Ryan Baum is Senior Vice President of Finance in Wells Fargo's Asset Management Group. He joined Wells Fargo in 1992, fresh from graduate school, and participated in Wells Fargo's mergers with First Interstate, Norwest, and now Wachovia. Ryan is also a Supply Corps Reserve Officer in the US Navy, deployed to Kuwait in 2006-07. He is a member of the Wells Fargo Military Veterans Resource Group.
Ryan has collected coins since he was five years old and is a life member of both the American Numismatic Association 
and the Carson City Coin Collectors of America. His fascination with coins, the California gold rush, and Wells Fargo's history brings otherwise dull trivia to life — and makes the past relevant with today. (CR)
Back in November 2007, I attended a coin convention in Santa Clara, California. I was looking for the "usual suspects" —Carson City coins , Indian Head Pennies and numismatic oddities. Since it was late in the day and many of the tables had already closed, I stopped by a paper money dealer and searched through his national banknotes. Although I had known a little about national banknotes during my 20 years of coin collecting , I had not paid too much attention to them since they were more esoteric and above my spending limit when I was in high school and college.
The dealer had a bank note from a San Francisco bank that looked interesting. The note was from the First National Bank of San Francisco and had a "P1741" stamped on it. I asked if he knew what became of the bank. He didn't know. Just for fun I bought this note along with a couple of others, and wondered about its history. Little did I know that this purchase would change my collecting interests and unlock a treasure of research and a direct connection to today's Wells Fargo.
Let's now move back in time to trace the history of this note and "P1741...."
The National Banking Act was signed by President Lincoln during the depths of the Civil War in 1863. Prior to this Act, banks were chartered by their States. The Act provided that banks chartered by the Federal Government would be authorized to issue paper money — national banknotes — which were equal to 90% of the value of the government bonds on deposit with the Treasurer of the United States.
This had the effect of allowing the Treasury to borrow (by issuing bonds) while allowing local bankers to loan 90% of the same value to their customers. This was the beginning of what is called, in today's Money and Banking classes, the Required Reserve Ratio ( in this case, 10%, or 100% – 90%). It is the basis for to the Money Multiplier Effect.
National Banks would have a direct impact on the nation's money supply. The primary regulator was the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the "OCC"). The first bank to receive its charter was the First National Bank of Philadelphia on June 30, 1863. This Jay Cooke & Company -sponsored enterprise received OCC Charter #1.
New Englanders and Midwesterners were comfortable with paper money and quickly began to view the new national bank notes as an improvement over prior generations of state-sponsored "wild cat" issues. But there was little assurance of a far away entity's viability. Californians still dealt in real money — gold or silver. Most large transactions were in gold with the $20 double eagle the preferred medium of exchange. Consequently, California financial institutions did not seek national bank charters.
In 1870, Congress realized California's desire to maintain a gold-based economy, and amended the Currency Act to allow for the charter of National Gold Banks. These banks would differ from other National Banks in that their currency would be backed by 100% of its value in gold instead of government bonds.
The first bank to receive at National Gold Bank charter was the First National Gold Bank of San Francisco — it received OCC charter #1741 on November 30, 1870. Eventually there would be nine National Gold Banks chartered in California and one in Massachusetts. Only the California banks, however, would issue notes to the public.
So now my first mystery was solved : The "P1741" represents the OCC charter number and Pacific Region on the note and the First National Bank of San Francisco had started as the First National Gold Bank of San Francisco.
But why and when did "Gold" get dropped from the name? I'll tell you in my next post!
One has to bear in mind that Wachovia is trading on the said charter #1, inherited from CoreStates, who structured its acquisition of First Pennsylvania as its being merged into First Pennsylvania.
very intresting......
Samuel, you're right. Wachovia Bank, NA, has charter #1. The Philadelphia area has fascinating financial history dating back to Colonial times. In addition to First National Bank of Philadelphia (#1), we can trace lineage to Philadelphia National Bank (#539) and Bank of North America (#602 and the only National Bank that had a Congressional waiver to not use "National" in its name) among others in the Philadelphia area.
What a fascinating article!
Fascinating!
So, will wells Fargo keep with tradition and start using charter #1, which it acquired along with Wachovia?
Hi Dave:
I don't know if any of that hass been decided. There's nothing public yet -- we'll all find out together!