Accessible Version
A brief history of bank notes in the United States and some lessons for stablecoins, Accessible Data
Figure 1. Discounts applied to selected bank notes in Philadelphia
Figure 1 is a line chart, titled “Discounts applied to selected bank notes in Philadelphia”. The x-axis ranges shows dates from January 1844 to July 1958. The y-axis shows the discounts applied to the notes and ranges from -5 to 30 in one-percentage point increments. The data are monthly.
There are two lines. One line shows discounts applied to bank notes for the Bank of Utica from Utica, New York and is shown in the figure as a dashed blue line. A second line shows the discounts applied to Michigan Insurance Company, a bank in Detroit Michigan and is shown in the figure as a solid orange line.
The lines are mostly slightly positive, but spike during periods of financial stress. The line for the Bank of Utica stays close to one -half percent except when it rises to 1.25 percent in February 1848 and 1 percent in December 1854. The line for the Michigan Insurance Company is more volatile and starts at 6 percent, jumps to 25 percent in July 1845, drops down to 6 percent in October 1845 and then slowly declines to about 1.5 percent amid some fluctuations, especially a jump to 10 percent from November 1857 to February 1858.
Source. Gorton, Gary B. and Warren E. Weber. Quoted Discounts on State Bank Note Discounts in Philadelphia, 1832-1858. Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.