Macerated Currency
William McKinley Portrait “Medal” Design Treasury Department Macerated Currency - First We Have Seen!
William McKinley United States Treasury Souvenir “Medal” made of Macerated United States Currency. Round. Holed at top with its Original Patriotic Silk Ribbon. Choice Extremely Fine+.
This outstanding, possibly Unique type, is an original United States Treasury made souvenier. It is a Souvenir Wm. McKinley “Medal” that is made holed at top and attached with a colorful, patriotic red, white and blue ribbon. This large example measures 3” (76mm) in diameter and is about 1/4” thick. Lightly attached (and removeable) to a 5.5” x 4.25” maroon felt lined card for display.

This “Macerated” Currency item was made from actual United States paper money notes that were destroyed by the Treasury and then the paper was recycled into a variety of different collectible shapes and sizes and offered for sale at the Treasury department. The old notes being exchanged for new were shipped to Washington and turned over to a special destruction committee of four that watched over the shredding and dissolution.

This “William McKinley” Round Portrait United States Treasury Souvenir “Medal” is the very first we have ever seen and offered of this design, style and type. It is in excellent overall quality and will be a remarkable prize highlight for any rarity and/or advanced collection. Simply Extraordinary and is excellent for for display.
Souvenirs made of macerated money are collected by a handful of people, and are sold at paper-money shows. Instead of burning old bills as they do today, the staff at the Treasury Department used to shred them and sell chopped pieces to souvenir manufacturers.

From the 1890s until the Hoover administration, souvenir stands in the capital sold busts of the presidents, American Eagles, top hats, vases, slippers, postcards and models of Washington landmarks made of macerated currency and suitable for parlor ornaments.

Your top hat containing $2,000 worth of old bills probably cost 35 cents at the turn of the century.

Hats, Washington Monuments and Abe Lincoln upon a small card are among the more common souvenirs; far rarer are the large busts of Presidents Grover Cleveland, William McKinley and George Washington. They are worth several hundred dollars or more. A simple postcard with a picture of the Treasury building on it was auctioned recently at a paper-money show in Memphis for $260.

They look rather moldy but on close inspection, you can see bits of green paper and red thread and sometimes dollar signs or numbers on the surface. The macerating process was carefully controlled by the Treasury Department. According to an advertising notice on the backs of some of the souvenirs, the old notes being exchanged for new were shipped to Washington and turned over to a special destruction committee of four that watched over the shredding and dissolution.