The First National Bank Of Mason City
The First National Bank Of Mason City in Iowa printed $3,424,060 dollars worth of national currency. Over $1,000,000 face value is a lot of money. However, some types and denominations of currency from this bank could still be rare. This national bank opened in 1881 and stopped printing money in 1935, which equals a 55 year printing period. That is considering a long operation period for a national bank. During its life, The First National Bank Of Mason City issued 12 different types and denominations of national currency. We have examples of the types listed below. Your bank note should look similar. Just the bank name will be different. For the record, The First National Bank Of Mason City was located in Cerro Gordo County. It was assigned charter number 2574.
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The First National Bank Of Mason City in Iowa issued 3,643 sheets of $10 series of 1875 national bank notes. Hundreds of banks had sheet outputs between 2,500 and 5,000. That is pretty typical for a medium sized national bank in the 1870s. The two vignettes seen on 1875 $10 bank notes are “Franklin and Electricity” and “America Seizing Lightning”. These notes occasionally confuse novices because the year 1752 is printed on them. That is when Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity. It has nothing to do with when these bank notes were issued. The back of each $10 bill has “DeSoto Discovering the Mississippi.”
Series of 1875 $10 National Bank Note
The First National Bank Of Mason City printed 3,643 sheets of $20 series of 1875 national bank notes. The exact number of series of 1875 $20 national bank notes printed by this bank is good to know. Don’t expect a high number to lower the value or a small number to increase the value. These notes are scarce enough on their own that the stats don’t really matter. Twenty dollars was a lot of money between 1875 and 1901, which is the time period in which these were printed. These just weren’t saved in high numbers.
Series of 1875 $20 National Bank Note
The First National Bank Of Mason City also printed 7,300 sheets of $10 1882 brown back national bank notes. A print range between 5,000 and 10,000 suggests that there should be at least a couple of notes known to exist. There were three $10 bills printed on a single sheet of 1882 brown backs. The design of the bill is similar to all earlier ten dollar national bank notes. The nickname comes from the fact that these bills have a brown seal and brown overprint. Despite saying series of 1882, these were actually printed by some banks up until 1908. The date you see in cursive relates to when the bank first started issuing brown back notes.
Series of 1882 $10 Brown Back
The First National Bank Of Mason City also printed 7,300 sheets of $20 1882 brown back national bank notes. As you can see, the sheet output is the same for $20 brown backs as it is for $10 brown backs. There was only one $20 brown back printed on a sheet. So the sheet output also equals the total note output. One neat thing about all brown backs is that they each have a different back design based on which state issued them. The back left hand side of the note shows the state seal of which ever state the national bank was located in. Generally speaking, 1882 $20 brown backs are pretty difficult to locate. They typically were printed in small numbers and they don’t have a great survival rate.
Series of 1882 $20 Brown Back
The First National Bank Of Mason City also printed 26,138 sheets of $10 1882 blue seal national bank notes. These were only issued by banks for about ten years (at the most). So it is unusual to see such a high sheet output. This will likely be a common issue unless it is rare signature combination variety. All of these notes say series of 1882 but they were actually printed between 1908 and 1921. So they aren’t quite as old as the dates might suggest. There is also a date on these notes that is between 1888 and 1901. That date is written in cursive text and it represents when the bank was chartered or re-chartered. Some of the so called 1882 value back notes have a chance to be really rare. Most of the earlier notes that say 1882-1908 on the back are likely going to be relatively common. The designs are exactly the same on the front. Each has a blue seal and charter number.
1882 Blue Seal $10 National Bank Note
The First National Bank Of Mason City also printed 26,138 sheets of $20 1882 blue seal national bank notes. That is the same number of sheets as the ten dollar denomination. You don’t have to multiply by three to get the exact number of notes issued though. There was only one twenty dollar bill per sheet. As with any national bank note, the exact value is still based on the condition, serial number, and bank of issue.
1882 Blue Seal $20 National Bank Note
The First National Bank Of Mason City also printed 20,492 sheets of $10 1902 blue seal national bank notes. Once a bank prints more than 10,000 sheets of blue seals it becomes very difficult for those notes to be rare. 1902 $10 blue seal bank notes all have a portrait of William McKinley on them. Values can range from as little as $40 up to over $10,000. There really is no trick to know what is rare and what is common by just doing an internet search. You really need to work with an expert (like us) in order to determine the value of your specific bank note. There are at least ten different factors than can make some 1902 $10 blue seals worth more than others. We know exactly what to look for and we would be happy to provide a free appraisal and our best offer.
1902 $10 Blue Seal National Bank Note
The First National Bank Of Mason City also printed 20,492 sheets of $20 1902 blue seal national bank notes. The same rarity rules for 1902 $10 blue seals also apply to $20 blue seals. Just remember that $20 bills are by nature three times rarer (unfortunately they don’t command a premium over other denominations). Hugh McCulloch is pictured on the front of each bill. Contact us if you need pricing help.
1902 $20 Blue Seal National Bank Note
The First National Bank Of Mason City also printed 5,426 sheets of Type1 1929 $10 national bank notes. Sadly, based on a number that high, there is basically no chance for these notes to be especially rare. Each $10 bill from 1929 has a portrait of Alexander Hamilton on it. The black number written vertically is the charter number. The charter number never affects the value; it is just an identifier. The ten dollar type1 national bank note happens to be the single most common national bank note, with over 65,000 known to exist from all banks. Of course each note is valued based on its condition and rarity. Some are very rare.
Series of 1929 Type1 $10 National Bank Note
The First National Bank Of Mason City also printed 1,544 sheets of Type1 1929 $20 national bank notes. That is a pretty typical sheet output for a national bank during the small size era. Andrew Jackson is featured on the front of each 1929 $20 bill. Be sure to take note of the serial number on your specific bank note. If it is 000001 then you can expect a nice premium. There is a special market for serial number one bank notes. Of course, even if the number isn’t #1, it could still be collectible and have a high value just based on its condition and rarity alone.
Series of 1929 Type1 $20 National Bank Note
The First National Bank Of Mason City also printed 2,737 individual notes from the type2 1929 $10 national bank note series. That may seem like a high number, but remember that is total notes printed for the denomination, not sheets printed. The easiest way to spot the difference between type1 1929 $10 bills and 1929 type2 $10 bills is in the serial number. Type2 notes have a serial number that ends with a number. 1929 type1 notes have a serial number that ends with the letter A. Generally speaking, these $10 bills are rarer than the earlier type1 issues. However, most collectors don’t pay more for that rarity because they look basically the same.
Series of 1929 Type2 $10 National Bank Note
The First National Bank Of Mason City also printed 360 individual notes from the type2 1929 $20 national bank note series. Type2 1929 national bank notes are already rare to begin with. A printing of less than 1,000 is especially low. One of the great things about 1929 type2 $20 national bank notes is that they really aren’t that old and some can be extremely rare. Until the big head $20 series started there really wasn’t much difference between something printed in 1929 and the same bill printed in 1993. We have bought some examples in the past few months that people just found in their change.
Series of 1929 Type2 $20 National Bank Note
