1869 – Check drawn on the “Banking House of L. H. Hershfield & Bro” of Helena, Montana that was printed on revenue stamped paper

Helena, Montana, 1869. Unbound. Very good. This Hershfield Bank check measures approximately 8.5” x 4”. It features an illustration of a prospector with picks and shovels strapped to his back wiping sweat from his brow as he traverses rocky terrain with his dog by his side. It is printed on orange, two-cent revenue stamped paper, Scott RN-81. The check, for $2,500, is payable to I. G. Baker & Brother and has been signed “L. H. Hershfield & Bro.” In nice shape.

The Hirshfield brothers, Aaron and Lewis, were the preeminent bankers in Montana during the latter half of the 19th century. The Jewish Museum of the West notes that Lewis Hershfield was among the most prominent, successful Jews in the American West.

“In the early 1860s, Lewis Hershfield journeyed with a team of oxen from Leavenworth, Kansas to Central City, Colorado. In Colorado, Hershfield collected 26 wagons full of dry goods. He drove this collection of goods through Colorado and Utah and settled in Virginia City, Montana in 1864. He found success among the miners of Virginia City. In addition to his dry goods store, he established a bank, storing gold as well as exchanging gold dust for money. During the 1870s, Lewis Hershfield moved his bank to the mining boom town of Helena, Montana.”

The Montana Blue Book of 1891 adds,

“His brother Aaron was admitted as a partner in the business in 1868.”

That is, however, until he initiated what became a sensational combination of divorce trial (driven by his relatives who wanted his marriage to a Catholic woman annulled) and a simultaneous investigation for check fraud. In his defense Aaron claimed that the stress of his divorce diminished his ability to make rational decisions, which, in turn, provided a legal excuse for his kiting bad checks. The court did not agree.

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