Free Banking Era
About Free Banking Era
The Free Banking Era from 1837 to 1863 allowed anyone to start a bank and issue currency with minimal regulation. Thousands of different bank notes circulated with varying value. Counterfeiting was rampant. Some notes were worth face value, others were worthless. Bank failures were common. The term wildcat banking came from banks located in remote areas populated only by wildcats. The National Banking Acts of 1863 and 1864 imposed federal regulation and taxed state bank notes out of existence. The era illustrated the need for monetary regulation. Over 8,000 different types of state bank notes were issued during this period.
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