Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 May 1894 — Page 2 Advertisements Column 1 [ADVERTISEMENT]

Very Old Bank Notes. The oldest bank notes are the “flying money” or “convenient money” first issued in China, 2697 B. C. Origina'ly these notes were issued by the treasury, but experience dictated a change to the system of banks under government inspection and control. The early Chinese “greenbacks” were in all essentials similar to the modern bank notes, bearing the name of the bank, the date of the issue, the number of the note, the signature of the official issuing it, indications of its value in figures, in words, and in pictorial representations of coins or heaps of coin equal in amount to its full value. and a notice of the pains and penalties for counterfeiting. Over and above all was a laconic exhortation to industry and thrift: “Produce all you can; spend with economy.” The notes were printed in blue ink on paper made from the fiber of the mulberry tree. A Chinese bank note issued in 1399 B. C. is said to be preserved in the Asiatic Museum at St. Petersburg.