Some history of that bank and its “money.”
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM99BQ_The_Birthplace_of_Dixie_New_Orleans_LA
The Birthplace of “Dixie”
On this site from 1835 to 1924 stood the Citizens State Bank, originator of the “Dixie.” In its early days, the bank issued its own $10 bank note, with the French word “Dix” for “ten” printed on the note’s face. As this currency became widespread, people referred to its place of origin as “the land of the Dix,” which eventually shortened to “Dixieland.” Through song and legend, the word became synonymous with America’s southland.”
My favorite “money” story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_ink_character_recognition
Before the mid-1940s, cheques were processed manually using the Sort-A-Matic or Top Tab Key method. The processing and clearance of cheques was very time consuming and was a significant cost in cheque clearance and bank operations. As the number of cheques increased, ways were sought for automating the process. Standards were developed to ensure uniformity in financial institutions. By the mid-1950s, the Stanford Research Institute and General Electric Computer Laboratory had developed the first automated system to process cheques using MICR.[4] The same team also developed the E13B MICR font. “E” refers to the font being the fifth considered, and “B” to the fact that it was the second version. The “13” refers to the 0.013 inch character grid.[5]
In 1958, the American Bankers Association (ABA) adopted E13B font as the MICR standard for negotiable documents in the United States. By the end of 1959, the first cheques had been printed using MICR. The ABA adopted MICR as its standard because machines could read MICR accurately, and MICR could be printed using existing technology. In addition, MICR remained machine readable, even through overstamping, marking, mutilation and more.
I knew a guy who was a pro check kiter. He bought a demagnetizer and would demagnetize a check book. He still couldn’t keep ahead.