Bowling Green, Ky. - Plain Backs, Brown Backs, Date Backs, Red Seal, Type 1 and Type 2. Strange terminology to some, but not so strange, perhaps, to individuals in the financial world. The terms describe types of National Bank Notes, which were, according to "A History of United States Currency" on the U.S. Secret Service's Website, issued by thousands of banks around the country from 1863 to1929 under the National Banks Acts of 1863 and 1864.

When the Federal Reserve began printing paper money, the bank notes were no longer "legal tender," and those that survived were valued for their historical significance. Now those bank notes are highly sought by paper money collectors, such as J. Fred Maples, a former Bowling Green resident and 1985 WKU graduate, who collects national bank notes issued by early financial institutions in his hometown. He has also published a book, titled NATIONAL BANK NOTES FROM BOWLING GREEN, KY, a very useful guide to help novices understand bank notes. It also provides a brief history of banking in this community, and it is a "who's who" of the community leaders affiliated with these banks.

According to Maples, from 1874 to 1935, Bowling Green had six national banks: National Southern Bank (chartered May 1874); Citizens National Bank (chartered July 1901); Bowling Green National Bank (chartered June 1905); American National Bank (chartered Feb. 1909); Warren National Bank (chartered Sept. 1913); and Liberty National Bank (chartered Jan. 1920). Bank notes survive from four of the six, and Maples has collected a substantial number. Seven from his collection, which date from as early as 1882 to as late as 1929, are on loan for display at the Kentucky Library and Museum from Jan. 10 – March 7, 2005, in an exhibit titled "Show Me The Money: National Bank Notes From Bowling Green, Ky."

In addition to the bank notes and Maples' book, there will be other items: photos of Potter-Matlock Bank and Trust and Citizens National Bank; a color postcard of the interior of the Bowling Green National Bank; a $50 money sack from Liberty National Bank; condensed financial statements for Bowling Green National Bank and Citizens National/Bowling Green Trust Company; a cancelled check signed by A. L. Temple; and an American National Bank account book for J. T. Kirby—all from the Kentucky Library's collection.

For more information about the National Bank Notes or the other items displayed, contact Jonathan Jeffrey, Special Collections Librarian, (270) 745-5265 or jonathan.jeffrey@wku.edu