2017-11-01 Wed

The Ferris Coin Co. will be inaugurating a new shop in Wolf Road by displaying a collection of old paper money from this area called "Capital Region Currency: A History of Money in America" from 1st to 22nd November. The collection comprises of notes used in the Capital Region from the Colonial era to present day. Many of these locally printed paper notes feature the names of Capital Region cities like Albany, Schenectady, Watervliet, Hudson and Troy.

Thick stock-paper was used to print Continental Currency notes from New York, with ornamentation around the border. Early versions of the New York Seal featured beavers, windmills, kegs and Dutch trading symbols. Pieces of mica are embedded on some notes while others had unique impressions of leaves which acted like fingerprints.

Some towns printed notes after the Revolutionary War, but Americans did not trust in paper money as much as hard assets like coins. Small banks like Manufacturers Bank of Troy issued notes in specific geographic areas like Troy and Schenectady or Albany County from 1820 to 1850.