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The efficiency of private e-money-like systems: the U.S. experience with national bank notes

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  • Warren E. Weber

Abstract

Beginning in 1864, in the United States notes of national banks were the predominant medium of exchange. Each national bank issued its own notes. E-money shares many of the characteristics of these bank notes. This paper describes some lessons relevant to e money from the U.S. experience with national bank notes. It examines historical evidence on how well the bank notes?a privately issued currency system with multiple issuers?functioned with respect to ease of transacting, counterfeiting, safety, overissuance, and par exchange (a uniform currency). It finds that bank notes made transacting easier and were not subject to overissuance. National bank notes were perfectly safe because they were insured by the federal government. Further, national bank notes were a uniform currency. Notes of different banks traded at par with each other and with greenbacks. This paper describes the mechanism that was put in place to achieve uniformity. The U.S. experience with national bank notes suggests that a privately issued e-money system can operate efficiently but will require government intervention, regulation, and supervision to minimize counterfeiting, promote safety, and provide the mechanism necessary for different media of exchange to exchange at par with each other.

Suggested Citation

  • Warren E. Weber, 2015. "The efficiency of private e-money-like systems: the U.S. experience with national bank notes," FRB Atlanta CenFIS Working Paper 15-2, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
  • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedacf:2015_002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cagan, Phillip & Schwartz, Anna J, 1991. "The National Bank Note Puzzle Reinterpreted," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 23(3), pages 293-307, August.
    2. Ben Fung & Miguel Molico & Gerald Stuber, 2014. "Electronic Money and Payments: Recent Developments and Issues," Discussion Papers 14-2, Bank of Canada.
    3. John Kareken & Neil Wallace, 1981. "On the Indeterminacy of Equilibrium Exchange Rates," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 96(2), pages 207-222.
    4. Milton Friedman & Anna J. Schwartz, 1963. "A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number frie63-1, March.
    5. Warren E. Weber, 2014. "The Efficiency of Private E-Money-Like Systems: The U.S. Experience with State Bank Notes," Staff Working Papers 14-15, Bank of Canada.
    6. Kocherlakota, Narayana R., 1998. "Money Is Memory," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 232-251, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Walter Engert & Ben Fung, 2020. "A Uniform Currency in a Cashless Economy," Staff Analytical Notes 2020-7, Bank of Canada.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    bank notes; e-money; financial services;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E41 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Demand for Money
    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies

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