In the new nation emerged two kinds of bank -the commercial banks chartered by state legislatures and the Bank of the United States deriving its authority by act of the U.S. Congress.1

　　After the commercial boom beginning in 1793， a large number of banks were established by special state charters. Almost all of these state-chartered banks were private， with the power to issue their own paper money.2 A group of investors would set aside a reserve of specie3 from their own assets as starting capital， and then take deposits and make loans. The loans were often self-liquidating4 in that they bridged the gap between production and sale， underwriting trade credit and supporting increasingly commercialized farmers between planting and harvest. By 1860 more than 1，500 state banks were issuing， on an average， six different denominations of notes.5 Most notes were acceptable at a distance from the issuing bank only at a discount， and anyone ignorant of the actual worth of a note was open to loss. Notes of “broken” or liquidated banks sometimes remained in circulation for long periods， and counterfeiting was a continuing problem.6 Some counterfeiters specialized in the manufacturing end of the business； others， called utters， were adept at passing the bogus money.

　　建立之初的美国出现了两类银行，即由州议会特许成立的商业银行与由美国国会法案批准成立的美利坚银行。

　　随着1793年以后商业的日益繁荣，一大批银行经各州特许纷纷建立。这些特许银行几乎都是私营的，有权发行自己的纸币。一些投资者从自己的财产中拿出一部分金银作为启动资本，然后开始吸收存款并进行贷款。这些贷款通常是自偿的，因为它们连接了生产和销售，支持了贸易信贷，并为日益商业化的农场主提供资金以度过播种与收割之间的困难时期。到了1860年，1，500多家州级银行平均发行六种不同面值的纸币。大部分纸币在远离发行银行的地方只被折价接受，因而不了解纸币实际价值的人往往会吃亏。经营不善或破产了的银行的纸币有时仍继续流通很长时间。同时，造假币也一直是个问题。造假币者中的一些人专门负责制造，而被称为‘假币使用者’的另一些人则谙熟假币流通之道。