During the 19th century, particularly during the War Between The States, notes were issued in some neighboring states that were redeemable in Florida. Some were Bank Notes issued by out of state banks that bore a Florida city imprint. A common example of this is the Bank of St. Marys in Georgia which issued notes that had Apalachicola, Fla. imprinted on their upper left face: |
Less common are various notes issued in Montgomery, Alabama that were: “Receivable for Stage Fare on all lines in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas and for postage on most of them” as seen in the red imprint below the TWO on this Montgomery Insurance Company note:
or in the green overprint above the TWO on this scarcer, possibly unique variety:
and in black print at the left end of this note from J.R. Powell, Montgomery that also has New Orleans imprinted on it:
Other scrip issued by merchants in Alabama for use in Florida include the series from LeBaron & Son, Mobile that has a Pensacola imprint at the top:
and these change notes issued for use in Pensacola by Evergreen, Alabama merchant Joseph Mitchell:
It is indeed interesting that a century and a half ago commerce sometimes traveled more along rivers and railroad lines than along state lines. In any event, we should be glad to have one more type of ‘Florida’ currency to collect if we wish to do so. We offer some of these notes here at FloridaMint.com so that you can include them to your collection, let us know if you have an interest in them.