$1 · Baraboo Scrip · Ringling Bros. · 1933

The note

The Shafer WI100 $1 is a Baraboo Chamber of Commerce bearer note, not a Federal Reserve Note. The face, black on cream paper with a blue disk, is titled BARABOO SCRIP. At left an oval portrait of the five Ringling brothers in profile — a laurel wreath, RINGLING BROS. on the lower ribbon — shows the group; the fractional notes show each brother singly. The center announces the 50th anniversary, 1883–1933, CELEBRATION OF THE FOUNDING OF RINGLING BROS. SHOW AT BARABOO, WISCONSIN. A dark cartouche reads ONE DOLLAR; to its left the blue series letter A. Serial 2002 is printed in blue at the foot, between the printed signatures of P. L. Gust (president) and O. L. Gust (treasurer). The footer promises redemption in trade or by the Chamber on or before 1 November 1933. Corner medallions show lion heads above and elephant heads below. The green back shows the Big Top and crowd, 1883 / 50th ANNIVERSARY / 1933, a tiger at left and a lion at right, and the banner GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATING THE FOUNDING OF RINGLING BROS. SHOWS AT BARABOO, WIS. This collection piece is shown unslabbed, in a sleeve. It is not the other five notes of the set, and it is not the 5¢ A4895, the 10¢ A2844, or the 15¢ A2819: the group portrait, the $1 face, and serial A2002 distinguish it.

The Golden Jubilee scrip

Baraboo was the birthplace and winter quarters of the Ringling Brothers Circus. The five brothers founded the touring company in 1884 — the scrip prints the span 1883–1933 — and wintered there until 1918. On 3 August 1933 the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus returned for the Golden Jubilee; that season’s route card places the train in Baraboo between Winona and Rockford.

The Chamber of Commerce announced the scrip on 28 June 1933 in the Baraboo News-Republic. These were not federal notes: ornate souvenir tokens, printed on currency-quality paper a trifle larger than Civil War shinplasters, redeemable in trade through 1 November. E. B. Trimpey of Baraboo’s Trimpey studio designed the set from original photographs of the brothers. The lower denominations show each brother singly; the $1 shows the group. This example is the $1: Ringling Bros., serial A2002.

Scarcity and printage

Baraboo scrip was not a federal issue. Wisconsin Depression Scrip lists the set as Shafer WI100; a complete run of the six notes is the usual way to collect it. No record of the number printed survives. This record does not invent a printage or a census. This piece’s interest is the $1 group portrait and serial A2002, not an invented type rarity.

Population

A PMG or PCGS census for serial A2002 has not been independently verified. The note is shown unslabbed, in a sleeve, with no certificate number.