Visalia, California. $5 1902 Plain Back. Fr. 598. First NB. Charter #7063. PMG Very Fine 25.
Served by no less than three Nationals Banks, the city of Visalia is one of the many agricultural communities that dot the rural expanses of the Central Valley. Visalia takes it name from Visalia, Kentucky the ancestral home of Nathanial Vise who was one of the early settlers of Visalia. By 1903, Visalia had grown to a point that the organization of National Bank had become warranted and that year the First National Bank of Visalia (Charter# 7063) was organized and succeeded the Producers Bank of Visalia with S. Mitchell and W.F. Thomas as the bank's inaugural Cashier and President. Mitchell a prominent businessman in the Central Valley would be succeeded as Cashier by the likes of C.M. Griffith and would become President in 1906. His stamped signature appears alongside that of Griffith on this example and can be found slightly faded in the right panel. Both men would hold their respective positions until 1920 when Griffith was replaced by Jos. R. Barboni as Cashier. Barboni would hold that position until the First National Bank was liquidated by the Los Angeles Trust and Savings Bank in 1922. Just two notes are known from here per the National Bank Note Census and those pieces are typically offered years apart when they do surface. The last time a note from this rare charter was offered at auction was surprisingly less than a year ago when we offered the only other known note from this charter which realized $6,000 once bidding had ended. This particular example was last offered in September 2019 where it realized $12,000 and before that shows no history of being offered as part of either the Krakover or Horwedel Collection in a testament to the completeness and comprehensive nature of the Eric Agnew Collection.
From the Eric Agnew Collection Part II.

Estimate: $8000.00 - $12000.00