The Kirtland Safety Society Discounted notes (circa January 1837).

Date
Jan 1837
Type
Manuscript
Source
Warren Parrish
LDS
Hearsay
Holograph
Direct
Reference

Kirtland Safety Society Discounted Notes, circa January 1837, The Joseph Smith Papers website, accessed July 9, 2024

Scribe/Publisher
Warren Parrish
People
Warren Parrish
Audience
N/A
Transcription

No 1 2 3 4 5 6) No 2 the

No 2 3 4 4. 5 4) 3 P P P P. P Pa

No 3 4. 5)

No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24,

No 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

No 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

No 1 = 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44

No 2 = 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,

No 3 = 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24,

No. 1 = 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65,

No 2 = 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33,

No 3 = 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34,

No 1 = 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88,

No 2 = 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45,

No 3 = 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46,

No 1 = 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114

No 2 = 46, 46 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58,

No 3 = 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59

No 1 = 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135,

No 2 = 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 60 70, 70

No 3 = 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71

No 1 = 66 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 156,

No 2 = 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79

No 3 = 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80,

No 1 = 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 163 164 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172

No 2 = 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87

No 3 = 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88

No 1 = 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 195, 196, 197, 198

No 2 = 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95

No 3 = 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96

. . .

BHR Staff Commentary

From "Historical Introduction" in The Joseph Smith Papers website for this document:

The Kirtland Safety Society Bank was formed in November 1836; however, the institution did not open for business or operate a banking house until January 1837. When the bank opened to the public, sometime between 4 and 7 January, the clerks began keeping a record, which they titled “List of notes for discounting.” This record consists of sequential numbers recorded in categories labeled “No. [number] 1,” “No. 2,” and “No. 3.” The list comprises seven loose sheets.

Discounting was a nineteenth-century banking term, most commonly describing the practice wherein banks accepted banknotes from other financial institutions and paid a lower amount than the face value of the note. This discount depended on the distance from the originating bank, the perceived credibility of that bank, and the difficulty the bank receiving the note might face in redeeming it.

Because there are few surviving records for the Safety Society, it is unclear if those involved in the Safety Society used the term “discounting” in the same way as other banks. If the title referred to the common form of discounting, then the numbers in the list would have corresponded with numbers written on the banknotes received by the Safety Society. Alternatively, the Safety Society may have applied some form of discounting to its own notes when they were issued for a loan or exchanged for specie, in which case the numbers on the list may represent serial numbers that clerks assigned to Safety Society notes as they were distributed or redeemed. In this case, the three categories used in the list may signify the one-dollar, two-dollar, and three-dollar denominations of Kirtland Safety Society notes. Another possibility is that the categories may refer more broadly to the three formats of uncut printed sheets of Safety Society notes, which clerks appear to have filled out sequentially, regardless of denomination.

The page order for the seven loose pages of numbers that comprise the “List of notes for discounting” has been changed to reflect the creation order of the record and therefore deviates from the order in which the record was archived at the Church History Library.

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