Description and research notes
The fifty-dollar Revenue Bond Scrip authorized by the Act of March 2, 1872, stands among the most elaborate and symbolically charged notes of Reconstruction-era South Carolina. Produced by the American Bank Note Company of New York, these notes were issued to pay state obligations and to function as tax receipts, serving as both a medium of exchange and an assertion of solvency during a turbulent postwar decade.
The design balances artistry and propaganda. At center, an engraved portrait of George Washington anchors the composition, flanked by vignettes emblematic of South Carolina’s economy: a farmer with a horse-drawn plow at left and a cotton field worker at right. Above, 'The State of South Carolina' arcs in bold Gothic script under the heading 'Revenue Bond Scrip.' Rich green tinting reinforces the denomination, with large shaded 'FIFTY' protectors and dual '50' counters in ornate guilloche. The intricate micro-lettered border repeats the word 'FIFTY' in alternating fonts—a subtle security feature designed to frustrate counterfeiters.
Below the main legend, the text confirms the scrip’s legal utility: 'Receivable as Fifty Dollars in payment of all taxes and dues to the State except special tax levied to pay interest on public debt.' The imprint of the American Bank Note Company appears along the bottom margin, with engraved and manuscript signatures completing the instrument. Each note was individually numbered—in this example, No. 2040 printed in red—and dated Columbia, March 2, 1872.
As a work of engraving, the note reflects ABNCo’s mastery of line and tone at the height of the steel-plate era. Its imagery captures the state’s Reconstruction identity: a blend of agricultural labor, classical virtue, and federal symbolism attempting to project unity and recovery amid economic distress. Few financial documents of the period are as visually ambitious or as historically evocative.
Certified PMG 67 EPQ Superb Gem Uncirculated, this specimen exhibits perfect margins, deep ink contrast, and full original embossing. It survives as an exceptional artifact of post-Civil War American fiscal history and of the engraver’s art in its most confident, ornamental phase.