Starting Down Another Rabbit Hole - Arkansas Notes And Scrip

Fantastic!

Along with Arkansas obsoletes and scrip, I'm also picking up the occasional Arkansas National Bank Note. I had a couple from my birthplace of Walnut Ridge that I shared a long time back, and have got a couple others here and there. I'm trying to get moving a bit more on that, and have recently picked up these two (one just tonight).

The first is a 1929 T1 $20 NBN from The Simmons National Bank of Pine Bluff, AR. Signatures of cashier Charles A. Gordon and President Josiah Nichol.
The Simmons National Bank was chartered 3/1903. The bank is still in existence as Simmons Bank after becoming a state chartered bank in 4/2016.
T&P shows 38 large and 75 small notes in the census. There are 38 examples of the 1929 T1 $20 listed, with the majority being in F-XF grades.


The other is a 1929 T2 $20 NBN from The Citizens National Bank of Hope, AR. The town of Hope was founded when a railroad was built through the area, and was named for Hope Loughborough, the daughter of a railroad executive. It is the birthplace of two former governors of Arkansas, Bill Clinton and Mike Huckabee, and the current governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Signatures of cashier C.C. Spragins and president Robert Mitchell LaGrone.
The Citizens National Bank was chartered 6/1914. It merged and became part of BancorpSouth Bank in 9/2000.
T&P shows 20 large and 63 small notes in the census. There are 11 examples of the 1929 T2 $20 listed, with most of these being in choice uncirculated grades.

Nice examples!

Two more Arkansas National Bank Notes, both small size. The first is a 1929 Ty2 $10 note issued by The Commercial National Bank of Little Rock, AR, charter #14000 (I do like that charter number!). The bank was chartered Feb 1934 and merged and became part of Regions Bank in Nov 1998.
The bank only issued 1929 Ty2 $5, $10 and $20 notes. There are 57 notes in total in the T&P Census, spread fairly evenly among the three denominations, with 19 $10 notes. Grades of those in the census are mostly in the F-VF range.
Cashier Conway Elmer Crossland, President Arthur Edward McLean. This is the only signature combination for NBN's issued by this bank.


The other is a 1929 Ty1 $5 note from National Bank of Commerce of Paragould, AR, charter # 10004. The bank was chartered Apr 1911. The bank is still in operation today under the First National Bank name.
T&P lists 22 large notes and 40 small notes in the census. There are currently eight 1929 T1 $5 notes listed, all in grades of VF20 or lower, but this note is new to the census.
Cashier H.W. Woosley, President W.F. Kirsch.

Thanks, Hondo Boguss! Back in the mid-70's, Paragould was the place to go on Friday nights to cruise up and down the main drag through town, showing off your car. It was only about 35 miles from the tiny town where I lived at the time.

Thanks, jbuck!

Thanks, hfjacinto! Yes, notes from many towns I've looked at are fairly pricey whenever they come up for auction, and for many it seems they're tightly held so you seldom ever see them. For instance, one note I'm currently bidding on is one of 14 small-size $10 notes in the census for that bank, but Heritage says this is the first time one has come up for public sale in 11 years. Of course, for many towns the notes are quite common and even higher-grade examples can be found fairly easily.