A Curious Design Choice for an American Banknote

We are pleased to present a $1 Obsolete issued by the Glencoe Exchange Bank based out of McLeod County Minnesota in our Spring 2026 Showcase Auction. Dating to the late 1850s, at first glance it seems to feature a typical composition of the period. At left is a vignette of train passing a group of onlookers while a portrait of a Native American warrior is seen to its right.

Along the right margin there is a portrait of an unidentified young boy dressed in a sailor’s outfit. This vignette was adapted from a painting made in the 1840s and the identity of the boy in question is rather surprising. Virtually identical to Franz Xaver Winterhalter’s Portrait of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (save for the addition of some small details to the background), the figure is unmistakably that of the Prince of Wales who later ascended to the throne as Edward VII in 1901 following the death of Queen Victoria. This portrait (at least in painted form) dates to 1846 and was commissioned at the behest of Queen Victoria. Today Winterhalter’s portrait of the future king is held by the Royal Collection in England.

There’s a modified version of Winterhalter’s work known as The Young American Sailor (dated to 1847) in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution, but this composition is notably different. Here the modified version depicts the subject facing right as opposed to left as seen with Winterhalter’s work which is the closest match to the vignette seen on the $1 Obsoletes issued by the Glencoe Exchange Bank. That vignette did take some stylistic liberties as evidenced by the background, but the influence behind it is unmistakable. It marks a rather curious choice that was likely little more than a superficial consideration when a design was chosen with the American Bank Note Company, as youth was a popular subject on period banknote designs.

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