1869 Fifty Dollar Legal Tender Note “Rainbow Note”

US Fifty Dollar Bill Series of 1869 Rainbow Note
Fifty Dollar Bill From Series of 1869 Rainbow Note
United States paper money 1869 Fifty Dollar Legal Tender Note

United States Notes - “Rainbow Notes” 1869 Fifty Dollar Legal Tender Note

Obverse: Bust of Henry Clay, U.S. Congressman and Senator; Secretary of State from 1825 - 1829. At the left, a female figure representing Peace, holding a laurel branch and a statue of Mercury. 
Reverse: Ornate Engraved Design.
Signatures: (as depicted) John Allison, Register of the Treasury and Francis Elias Spinner, Treasurer of the United States.
The vivid coloring on the Legal Tender Notes of the Series of 1869 has resulted in them being called “Rainbow Notes.”

Inscriptions:  Act of March 3rd 1863  -  Bureau Engraving & Printing  -  Patented July 24th 1866  -  Patented Nov 24 1863  -  Register Of The Treasury  -  Treasurer Of The United States  -  This Note Is A Legal Tender For Fifty Dollars  -  Series of 1869  -  The United States Will Pay The Bearer Fifty Dollars Washington  -  Treasury Note  -  Amer Septent Sigil Thesaur  -  American Bank Note Co. New York.  -  This Note is a Legal Tender at its face value for all debts public and private, except duties on imports and interest on the public debt.  Counterfeiting or altering this note or passing any counterfeit or alteration of it, or having in possession any false or counterfeit plate or impression of it, or any paper made in imitation of the paper on which it is printed is felony, and is punishable by $5,000 fine, or 15 years imprisonment at hard labor or both.



Henry Clay, U.S. Congressman and Senator; Secretary of State
Henry Clay, Sr. (April 12, 1777 – June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer, politician, and skilled orator who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate and House of Representatives. He served three different terms as Speaker of the House of Representatives and was also Secretary of State from 1825 to 1829. He lost his campaigns for president in 1824, 1832 and 1844.
   Clay was a dominant figure in both the First and Second Party systems. As a leading war hawk in 1812, he favored war with Britain and played a significant role in leading the nation to war in the War of 1812.
   Abraham Lincoln, the Whig leader in Illinois, was a great admirer of Clay, saying he was "my ideal of a great man." Lincoln wholeheartedly supported Clay's economic programs. In 1957, a Senate Committee selected Clay as one of the five greatest U.S. Senators, along with Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Robert La Follette, and Robert Taft.

United States 50 Dollar Bills