Ferris Coin Celebrates Grand Re-Opening on Wolf Road Nov. 1, 11:45 a.m.

COLONIE, N.Y. (10/26/17) -- The Capital Region's oldest rare coin business will celebrate its Grand Re-Opening in a new building at 199 Wolf Road this Nov. 1. with an 11:45 a.m. ribbon cutting and exhibit unveiling.

"This move to a more modern, more efficient space in a new location has made it possible for our business to evolve with the changes in the rare coin industry," said Geoffrey Demis, a precious metal and coin dealer at Ferris Coin Co. "Finally, we have the room to properly display our special collections to the public."

Six Dollars Continental Currency Nov. 29, 1775

Opening next Wednesday, Ferris Coin invites the public to view its first themed display: "Capital Region Currency: A History of Money in America." The small exhibit features a sampling of currency used in the Capital Region dating from the Colonial era to present day. Many of the paper notes were printed locally and bear the names of Capital Region cities, including Albany, Schenectady, Watervliet, Hudson and Troy.

"The Colony of New York was issuing notes as early as 1709," Demis said. “We were still under British rule then, so the currency was in pounds and shillings."

The earliest of local and regional notes were legal tender but according to Demis it would have been difficult to spend a New York note outside of the colony. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, a new paper currency circulated.

"Continental Currency appears May 10, 1775 when Americans needed a currency to represent all the colonies that were fighting the British. Our conventional congress chose Spanish milled dollars, rather than pounds, to separate us from the British money system. That's when we start to use dollar bills, but in fractions like 1/6th and 1/3rd. You could collect interest on the notes, but it was mainly a way to fund the war," Demis said. "The notes were hand signed to prevent counterfeiting. Those signatures are important to collectors because some of names belong to the signers of the Declaration of Independence and signers of the Constitution."

Continental Currency notes from New York are printed on thick stock paper, with ornamentation around the border, and early versions of the New York Seal with beavers, windmills, kegs and Dutch trading symbols. Some notes have pieces of mica embedded in them or impressions of leaves, which are unique, like fingerprints.

"After the Revolutionary War, some towns printed notes, but Americans didn't have much trust in paper money," Demis said. "Americans wanted hard assets, mostly coins."

During the 1820s through 1850s, small banks, like Manufacturers Bank of Troy, issued what are now called "obsolete notes" that would circulate in specific geographic areas like the cities of Troy and Schenectady or Albany County.

Obsolete Note: $5 Manufacturers Bank Troy, NY. Depicts Henry Burden's Ironworks.

"Obsolete notes were often in odd denominations like $2 and $3, and yes three dollar bills exist and we have them in our collection," Demis said. "The paper was really poor quality, thin rice paper, translucent -- easily folded, torn. So a lot of these obsolete notes are in pretty rough grade."

The display includes a $5 Manufacturers Bank note, circa 1839, featuring a very early image of Henry Burden's water-powered Troy Iron and Nail Co. plant. "The famous Burden Water Wheel was inside that building," said Thomas Carroll, senior scholar and treasurer of the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway/ Burden Ironworks Museum in Troy.

The problem with these notes issued by small banks is that they often did not have the proper backing and fraud was rampant, Demis said.

Five cent fractional currency issued by the City of Troy.

During the Civil War, Northern states used notes issued by the federal government but there was a shortage of gold and silver due to hoarding, so the government issued fractional paper currency in denominations of 3, 5, 10, 15, 25 and 50 cents. Places like Albany and Troy issued various patriotic tokens to promote the war effort. Both the Confederacy and individual Southern states also issued paper currency, all of which appears in the Ferris display.

AFTER CIVIL WAR

After the Civil War, the U.S. government began producing more notes, called treasure notes, to keep up with the demand for legal tender as the population moved west. These were redeemable for silver and gold.

Around 1875, national bank notes started to be issued by individual banks with formats and designs that are familiar today.

"There were nine banks in Albany and a handful in Troy that issued national notes. You could spend them anywhere in the county," Demis said. "The banks had to meet certain criteria and had to be approved by the Federal Reserve. They had to prove liquidity, guaranteeing that people could exchange the notes for silver or gold."

The most significant note in the Ferris Coin display is a 1902 $5 bill issued by The National City Bank of Troy. The bill, which is in excellent condition, features a rare red seal and was printed from plate number 1A, making it valuable. The note is counter signed by bank Cashier Rice C. Bull. According to Michael Barrett, executive director of the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway, Bull was wounded three times at the 1863 battle of Chancellorsville, and his diary and letters were edited by RPI professor K. Jack Bauer into the 1977 "Soldiering: The Civil War Diary of Rice C. Bull." This book was named by the Civil War Society as one of the 100 best Civil War books ever, in the category of personal memoirs, at a time when the Library of Congress lists over 70,000 titles in the Civil War W bibliography category. Bull's cane and his cased photograph are on display at the Rensselaer County Historical Society in Troy.

1902 $5 bill issued by The National City Bank of Troy with rare red seal, printed from plate number 1A. The note is counter signed by bank Cashier Rice C. Bull.

FROM GOLD TO FAITH

In 1928, bank notes switched to the size that we use today. The display at Ferris Coin features both large and small sized national currency from Albany. FDR took the U.S. off of the gold standard in 1933 so that Americans could no longer turn in paper notes for gold.

"We stopped producing gold coins in 1933. Ninety-percent silver coins were officially produced until 1964 -- occasionally you can still find them in your pocket change today," Demis said, adding that a lot of Ferris Coin's business is buying and selling silver coins. "Today, our currency is based on faith in our government.

Rounding out the display are contemporary $1 American Eagle silver and gold coins, which technically can be used as legal tender but are literally worth their weight in silver and gold which is significantly more than face value.

DISPLAY HOURS

The general public is welcome to view the "Capital Region Currency: A History of Money in America" display during normal business hours (free admission). Ferris Coin is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The display will run Nov. 1 through Nov. 22.

The next display, featuring vintage jewelry, will open Nov. 24 on "Black Friday."

ABOUT FERRIS COIN

Trusted since 1930, Ferris Coin buys and sells gold and silver bullion, rare coins, flatware and paper currency, as well as gold and platinum jewelry for resale, repair or recycle. Four in-house experts offer appraisals for personal and estate collections, including diamonds, and can assist with getting each piece proper insured.

In 1930, husband and wife Charlie & Arlene Ferris opened Ferris Stamp in downtown Albany, N.Y. at 402 Broadway. Later they incorporated coins into their business model as Ferris Stamp and Coin. In the 1960s, after her husband died of a heart attack, Mrs. Ferris sold the business to Wendell C. Williams who relocated the shop to Lark Street before relocating again to 114 Central Ave. in 1976.

The business re-opened in its third location at 199 Wolf Road this August. Ferris Coin is now co-owned by Geoffrey Demis, a long-time employee, Mike Dozois and gemologist James Naughter. The newest Ferris Coin staff member is Brian Bucher, who founded Brittany Jewelers in 1987 and served as president from 1987 until selling the company this June.