Money, Money, Money… Makes Mississippi “Go-Round”

Featured in this case are unique examples of various Mississippi financial instruments, dating from the Territorial Period through the early Twentieth Century. The majority of these are instances of promissory notes, similar to the more modern concept of checking.

The development of the state’s banking system is a chaotic history, as the region experienced several “boom and bust” periods during the antebellum and Civil War periods, primarily due to land speculation, cotton crop production based upon the innumerable horrors of enslavement, as well as an inability to maintain a stable central state bank.

The first state-chartered institution, the Bank of Mississippi, lasted only twenty-three years. Due to the financial inconsistency, countless small banks appeared during the nineteenth century, further increasing disruption. Indeed, the state did not have a stable system until the founding of the Federal Reserve in 1913.

The earliest displayed note dates from the Territorial Period, and is a promise to pay fifty-three dollars and fifty cents “on demand with interest,” approximately one thousand three hundred dollars in today’s U.S. currency. Another unusual receipt from 1882 relates to Nobel Prize winning author, William C. Faulkner’s great grandfather.

Other showcased pieces showcase iconography from railroad companies, such as the 1836 note from the Bank of Vicksburg/The Commercial and Railroad. More whimsical twentieth century financial instruments include coupons for Mississippi general stores and businesses, as well as a humorous, “Bank of Heaven” note.