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The US has had periods where banks or even corporations could print their own money. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildcat_banking https://en.wikipedia.org/wik
by nerfhammer 5y ago
The US has had periods where banks or even corporations could print their own money.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildcat_banking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildcat_banking
It wasn't fiat money, they were deposit notes representing gold or silver. And while outright fraud wasn't much of an issue since physical banks can't just disappear and leave town overnight, if the bank collapsed the currency would probably not be redeemable anymore.
- manquer 5y agoFraud was high. It was not fraud by the institutions as such, but counterfeits was a big problem with as many as 7000 unique notes it was next to impossible to know which was genuine. Post the civil war as much as half the currency was estimated to be counterfeit. The secret service was given the policing money task as a direct result. There was streamlining of currency issue after that.
- jsrcout 5y agoGeorge Byron Merrick's book Old Times on the Upper Mississippi: The Recollections of a Steamboat Pilot from 1854 to 1863 [0] has a fascinating chapter on how people got rich on wildcat banking swindles. [0] https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/47262 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/47262
- slowhand09 5y agoNevada, New Hampshire, and Utah have gold notes that are legal tender now. https://www.jmbullion.com/gold/gold-notes/ https://www.jmbullion.com/gold/gold-notes/ https://www.jmbullion.com/1-nevada-goldback-gold-note/ https://www.jmbullion.com/1-nevada-goldback-gold-note/