30 percent: this piece sits on the large-size side of that line.
Scarcity and printage
Fr. 247 (P#336(1)) is the Tillman–Morgan combination; Fr. 248 (P#336(2)) is the later pairing, Bruce–Roberts. PCGS estimates 11,252,000 notes for Fr. 248, printed in 1897–1898. This record does not publish a serial cutoff between the two varieties or a printage for Fr. 247. Counter 1,712,091 is an ordinary serial: it does not fall in the 1–100 band and it does not form a fancy pattern. That does not make it a collector low number.
Population
A PMG or PCGS census for serial 1712091 has not been independently verified. The note is shown in a sleeve, unslabbed, with no certificate number.
Sources
- Numista — N#307145, $2 Silver Certificate, Educational Series (opens in a new tab)
P#336(1) and Fr. 247, Tillman and Morgan signatures; P#336(2) and Fr. 248, Bruce and Roberts. Published size 189 × 79 mm. Face by Edwin Howland Blashfield, engraved by Charles Schlecht and G. F. C. Smillie; back by Thomas F. Morris, engraved by Lorenzo James Hatch.
- Bank Note Museum — P-336, $2 Silver Certificate, 1896 (opens in a new tab)
336(1): Tillman and Morgan signatures. 336(2): Bruce and Roberts. Face: Science presenting Steam and Electricity to Commerce and Manufacture. Back: Robert Fulton and Samuel Morse.
- PCGS — A Closer Look: Series of 1896 $2 Silver Certificate (opens in a new tab)
Blashfield painted the face; Morris designed the background and frame; Schlecht and Smillie engraved it. Morris designed the back and Lorenzo James Hatch engraved it. Estimates 11,252,000 notes for Fr. 248, printed in 1897–1898. It does not fix the Fr. 247 cutoff here.
- National Museum of American History — $2 Silver Certificate, 1896 (opens in a new tab)
Science presenting Steam and Electricity to Commerce and Manufacture. Back: Robert Fulton and Samuel F. B. Morse. Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Act of 4 August 1886.
- Wikipedia — Educational Series (opens in a new tab)
Three 1896 denominations. The $2: Blashfield, Morris, Schlecht, and Smillie on the face; Fulton and Morse on the back.
- U.S. Currency Education Program — History of U.S. Currency (opens in a new tab)
Silver certificates from 1878; redemption in silver until 1968.
- Bureau of Engraving and Printing — History (opens in a new tab)
Silver Certificates from 1878; reduction to small size in 1929.
Related pieces
Other records from the same issuer or era in this case.
