California Bank Note History

Featured Bank Note: $100 Series 1902 Plain Back, issued by Pacific National Bank of Los Angeles, CA, signed by A.M. DeLong, Cashier and E.M. Smith, President. Courtesy of Heritage Auctions, www.HA.com

The California Bank Note History home page consolidates historical information on the National/Obsolete Banks, Bankers and Banking History of California. It also highlights What's New, along with some Famous California Banks & Bankers, and lists helpful Research Resources.

California National Banks that Issued Notes

The link below is a searchable, sortable list of the 415 California National Banks that issued notes during the National Bank Note Era (1863-1935). Information shown for each bank includes Charter#, Bank Name, Town, County, Open & Close Year, Bank Fate, Number of notes Issued and Total $ Issued. The charter number for each bank is a link to that Bank Info page on the SPMC U.S. National Bank lookup website.

List of California National Banks that Issued Notes (1863-1935)

California County home pages

County Bank Note History home pages provide information on the Banks, Bankers and Bank Notes for that county during the National Bank Note Era (1863-1935), and also the Obsolete Bank Note Era (1782-1866) (if applicable for that county). All of the county's National & Obsolete Banks are listed with links to their Bank History pages. Prominent Bankers are also listed with links to their Banker Bio pages. Several Bank Notes are featured, as well as bank postcards and other bank related ephemera.

If you have a local County Historical Society/Museum, they may be interested in adding a link on their website to their County's Bank Note History home page in our wiki.

(There are currently no California County home pages set up)

What's New in California Bank Note History

Bank Histories:

Banker Bios:

California Bank Histories Index

The Bank Histories are organized alphabetically by Town, then by Bank Open Date. To find the California Bank you are looking for, select from the following Index list. You can also search the entire wiki for the Bank's town name or charter number using the Search Box in the upper right corner.

California Bank Histories

California Banker Biographies Index

The Banker Bios are organized alphabetically by Last Name. To find the California Banker you are looking for, select from the following Index list. For an Index list of all Banker Bios for all States, use the Banker Biographies sidebar link. You can also search the entire wiki for the Banker's last name using the Search Box in the upper right corner.

California Banker Biographies

California National Bank Stats, Lists & Graphs

The label for each of these Stats is a link to the corresponding pdf list of banks

# Issuing Banks: 415

Issuing Banks wiki page

# Non-Issuing Banks: 94
# Large Size Issuers: 384
# Small Size Issuers: 172
# Territorial Banks: 0
# Towns with Issuing Banks: 230
# Counties with Issuing Banks: 46
NBN Geo. Letter: P
State Capital: Sacramento
Statehood Date: September 9, 1850
California National Bank Graphs & Lists
- # of National Banks Chartered By Year
- # of National Bank Failures (Receivership) By Year
- # of National Bank Closures (Receivership/Liquidation/Closed) By Year
- # of National Banks In Operation By Year
- List of 40 National Banks with Lowest # of Notes Issued
- List of California National Banks (Issued Notes) Sorted by Town by Charter#

Famous California Banks & Bankers

First National Gold Bank/First NB, Oakland, CA (Charter 2248) (1875-1924)
Bank of California, NA, San Francisco, CA (Charter 9655) (1910-1987) Organized as the Bank of California on July 5, 1864, with Mr. D.O. Mills as president
Farmers and Merchants NB, Los Angeles, CA (Charter 6617) (1903-1956) (oldest and largest bank of Southern California, chartered in 1871)
Bank of Italy NT & SA/Bank of America NT & SA, San Francisco, CA (Charter 13044) (1927-still open as Bank of America, N.A., Oct. 2023)

California Counties Index

This index lists California counties that had towns with National or Obsolete Banks (1782-1935).

California Counties

California Towns Index

This index lists California towns that had National or Obsolete Banks (1782-1935).

California Towns

California Obsolete to National Bank Conversions

California did not have any Obsolete Banks that issued bank notes, so there were no Obsolete to National Bank Conversions.

California Banking History

Wiki Links

California Research Resources

California Historical Society
California Legislative and Congressional Members 1849 to Current -> Blue Book Stats
The Higgins Museum in Okoboji, IA has a Currency Related Research Library, as well as major collections of Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota and Nebraska National Bank Notes on display.
Don C. Kelly, National Bank Notes, A Guide with Prices. 6th Edition (Oxford, OH: The Paper Money Institute, 2008).
Dean Oakes and John Hickman, Standard Catalog of National Bank Notes. 2nd Edition (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1990).
The National Bank Note Census, nbncensus.com
OCC Annual Reports 1863-1935 (U.S. Treasury Dept: Office of the Comptroller of the Currency).

(The OCC Annual Reports are available online at the Currency Club of Chester County (PA) website).

The Bankers Magazine 1846-1922 (New York: various publishers over the years).

(The Bankers Magazine volumes are available online at the Currency Club of Chester County (PA) website).

Rand McNally Banker's Directories 1879-1935 (Chicago: Rand McNally & Company).
Polk's Banker's Encyclopedias 1895-1935 (Detroit and New York: Polk Bankers Encyclopedia Co.).
James A. Haxby, United States Obsolete Bank Notes 1782-1866 (4 volumes) (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1988).
Paper Money Journal, 1962-present (Published by the Society of Paper Money Collectors, spmc.org). Many articles over the years about the history of National & Obsolete Banks and Bankers. An archive of all back issues with search capabilities is online for SPMC members at spmc.org.
FDIC, Bank Find History website.