A Small Change With Big Consequences for Collectors
Flip a Series 1929 $20 National Bank Note face up and look carefully at the lower left and upper right corners of the note’s face. If you see the issuing bank’s charter number printed in black ink flanking the bank title, you are holding a Type 2. If those corners carry only the serial number, you have a Type 1. That single printing addition, introduced partway through the Series 1929 production run in 1933, created one of the most important variety distinctions in all of large-series National Bank Note collecting, and it affects values dramatically depending on the issuing institution.
Background: The Birth of Small-Size Nationals
The Series 1929 National Bank Notes represent the final chapter in over six decades of nationally chartered bank currency. When the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 gradually shifted the monetary landscape, National Bank Notes did not vanish overnight. They persisted until July 1, 1935, when the authority to issue them finally lapsed. The Series 1929 notes were the last gasp of that system, and they were the first small-size nationals, shrinking from the sprawling “horse blanket” format of earlier issues to the 6.14 by 2.61 inch dimensions we still use today.
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing printed Series 1929 nationals for thousands of chartered banks across the country, in denominations of $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. Each note bore the name, location, and charter number of the issuing bank, printed by a separate overprinting process on top of the standardized face design. The face of the $20 features a portrait of Andrew Jackson at center, carried over conceptually from earlier large-size $20 designs, with the White House vignette on the reverse.
Type 1 Versus Type 2: The Anatomy of the Difference
The Series 1929 $20, like all denominations in the series, was printed in two distinct types. Understanding exactly what changed between them is the foundation of intelligent collecting.
Type 1 Layout
On a Type 1 note, the face carries the bank serial number (a six-digit number unique to that bank’s sequence, preceded by a letter prefix) in two positions: lower left and upper right corners. The charter number appears only within the printed bank title block, typically reading something like “The First National Bank of [City], Charter No. 4567.” The charter number is embedded in the overprinted title, but it does not appear as a standalone bold printed element elsewhere on the face.
Type 2 Layout
The Type 2 variety, introduced during 1933 production runs, adds the charter number as a separate, standalone black overprint in the lower left and upper right corners of the note’s face. In those positions, the charter number now appears in addition to, and typically above or flanking, the bank serial number. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing made this change at the request of the Treasury Department to make it easier for banks and examiners to quickly identify the issuing institution without reading the full title block. The change required an additional printing pass for affected plates.
When examining a Series 1929 $20 to determine Type 1 or Type 2, use a loupe to inspect the lower left corner of the face. On a Type 2, the charter number will appear as bold black numerals clearly separate from the bank serial number. On a Type 1, you will see only the serial number (letter plus six digits) in that corner. The distinction is unmistakable once you have seen both side by side.
Why Was the Charter Number Added? The Official Reasoning
The practical impetus for the Type 2 modification came from banking regulators who found that tellers and examiners sometimes struggled to quickly match a returned or questioned note to its issuing bank without reading the full engraved title. By placing the charter number in bold in the corners, identification became instantaneous. The change mirrored a broader push during the early New Deal banking reforms of 1933, when the Emergency Banking Act and subsequent legislation created enormous pressure on the Federal Reserve and Treasury systems to bring order to a chaotic banking environment. Many banks that had been printing Type 1 notes in 1929 through 1932 never survived long enough to print Type 2 issues, a fact that shapes rarity patterns profoundly.
Production Timeline and What It Means for Rarity
The Type 2 change was not implemented on a single date across all banks simultaneously. Plates were modified on a rolling basis as old Type 1 plates wore out or were replaced. Banks that failed during the banking crises of 1930 through 1933, which numbered in the thousands, printed only Type 1 notes. Banks still solvent and active when their plates were updated received Type 2 plates and issued Type 2 currency. This means that for any given bank, having a Type 2 note is evidence that the institution survived at least into the 1933 printing cycle, and for many smaller or single-office banks, Type 2 notes are dramatically scarcer than their Type 1 counterparts.
For the $20 denomination specifically, the Friedberg catalog (Friedberg’s “Paper Money of the United States”) assigns the base number 1802 to the Series 1929 $20 National Bank Note, with the -1 suffix for Type 1 and the -2 suffix for Type 2. Individual bank-specific valuations are tracked in the Standard Catalog of United States Paper Money (Krause Publications) and the more specialized “National Bank Notes” reference by Don C. Kelly, which lists known quantities by bank charter number and denomination.
The Don C. Kelly reference, “National Bank Notes: A Guide with Prices,” is an indispensable tool for the serious Series 1929 collector. It lists surviving census data by bank and denomination, allowing you to determine whether a particular bank issued any Type 2 notes at all, and approximately how many are known to survive. Some small-town banks have only two or three Type 2 twenties documented across all grades.
Design Details: What Else Appears on the Face
Beyond the charter number placement, the face design of the Series 1929 $20 NB Type 2 warrants a careful look from any collector encountering it for the first time. The brown Treasury seal appears to the right of Jackson’s portrait. The obligation text reads “National Currency” at the top, with the specific bank’s name and location engraved in the title block. Two signature lines appear at the bottom: the Cashier’s signature on the left and the President’s signature on the right, both individually signed or rubber-stamped by actual bank officers, making every note technically unique in that respect.
The serial number format for Series 1929 nationals uses a letter prefix followed by six digits, with the letter resetting for each denomination at each bank. A note reading “A000001” would be the very first $20 issued by that bank in the series. Low serial numbers, particularly A000001 through A000100, command significant premiums regardless of Type designation.
Key Collecting Categories for the Type 2 $20
State Capitals and Major City Banks
Banks in large cities typically had higher note quotas and printed both types in larger quantities. A Type 2 $20 from a major New York City bank, such as those with charter numbers in the low thousands, is collectible but not uncommon in circulated grades. Values for common city nationals in Very Fine (VF-25 to VF-35 on the Sheldon scale as applied by PCGS Currency and PMG) run roughly $75 to $150 retail for generic Type 2 twenties.
Single-Sheet Survivors and Small-Town Banks
The most prized Type 2 $20 nationals come from small communities, towns with only one chartered bank, or banks that converted to Federal Reserve member status quickly after 1933. When a town’s sole national bank failed in 1931 or 1932, it might have issued hundreds of Type 1 notes but zero Type 2 notes. If that bank survived and received a single updated plate in 1933 before subsequently closing, the total Type 2 output for that bank might be a single sheet of twelve notes, of which only three or four survive today. These specimens can reach $1,000 to $5,000 or more in Fine to Very Fine condition depending on the state and collector demand for that geographic region.
State-Specific Collecting
Many collectors build state sets, attempting to acquire one Type 2 $20 from each bank that issued notes in their state of interest. Southern states, where fewer banks survived the Depression years intact, tend to present harder Type 2 challenges. States like Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Arkansas have numerous charter numbers for which no Type 2 $20 is currently documented in any known collection.
Before paying a premium for a small-town Type 2 $20, cross-reference the bank’s charter number against the Kelly census to confirm Type 2 notes are actually documented for that bank in the $20 denomination. Sellers occasionally mislabel Type 1 notes as Type 2, or may be unaware that a given bank never issued Type 2 paper at all. Verification protects both your wallet and the integrity of the census data.
Grading Considerations Specific to Series 1929 Nationals
Series 1929 nationals were circulating currency during the Great Depression, and the majority of survivors show honest wear. The grading standards applied by PMG (Paper Money Guaranty) and PCGS Currency follow standard currency grading criteria, but a few Series 1929-specific considerations matter. First, many notes were stored folded for decades in bank archives, estate attics, or family Bibles, producing a single sharp center fold on otherwise uncirculated paper. A note with one fold grades About Uncirculated (AU-50 or AU-55) rather than Uncirculated (MS-60 through MS-65). Second, the brown treasury seal and the overprinted bank title are susceptible to ink oxidation and spotting. Any toning, foxing, or ink transfer from adjacent notes in a bundle reduces grade and value significantly. Third, the bank officer signatures, applied by stamp or pen, sometimes smear or fade, which is noted as a defect by third-party graders.
Uncirculated Type 2 $20 nationals from common banks retail in the $300 to $600 range at major currency auctions. Gem examples (PMG 65 EPQ or PCGS 65 PPQ) from any bank regularly exceed $800 to $1,200, and Gem examples from scarce banks reach five figures at Heritage Auctions and Stack’s Bowers sales.
Notable Recent Auction Results
At Heritage Auctions in 2022, a PMG Very Fine 30 Type 2 $20 from the Farmers National Bank of Bardstown, Kentucky (Charter 2010) realized $480, reflecting moderate demand for Kentucky state collectors. A PMG Choice Uncirculated 64 Type 2 $20 from the First National Bank of Deadwood, South Dakota (Charter 2391) sold at Stack’s Bowers in 2023 for $3,120, driven by strong Western state collector demand. These results illustrate how geography and surviving census numbers interact with grade to produce widely varying values for what is nominally the same note type.
Subscribe to Heritage Auctions and Stack’s Bowers currency auction archives online. Both services allow free searching of past realized prices by denomination, series, and charter number. Before buying or selling any Series 1929 Type 2 $20 from a specific bank, pull the last five comparable sales. National Bank Note values are highly localized and change with collector population shifts in ways that general catalog values often lag by years.
| Bank Category / Example Charter | State or Region | Est. Type 2 Notes Known | Rarity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large City Bank (e.g., Charter 2370, NYC) | New York | 500+ | Common |
| Mid-Size City Bank (e.g., Charter 5270, Chicago) | Illinois | 150-400 | Common |
| State Capital Bank, Southern State | Mississippi / Alabama | 40-100 | Scarce |
| Small Town Bank, Midwest (pop. under 5,000) | Iowa / Kansas | 12-40 | Scarce |
| Small Town Bank, Western Territory-Era Charter | Oklahoma / New Mexico | 4-12 | Rare |
| Single-Documented Survivor Bank | Various | 1-3 | Key Date |
| No Type 2 Notes Issued (bank failed pre-1933) | Various | 0 | Key Date |
| Serial Number A000001 Any Bank, Type 2 | Any | 1 per bank | Key Date |
Authentication: Spotting Altered or Doctored Notes
Because Type 2 notes from small banks command far higher premiums than Type 1 notes from the same institution, a troubling alteration occasionally surfaces: a forger chemically removes or physically alters a Type 1 note to add fake charter number overprints in the corners, attempting to pass it as Type 2. Authenticating against this requires examining the ink chemistry under ultraviolet light, where the genuine overprint inks used by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing fluoresce distinctively. Third-party grading by PMG or PCGS Currency provides the most reliable protection, as both firms employ sophisticated ink analysis and comparison to known genuine examples in their reference libraries.
Building a Type 2 $20 Collection: Practical Starting Points
For collectors entering the Series 1929 $20 market, a sensible starting strategy is to acquire a common city-bank Type 2 example first, in circulated Very Fine condition, to become intimately familiar with the genuine design. Spend time with that note before chasing scarcer pieces. Join the Society of Paper Money Collectors (SPMC), which publishes the quarterly journal “Paper Money” and maintains an active community of National Bank Note specialists. The SPMC’s National Bank Note Committee maintains updated census data and can help verify whether a note you are considering is genuinely rare or has simply been misrepresented by an uninformed seller.
Conclusion: A Design Change That Defines a Collecting Specialty
The addition of the charter number to the corners of the Series 1929 National Bank Note face was a bureaucratic convenience in 1933, a minor printing modification driven by the practical needs of Depression-era bank examiners. For collectors nearly a century later, that small change created one of the richest and most complex collecting specialties in American numismatics. Every Type 2 $20 is a direct artifact of a bank that survived long enough to receive updated plates, a survivor from an era when thousands of American financial institutions did not. Understanding the Type 1 versus Type 2 distinction, knowing how to verify authenticity, and learning to use Kelly and auction archives to assess rarity will transform your approach to these fascinating small-size nationals and help you build a collection with genuine depth and historical meaning.
