MONTGOMERY Alabama
The Central Bank of Alabama
$10 October 1, 1853
Haxby AL-65 G16a
This $10 note of the Central Bank of Alabama, issued at Montgomery in the mid‑1850s, represents one of the state’s most prominent antebellum financial institutions. Chartered in 1832, the bank played a central role in Alabama’s cotton‑based economy and was among the earliest Southern banks to extend credit to the Confederate government at the outbreak of the Civil War. The left vignette depicts enslaved laborers harvesting cotton, a direct visual reference to the agricultural system underwriting the bank’s operations. At right appears a portrait of George Washington, lending national symbolism and credibility. Printed by Baldwin, Bald & Cousland New York, the note exhibits superior engraving quality. The bank’s original headquarters at One Court Square still stands today, adding architectural significance to this historically evocative issue.
Sweet!