<P> With the advent of small - size banknotes came significant design changes for all types of paper currency including National Bank Notes . As a result of the changes, each denomination now had the same portrait and, except for minor variations, the same decorative features that would characterize all types of United States currency from the late 1920s to the early 1990s . The elaborate rendition of the bank's name was omitted from engraved design, but was now simply over-stamped in black ink, just above the engraved lettering of the promise - to - pay . Similarly, the issuing bank's charter number was omitted from the engraved border, and now simply overprinted in dark ink . </P> <P> Small size National Bank Notes look very similar to, but are distinctly different from, the emergency 1933 issue of the Federal Reserve Bank Notes . These were printed using National Bank Note plates with slight design changes . Both say "National Currency", but have different issuers . </P> <P> National Bank Notes were retired as a currency type by the U.S. government in the 1930s during the great depression as currency in the U.S. was consolidated into Federal Reserve Notes, United States Notes, and silver certificates; privately issued banknotes were eliminated . The passage of the Gold Reserve Act created an accounting gain for the Treasury, part of which was used to provide funds to retire all bonds against which National Banks Notes could be issued . </P> <P> Sometimes these notes are called "hometown" notes, with their popularity deriving from the wide range of towns and cities that issued them . Among paper money hobbyists, especially in the U.S., these notes are avidly studied and collected . Some were issued in large numbers and remain inexpensive to collectors today . Others associated with rare banks, towns, states and combinations thereof and are quite valuable . A note from Walla Walla, in what was then Washington Territory, sold for $161,000 in a June 2010 sale at Heritage Auctions . </P>

When did banks stop printing their own money