Texas Currency home | browse items | search
Known to collectors as "obsolete" notes, the John N. Rowe III Collection of Texas Currency is useful in a variety of ways for historical research.
Since more than 900 Texas banks were authorized to issue their own notes, the collection helps to document the activities of the Texas banking establishment for over a century.
Many of the banknotes are unique, and help to identify the banks that would otherwise be lost to history.
By studying how banknotes were used, both within Texas and in exchange with merchants and governments elsewhere, scholars can learn much about the true basis and workings of the Texas economy.
Also, many of the notes and bonds were signed by important figures in Texas history, such as Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, and Mirabeau B. Lamar.
Finally, banknotes are often beautiful objects in themselves and can be studied as examples of the art of engraving and printing. The imagery associated with the notes--from classical goddesses to bison to railroads to cotton bolls--tells us something about the culture and its aspirations and ideals.
Contact Us:
For more information about the John N. Rowe III Collection of Texas Currency contact DeGolyer Library at degolyer@mail.smu.edu.