Suffolk Bank

Background

During pre-Civil War times in the United States, banks around the country issued bank notes as a form of currency. The large number of banks led to a large number of diverse bank notes that circulated around the country. Although many banks issued only enough bank notes that could be backed up by specie (gold and silver during the time), riskier banks gave into temptation and issued more than they could cover. This practice caused many people to doubt the exact worth of certain notes and in turn have little faith in some banks. In 1819, the Suffolk Bank of Boston was founded and only five years later it had developed the Suffolk System and recruited six other Boston banks to join. The system was set up to ensure that banks could always back up their bank notes issued. This was accomplished by forcing all of the banks within the system to hold higher reserves of specie and keep deposits in the Suffolk Bank, resulting in the first ever clearing house agreement for currencies in country banks.

Only a year later in 1825, all bank notes that passed through the Suffolk System were taken at par. In just a single year the Suffolk System had given these seven Boston banks a uniform currency. As the Suffolk Bank grew in size it became able to assert pressure on other country banks and by 1838, over 300 banks (basically all of New England's banks) redeemed their notes through the Suffolk System. All of New England now had a uniform currency. Throughout the system's existence, The Suffolk Bank was sure to keep all of the country banks within the system honest by presenting banks with their notes and requesting specie. The discipline enacted by the Suffolk Bank made virtually all bank notes in New England equal to their face value, allowing them to be traded within banks. The uniform currency was the first of its kind in the United States and remained in use all the way until 1858.

1865 restructuting

Following passage of the National Bank Act of 1864, the Suffolk Bank was reorganized and renamed as the Suffolk National Bank on January 1, 1865, and continued to operate as a national bank until it merged in 1902 with the Washington National Bank to form the National Suffolk Bank which was liquidated in 1903.