THE NORTH CAROLINA
BANK CHECK COLLECTION

Introduction

I guess collecting bank checks, especially the earlier ones issued alongside of the obsolete banknotes of the antebellum period was just a natural extension of the obsolete banknote collection. Expanding beyond that is a different story.

These checks are snapshots of North Carolina financial history and you know how crazy about history we are here at the asylum. If that was not motivation enough, there are the large checks of the late 1800s and early 1900s many of which sport vignettes every bit as nice as some obsolete banknotes. Then, finally, there is the trust factor – there are no account numbers prior to the 1960s – it was a simpler time when one was recognized by name at the bank and not just a number. This just fascinated us here at the asylum.

But the one check that really galvanized my interest in these early checks and early banking practice was one I found when sorting through my father’s documents after he passed. Among the many items he saved was a check he wrote while in Vietnam to the U.S. Navy Exchange, Saigon draw on a bank located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. There were other similar checks he saved from this period that he wrote for major purchases. What they all had in common was there was no account number, no identification numbers of any type, no home address, just his signed name! In this digitized, computerized, impersonal just a number time we live in today this is almost incomprehensible.

You can use the list of towns below to search for your hometown or special interest and jump straight to that town's checks. You can also utilize the navigation buttons below and at the bottom of each subpage to scroll through the whole collection. Clicking on any check will pop-up a 2x enlargement of that check. Well, enough said - please, enjoy your trip through an earlier and simpler time in our state’s financial history.

Organized by City Then Bank or Company