United States · Federal Reserve Note · Emergency

$20 note, 1934

$20 · HAWAII · Series 1934 A

Two examples of the same Fr. 2305. Above, serial L85934593A, the better preserved; below, L86654132A, more circulated. Jackson, brown seal and serials, HAWAII in the margins; White House back. Series 1934A, San Francisco, L–A block, numbered in 1944. Unslabbed.

Catalog facts

Friedberg reference: Fr. 2305
Serial numbers: L85934593A / L86654132A
Signatures: William Alexander Julian (Treasurer of the United States) and Henry Morgenthau Jr. (Secretary of the Treasury)
Condition: Two examples in sleeves, unslabbed. L85934593A is the cleaner of the two; L86654132A is circulated, with folds, toning, and light soiling.
Printage: Series 1934A, printed as SERIES OF 1934 A: that designation is not the year these specimens were numbered. The Treasury introduced HAWAII currency on 25 June 1942. Peter Huntoon (Paper Money, May–June 2008, Table 1a) places serials L85934593A and L86654132A in the run L85536001A–L90036000A — 4,500,000 notes of Series 1934 and 1934A together — numbered in 1944. Those figures are the run’s numbering window, not the exact day each note was finished and not a Fr. 2305-only printage. The eight regular $20 HAWAII runs total 11,246,000 non-star notes, combining 1934 (Fr. 2304) and 1934A (Fr. 2305). The published format is about 155 × 66 mm (Numista); that is not a measurement of these pieces. Bureau of Engraving and Printing; district L / 12, San Francisco.

Face, $20 Series 1934 A, serial L85934593A — Face of the Series 1934A HAWAII $20, serial L85934593A: Jackson, the brown seal, HAWAII in the margins, district L / 12, position G, and face plate 42, in a sleeve.

Face of the Series 1934A HAWAII $20, serial L85934593A: Jackson, the brown seal, HAWAII in the margins, district L / 12, position G, and face plate 42, in a sleeve.

Back, $20 Series 1934 A, serial L85934593A — Back of the HAWAII $20, serial L85934593A: the White House, HAWAII in hollow letters, and back plate 380.

Back of the HAWAII $20, serial L85934593A: the White House, HAWAII in hollow letters, and back plate 380.

Example L86654132A

Sheet-position letter H, face plate 47, and back plate 382. It is not the back-plate-204 mule and not a star replacement. The paper is more worn than L85934593A.

Condition: Circulated; visible folds, toning, and light soiling. Ungraded.

Face, $20 Series 1934 A, serial L86654132A — Face of the Series 1934A HAWAII $20, serial L86654132A: Jackson, the brown seal, HAWAII in the margins, district L / 12, and face plate 47, in a sleeve.

Face of the Series 1934A HAWAII $20, serial L86654132A: Jackson, the brown seal, HAWAII in the margins, district L / 12, and face plate 47, in a sleeve.

Back, $20 Series 1934 A, serial L86654132A — Back of the HAWAII $20, serial L86654132A: the White House, HAWAII in hollow letters, and back plate 382.

Back of the HAWAII $20, serial L86654132A: the White House, HAWAII in hollow letters, and back plate 382.

The note

The Series 1934A $20 Federal Reserve Note with the HAWAII overprint (Friedberg 2305; Numista N#202426) is Treasury emergency paper for the Territory of Hawaii and Pacific operations, not a silver certificate: the $5, $10, and $20 of that issue are FRNs; the HAWAII $1 is a silver certificate. The series letter matters: the face prints SERIES OF 1934 A and sets it apart from Fr. 2304, Series 1934 without a letter. District L / 12, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Brown Treasury seal and serials; black bank seal; signatures of William Alexander Julian and Henry Morgenthau Jr. The black face on cream paper carries Andrew Jackson, the L seal at left, and the brown circular Treasury seal at right. Brown serials repeat on each example (L–A block): L85934593A and L86654132A. Solid black vertical HAWAII overprints flank the design. The green back shows the White House, the caption WHITE HOUSE, and HAWAII in hollow letters across the field. This record gathers two examples, neither a star: the serial ends in A. L85934593A, the better preserved and the one that opens the page, carries sheet-position letter G at upper left, face plate 42 (mark G 42, to the right of HAWAII), and back plate 380. L86654132A, more circulated, carries sheet-position letter H, face plate 47, and back plate 382. Those back plates, with Series 1934A, are the regular non-mule variety; they are not back plate 204. It is not the Series 1935A HAWAII $1, serial S40499058C, nor the Series 1934A HAWAII $10, serial L45104670B, nor the Series 1934A HAWAII $5, serial L68013147A, nor an ordinary green-seal FRN. Both examples are shown in a transparent sleeve, with no grading label. The notes remain legal tender at face value.

The HAWAII overprint

After Pearl Harbor the Treasury marked Territory of Hawaii dollars — and notes used in Pacific campaigns — so captured stocks could be invalidated if Japan took the islands. HAWAII currency was introduced on 25 June 1942: brown seals and serials and the word HAWAII on face and back. Printed Series 1934A names the type, not the numbering year of these specimens: the run L85536001A–L90036000A was serial-numbered in 1944. The emergency restrictions were lifted on 21 October 1944; after that, ordinary U.S. currency and HAWAII notes could circulate together in the designated areas. That date ends the restrictive arrangement, not a demonetization. Official withdrawal began in April 1946.

The frame for those emergency issues — Hawaii, the yellow seal, AMC, Bernhard — is on the World War II emergency-banknotes case, under Notaphily. This page documents two Fr. 2305 examples: serials L85934593A and L86654132A, not a type illustration.

Scarcity and printage

Fr. 2305 is the Series 1934A HAWAII $20, scarcer than the $1 Fr. 2300. Huntoon does not give a Fr. 2305-only total: these serials’ run is 4,500,000 mixed 1934/1934A notes, and the eight regular $20 runs total 11,246,000 non-star notes. The keys of the type are paper quality, the sharpness of the overprint, plate mules, and star replacements. Neither example is a mule or a star. This record does not republish prices.

Population

The photographs of serial L85934593A show cleaner paper than L86654132A: fewer pronounced folds and less soiling. L86654132A looks circulated, with horizontal and vertical folds, toning, scattered stains, and corner wear. Neither note has a grading label. No population census is quoted, and no claim is made about cleaning or repairs.