Kansas

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Merchants Bank. 1854 $2. About Uncirculated.

(KS-35 G2). Whitfield Q130. Engraved by W.L. Ormsby. Uniface on bond paper. Vignette of seated Commerce and Agriculture at left. Portrait of Zachary Taylor at right. He was memorialized on currency for his leadership in the Mexican War. Fully signed and issued. Lucien Ayer came to Ft. Leavenworth in the fall of 1854 and announced his intention to open a local bank. This never happened, but large quantities were placed into circulation in the northeast before the fraud was discovered. The fact that this Wildcat fraudulent bank had notes printed by Waterman Ormsby is not a real surprise. The man seemed to have a homing device in his brain that launched him toward unscrupulous bankers. Lightly circulated and quite pleasing.

Estimate: $ 150 - 200