Concord, New Hampshire. $5 1882 Brown Back. Fr. 466. The First NB. Charter #318. PMG Choice Fine 15.Considering the early charter number for this state capital bank one would think that the percentage of surviving notes would favor these earlier issues. Quite the contrary as here the majority of known large-size notes are 1902 Date and Plain Backs. This is one of just three known $5 Brown Backs. It has nice overall appeal with strong banking signatures and just a small paper pull at upper left. The last five dollar Brown Back to sell at a major numismatic auction was this note when it brought $2,530 in a 2007 sale.<p>The First National Bank of Concord was incorporated on March 15, 1864, with charter number 318, thus becoming an early entry in the field of federally chartered institutions. By this time officers had already been elected in anticipation of the charter, with Asa Fowler named president on February 2. At the outset the bank was capitalized at $100,000, an amount quickly paid, but the figure was soon raised to $150,000. Asa Fowler served as president. A man of wide experience, he was a lawyer, former judge of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire, and had been a director of the State Capital Bank in Concord for several years.<p>The bank had its share of ups and down, including the defalcations of cashier W.W. Storrs that made headline news in 1874, but prospered overall and continued issuing notes through 1935. As a class the notes of the First National Bank of Concord are very elusive -- surprisingly so in view of the large numbers issued. There are many other banks in the state for which more are known, even though the issues were smaller.<p>
