Minnesota Bank Note History

Featured Bank Note: Original Series $2 Lazy Deuce note issued by the Merchants National Bank of Winona, MN signed by Nicholas F. Hilbert, Cashier and Mark Willson, President.

The Minnesota Bank Note History home page consolidates historical information on the National & Obsolete Banks, Bankers and Banking History of Minnesota.

Minnesota National Banks that Issued Notes

The link below is a searchable, sortable list of the 434 Minnesota 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 Minnesota National Banks that Issued Notes (1863-1935)

Minnesota 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.

Current list of Minnesota County Home pages

What's New in Minnesota Bank Note History

Minnesota Bank Histories Index

The Bank Histories are organized alphabetically by Town, then by Bank Open Date. To find the Minnesota 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.

Minnesota Bank Histories

Minnesota Banker Biographies Index

The Banker Bios are organized alphabetically by Last Name. To find the Minnesota 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.

Minnesota Banker Biographies

Minnesota National Bank Stats, Lists & Graphs

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

# Issuing Banks: 434

Issuing Banks wiki page

# Non-Issuing Banks: 50
# Large Size Issuers: 409
# Small Size Issuers: 248
# Territorial Banks: 0

# Towns with Issuing Banks: 271
# Counties with Issuing Banks: 86

NBN Geo. Letter: M
State Capital: Saint Paul
Statehood Date: May 11, 1858

Minnesota 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 Minnesota National Banks (Issued Notes) Sorted by Town by Charter#

Famous Minnesota Banks & Bankers

Knox, John Jay (Washington, DC)
Langford, Nathaniel Pitt (Saint Paul, MN)
Hazlett, Isaac (Minneapolis, MN)
Wellcome, Dr. Florado Houser (and the Union Investment Company) (Minneapolis, MN)

Minnesota Counties Index

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

Minnesota Counties

Minnesota Towns Index

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

Minnesota Towns

Minnesota Obsolete to National Bank Conversions

Minnesota had 10 Obsolete Banks that converted to National Banks between 1864 and 1865.

Minnesota Obsolete to National Bank Conversions

Minnesota Banking History

Wiki Links

Minnesota Research Resources

R. Shawn Hewitt, A History & Catalog of Minnesota Obsolete Bank Notes & Scrip (New York: Smythe, 2006).
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 on the spmc.org website.
Minnesota State Historical Society website.
Minnesota Legislative Reference Library - Legislators Past & Present (with many photos), https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/
The Political Graveyard: Politicians in Banking and Finance in Minnesota, https://politicalgraveyard.com/geo/MN/banking.html
FDIC, Bank Find History website. https://research2.fdic.gov/bankfind/index.html
Little Sketches of Big Folks, Minnesota 1907 : an alphabetical list of representative men of Minnesota, with biographical sketches.
Ancestry.com, Findagrave.com and Newspapers.com