10,000TH NEBRASKA NATIONAL BANK NOTE RECORDED

August 1, 2026, marked a significant milestone when the 10,000th Nebraska national bank note was officially entered into the National Currency Foundation's National Bank Note Census (https://nbncensus.com).

 

Figure 1: Series of 1929 Type 1 $20 note from Charter 2848, The Fremont, National Bank, Fremont, Nebraska. This note was the 10,000th Nebraska national bank note to be reported to the National Bank Note Census. (Image credit: Don Mark, 2026)

That note, pictured here, is a Series of 1929 Type 1 $20 from Charter 2848 The Fremont, National Bank of Fremont, Nebraska. It was spotted at an auction in Red Oak, Iowa, by Don Mark of Adel, Iowa. Don is a member of the board of directors of the Higgins Museum of National Bank Notes in Okoboji, Iowa (https://thehigginsmuseum.org) which opened in 1978 and is "purposed with the acquisition, preservation and display of the notes, related artifacts and pertinent reference materials relating to the National Bank Note issuance era." The Higgins Museum's first curator, John Hickman, was responsible for beginning the systematic gathering of national bank note census data back in the late 1960s. That effort was continued by collector/dealer Don C. Kelly, and is now managed by Andrew Shiva's National Currency Foundation.

Hickman believed that every national bank note represented a true miracle of survival and deserved to be treated with respect regardless of condition. When referring to nationals in particularly poor grades, he is famously remembered to have said "Halitosis [bad breath] is better than no breath at all!". So it is entirely appropriate that that the 10,000th Nebraska national bank note to turn up would be one befitting Hickman's description.

Figure 2: Image of John T. Hickman (1927 – 1995). John is credited with starting to collect the national bank notes census data that eventually became the National Bank Note Census. (Image credit: Peter Huntoon, 1973)

14,348 national banks were chartered in the United States between 1863 and 1935, and 12,631 of them issued national bank notes. The National Bank Note Census actively collects information and images of notes from each of these issuing charters. The total number of national bank notes reported for the entire country currently stands at 483,548 notes; a number that is continuing to grow daily.

To watch the complete video, see:
The Gerome Walton Collection of Nebraska National Bank Notes and its Digital Preservation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nyc0w8J4Iw)
The Gerome Walton Collection of Nebraska National Bank Notes and its Digital Preservation (https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/647560)

For more information, see:
The Higgins Museum (https://thehigginsmuseum.org/)
National Currency Foundation (http://www.nationalcurrencyfoundation.org/)
National Bank Note Census (https://nbncensus.com/)

	NBS (coinbooks.org) Web