Coins, Currency, Checks, Receipts, Stocks, Bonds

This advertising wheel chart for Gübelin watches and clocks displays the difference in time around the world and includes a "bright Swiss coin" to "bring you luck."

"Summit County Bank. Cuyahoga Falls, O. 1862. No. ______. 50. Pay the bearer fifty cents when like orders are presented in amounts of one or more dollars. W. A. Stanford. Lith. by A. S. Sanford, Cleveland, O." Unissued U.S. Civil War-era fifty-cent bank note.

As Wikipedia explains, " Hell money is a form of joss paper printed to resemble legal tender bank notes. This faux money has been in use since at least the late 19th century and possibly much earlier....The notes are not an officially recognized currency or legal tender since their sole intended purpose is to be offered as burnt-offerings to the deceased as often practiced by the Chinese and several East Asian cultures." See also the back of this hell bank note :

For more information, see the front of this hell bank note :

"Buy the 'Empire' Wringer. Uncle Sam--'Take my advice, and if you want a surplus use the Empire well.'"

A playing cards and board games photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A scary scene during a card game! The four young men pictured in this real photo postcard have obviously been playing all evening. One of them is holding a bottle of Tokay wine, and we can see that a tobacco pipe, playing cards, and various coins and bills are strewn across the table (mouse over the image above for a close-up view of the table ). The guy on the left with the unruly hair is staring intently at the one on the right, who has drawn a gun and seems to be trying not to laugh. The two other fellows, however, haven't even noticed the gun. Perhaps the guy with the gun is angry because he suspects that one of his friends has been cheating, or maybe he's just upset that the print hanging on the wall behind him is starting to fall down. Judging by the humorous poem that's written on the other side of this photo postcard (see below), it's doubtful that any gunplay ever took place. Instead, considering that we can see a bed on the right-hand side of the photo and a dresser piled with books on the other side, it seems likely that these lads are simply students in a dorm room or apartment posing for an amusing photo of a card game gone wrong. -------- Handwritten poem on the other side of this real photo postcard (note: "out of chine" seems to mean "out of alignment" or "out of sync" in this context): Perhaps we had a big old time And maybe it was a spree But really I don't know What actually did happen to me. I only know my poor intellect Was most awful out of chine And I longed for just one drink of--- Well it wasn't wine. L. Messersmith, Fairmont, Minn.

A close-up of the table in We Had a Big Old Time--Playing Cards and Drinking Wine . Note the puzzling letters (including "TAITN," I believe) that appear underneath and adjacent to the pipe. I haven't been able to figure out what the letters might spell or even what they're printed or inscibed on.

"How to Catch Them—in in 1908. Build a large mouse trap. Disguise the front entrance as a palatial mansion. Take an empty flour sack, fill it with rubbish, and print a dollar sign on it. Hang on for bait. Scatter a few loose coins about the entrance for effect and await results. Leap Year. 1065."

Boys shooting a lucky pig (in German, Glücksschwein ) and gold coins out of a cannon for luck and wealth in the new year.

A photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park to show an example of inset and add-on photos (photos on postcards, calling cards, etc.) . Text on this bogus bill (including the words hidden under the photo): "United States of Anemia will pay to the bearer on demand twe dollars. This is not legal tender for all debts public and private, and unredeemable in lawful money at the United States Treasury or any Federal Reserve Bank. A. Phoneybill, Treasurer of the United States. Washington, D.C. Twe. U. Cantcashit, Secretary of the Treasury. Twe dollars. 3." A souvenir "twe" (three) dollar bill with a glued-on photo of a woman that was probably taken sometime in the 1970s. The back of the bill (see below) indicates that it came from Mr. Sy’s Casino of Fun, which was located "in Fas[h]ion Square across from the Stardust Hotel" in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more photos on bills, see the Mr. Sy’s Casino of Fun posting on Katherine Anne Griffiths' Photobooth Journal .

"Mr. Sy's Casino of Fun, Las Vegas, in Fas[h]ion Square across from the Stardust Hotel. The United States of Anemia. Twe dollars. Twe 3." The center of the bill was discolored by the glue that was used to attach the photo on the other side (see below).

"The Columbia National Bank. No. 4159. Columbia, Penna., May 21, 1876. Pay to the order of C. J. Nourse, Jr. One and 80/100 dollars. $1.80. To Importers & Traders National Bank of New York. S. W. Shoch, Cashier. United States Internal Revenue, Two Cents. 2. National Bank Note Company, New York." Mouse over the image above to see an enlargement of the vignette of steamboats and sailing ships in the upper left-hand corner.

For more information, see the full version of this check:

Nineteenth-century scrip issued by the company store at the Indiana Iron Works (also know as Baker Furnace ), which was located near Cramer in East Wheatfield Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. For more information, see G. Robert Ganis, "Iron-Mining Store Scrip in Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Geology vol. 19, no. 3 (June 1988) : 2-5. The Store at Indiana Iron Works Will pay to bearer ten cents on demand in dry goods & groceries. Ind. Iron Works. Jan. 1st, 1856. Ten cents. 10. 10.

A nineteenth-century reward of merit. Bank of Merit 20 Shares of Stock to the Holder God offers reward, my Teacher does the same--they both encourage me. I tried, and success crowned my efforts. Harry Lightcap, Pupil. Benjamin Rich, Teacher. 20. XX.

An early stock certificate for the Manheim, Petersburg, and Lancaster Turnpike or Plank Road Company, which established a private turnpike road in northwestern Lancaster County , Pennsylvania, in the 1850s. The road was part of what is now designated as Pennsylvania Route 72 . As Wikipedia's Route 72 article explains, "The portion of the route between Lancaster and Manheim was chartered on May 9, 1850 as the Manheim, Petersburg, and Lancaster Turnpike, a private turnpike running from Prussia Street in Manheim south to Petersburg (now East Petersburg ) and Lancaster ." Mouse over the image above to see an enlargement of the top part of the stock certificate. Manheim, Petersburg, and Lancaster Turnpike or Plank Road Company No. 126. Twenty-five dollars per share. Be it known, that Abraham Shelly Esqr. is entitled to four shares of stock in the Manheim, Petersburg, and Lancaster Turnpike or Plank Road Company, transferable only on the books of said company, in the presence of the president or treasurer, by the said Abraham Shelly personally, or by his attorney. Witness the seal of said company, this fifth day of May 1852. Henry Imhoff, president. Attest: Em[anuel] G. Shober, treasurer. John Bear's [Baer's] Steam Power Press, Lancaster. ----- Handwritten notes on the back: "Certificate, Abraham Shelly, 4 Shares, Cancelled, 126. Plank Road, Stock 4 Shares."