$5 Union Military Scrip Specimen, Topeka, Kansas 1867, Continental Bank Note Co.

Topeka, Kansas – Union Military Scrip $5 June 1, 1867 Whitfield 422 Specimen, no serial number. Uncirculated. These notes were authorized by the Kansas legislature in 1867 to pay claims against the state from the Indian campaign of 1864 and the Confederate invasion of the same year. Obverse vignette of a Union cavalryman with blacksmith top left, punch-hole cancellations at signatures at bottom.

Founded in 1863 by Waterman Lilly Ormsby, the Continental Bank Note Company (ConBNC) promised greater efficiency and profitability than its competitors. It combined business acumen, independent and highly-skilled engraving, and well-connected entrepreneurs to secure important contracts, among them the U.S. Treasury Department’s sole currency contract. Continental Bank Note Co. triumphed where National Bank Note, American Bank Note, and others failed. CBNCo also secured the sole contract to print U.S. postage stamps. On 1 May 1873 the firm became National Bank Note Company’s successor. In 1879, CBNCo. merged with the American Bank Note Company.