Republic of Texas $100.00 (one hundred dollars) ''Redback'' note

Republic of Texas $100.00 (one hundred dollars) ''Redback'' note

This ''redback'' note was issued in Austin by the Republic of Texas. Redbacks were issued from late 1839 until 1842. The most prolific issue of Texas money, redbacks were reissued and stamped as such, thus the total number issued is not known. Redbacks were named for the red ink used on their versos. A vignette of a steam locomotive with bales in the foreground decorates the center of the left border of the note; a vignette of a brigantine decorates the center of the right border. The number ''100'' is printed in the four corners of the note within a decorative design. In the upper-center vignette of the note Mercury is giving a seated Moneta coins; a griffin is standing on a strongbox to her right, and a compass and caduceus are propped on the ground to her left. The Roman numeral ''C'' is printed within decorative roundels to the left and right of the center vignette. The abbreviation ''No.'' appears towards the upper-left corner of the note; the number ''1292'' is handwritten opposite it towards the upper-right corner. The plate designation ''C'' appears towards the upper-right corner of the note. A seal of the Republic of Texas appears along the lower-center edge of the note. The month, day and last two digits of the years are handwritten; the first two digits of the year, 18, are printed. The note is signed on the recto by James Harper Starr, Secretary of the Treasury, and Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, President. Starr, a Connecticut native, was a physician, secretary of the treasury during the Republic, president of The General Land Office's board of land commissioners, land agent, and later the founder of one of the first banks in Texas (TSHA). Lamar was a soldier, the second president of the Republic, a representative of Nueces and San Patricio counties in the Second Texas Legislature, and the United States minister to Nicaragua and Costa Rica beginning in 1857 (TSHA). Two ornate designs printed in red ink comprise the left and right borders of the note's verso; a five-pointed star and the letters of the word ''TEXAS'' are printed in red ink in-between the two designs. CR: A-8.

Republic of Texas

Rowe-Barr Collection of Texas Currency

Jan 1 1840

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Paper Currency

English

Still Image

RCN 28.02