Who was William Windom? A fair question in any respect. This William Windom is not the actor who cut a fairly wide presence on television during the 1960s and 1970s. These two are nonetheless related and share a noted resemblance as the Windom depicted on this note was the great-grandfather of the younger Windom who died in 2012 at the age of 88. Even though Windom was a fairly obscure personality by the standards of the period, he would be commemorated with a short-lived design that replaced the earlier Series of 1886. Windom replaced the likes of Winfield Scott Hancock who had been the Democratic nominee for President in 1880. This portrait change was the only to occur with the transition between the Series of 1886 and the Series of 1891 and begs the question as to whether Windoms placement was political as Republicans held power in Washington when this design was introduced. Regardless of the circumstance that led to Windoms depiction aside from his untimely death, the most striking aspect of this design is the composition on the verso that resembles a bow tie and offers a curious reflection of Treasury Department practices in the early 1890s. Brought to a fine expression thanks to the grade assigned and uncommon originality reflected by light handling reflective of circulation, the geometric elements that compose this design reflect a level of complexity missing from other denominations issued under the Series of 1891 and should rightly distinguish this specimen above hundreds of unremarkable contemporaries.
