New Haven, Connecticut. Elm City Bank. January 1, 1863. $3. Good.(CT-275 G6a). Seropyans Patent/American Banknote Company, New York/Jocelyn, Draper, Welch & Co. Allegorical trio with Liberty at lower left, with farmer, sailor and blacksmith at center above bank title. A rare note from one of the handful of banks, mostly in the Northeast and especially in Connecticut, which experimented with the Seropyans Patent yellow tint before the end of the obsolete banking era. The distinctive tint is still very bold on this well used note, the yellow tint outlining a white THREE vertically at left and horizontally at bottom, and white 3s left of center and in upper right corner. Christopher D. Seropyan was a Yale University educated Armenian from New Haven who developed this special tint as an anti-counterfeiting measure in the 1850s/1860s, for which he filed a patent. Some chipping noted around the note, top left corner missing, some repairs and contemporary endorsements noted on back. The $3 is very rare and is the only we have offered; it has been well over a decade since we offered examples of the $1 and $2 denominations with Seropyans tint.From Smythes auction of the Herb & Martha Schingoethe Obsolete Currency Collection, Part 7, July 11, 2006, lot 1009.
