It's definitely fun, Shane.

The first one, I think, is a bank note. Until the Civil War, there was no federally standardized paper currency; the US Mint simply backed notes issued by hundreds of local banks. And when you carried your local currency when you traveled, you might find that people wouldn't give you face-value for your bank notes, because there were so many designs that counterfeiting was rampant. Also, it was hard for banks to trade notes back and collect on their value if they didn't have a reciprocal arrangment with your bank, or had never even heard of your bank. It wasn't until the Greenback Dollar of 1862 that we got a universally recognizable form of folding money.

More: 1836 State Bank Notes
With minimum regulation, a proliferation of 1,600 local state-chartered, private banks now issued paper money. State bank notes, with over 30,000 varieties of color and design, were easily counterfeited. That, along with bank failures, caused confusion and circulation problems.

1861 Civil War
On the brink of bankruptcy and pressed to finance the Civil War, Congress authorized the United States Treasury to issue paper money for the first time in the form of non-interest bearing Treasury Notes called Demand Notes.

1862 Greenbacks
Demand Notes were replaced by United States Notes. Commonly called "Greenbacks," they were last issued in 1971. The Secretary of the Treasury was empowered by Congress to have notes engraved and printed, which was done by private banknote companies.

We were in New Hope, Penn. today, and came across a poster board covered with "MAD" stickers, from the comic magazine. We were in a really cool vintage shop-pimp hats and pleather galore! Oh, and I actually found a video of the old cartoon "Kimba the White Lion" that I loved as a kid. Anyone else remember that one?

KIMBA! From whose name was stolen Disney's "Simba" the Lion King, right? Japanese cartoon dubbed into English? Yeah, as a kid I watched and loved it! And Marine Boy, too--anyone remember that?

And Thanks, Miko. I wonder if it's worth anything (if it's real)?

I dunno, Shane, but your friendly local coin-and-currency dealer could probably give you an appraisal...for a price. 1n its favor, 1840 is pretty oldish, but I know nothing about this stuff.

Oh, and Redvixen, isn't New Hope fun! Was the shop Love Saves the Day? That place is a hoot.