The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 52, July 1948 - April, 1949 Page: 296
512 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
notes appeared in the fall of 1837, were printed, bore to per
cent interest, and were payable twelve months from date. The
name of the payee was written in on the face of the note and
the note was passed by endorsement. The denominations issued
were $1, $2, $3, $5, $10, $20, $50, $ioo, and $500. These printed
notes were generally called "Star Money," because of a small
five-pointed star in the center of the upper part of the face of the
note. There was no reissue of these printed interest notes.
The printed series of interest notes was followed in January,
1838, by an engraved series. In December, 1837, there had been
authorized an increase of $150,000 of the interest notes and also
the issue of $1o,ooo non-interest bearing "change notes" of low
denominations. Change notes were redeemable in notes of larger
denominations. In May, 1838, after a veto by the president of a
bill which made mandatory an increase in the amount of the
notes up to $i,ooo,ooo, a measure was approved which made
it discretionary with the president to increase the issue up to
this amount. In the end, however, this was not the limit, for
a total of $1,165,139 of the notes were issued in 1837 and 1838.
It was President Houston's belief that the notes should not be
issued to "a greater amount than would meet the actual necessi-
ties of a circulating medium." This condition appears to have
been practically met in the case of the printed interest notes, for
they, in an amount of $514,500, circulated at, or nearly at, par in
specie. Their interest bearing feature caused them to have an
investment character and accounted for their readier acceptance
in the states. The engraved interest notes, however, depreciated
and had a value in specie of from 65 cents in May, 1838, to
40 cents in January, 1839, per dollar.
In the Mirabeau B. Lamar administration, and by the Act of
January 19, 1839, there was issued a new type of paper money.
These promissory notes were payable to the bearer and bore no
interest. They were called at the time "red backs," because the
designs on their back were in that color. They were in denomina-
tions of $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, and $5oo, and there were change
notes of $1, $2, and $3. The amount of the change notes was
limited to $150,ooo, but there was no limit set on the red backs
other than the amount of appropriations to be met. From Jan-296
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 52, July 1948 - April, 1949, periodical, 1949; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101121/m1/305/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.