Wildcat banking

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Wildcat banking refers to the unusual practices of banks chartered under state law during the periods of non-Federally regulated state banking between 1816 and 1863 in the United States, also known as the Free Banking Era. This era, commonly described as an example of free banking, was not a period of true free banking, as banks were only free of federal regulation, and banking was still left to the states to regulate. The actual regulation of banking during this period varied from state to state.

About

The traditional view of wildcat banks describes them as distributing nearly worthless currency backed by questionable security (such as mortgages and bonds). These actions ended when note circulation by state banks was stopped after the passage of the National Bank Act of 1863.

Before the permanent establishment of the Federal Reserve System in 1913, banks extended loans by issuing notes. An individual may take his promissory notes or bills of exchange to the bank for discount. Banks would issue own bank notes to the borrowers. Bank notes were usually backed by specie or government bonds. The holder of the bank note had a claim on the bank's assets. The overwhelming determinate of value on a banks notes would be the quality of that bank's assets. Many of the states regulations required for the banks to back their notes with state Bonds. Banks in states that had safe bonds would thrive whereas banks in states that had risky bonds would suffer. Of course other factors could influence the value of a bank note, the major secondary cause would be the likelihood of fraud, either from the bank or from forgery.

Many varieties of money different banks traded at different discounts to their face value. Lists were published to help bankers and others to identify and appraise the bills (and forgeries). One of the major causes of discounting occurred due to the real cost of transferring the notes to the original bank.

Wildcat bank

The term "wildcat bank" refers to a particularly unsound and risky bank chartered under state law in the United States. They flourished after the national bank was decommissioned when a bank was started in a small town. When the banks acquired enough assets their owners would leave town with all deposits. The debt, which hurt many people, eventually became a reason for the Panic of 1857.^{[citation needed]}

Wildcat banks were banks that issued money without proper gold in stock to back up the supply. These banks were often short-lived, and because they issued large amounts of money, many people lost their investment as the worth of the bank notes dropped. These banks became a large problem, and were eventually restricted by the US Government. The US government passed a measure to restrict the ability of people to trade in their bank notes for the gold worth of the currency.^{[citation needed]}

Examples

• Bank of Florence
• Panic of 1837

External links

• U.S. banks and money Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta