Beautifully engraved check from the Riggs National Bank - Washington D.C. issued
in 1900 - 1920. This historic document was printed by Stephens Litho and Eng. Company of St. Louis and has an
ornate border around it with a vignette of the famous Riggs Bank Building. This check is hand signed and is
over 80 years old.
Riggs Bank History
1836
William Wilson Corcoran opens a note brokerage house---an early form of bank.
1837
Businessmen from New York and abroad, including former neighbor Elisha Riggs, shield the Corcoran brokerage house from collapse during the economic panic.
1840
Corcoran and George Washington Riggs, Elisha's son, form Corcoran Riggs, a partnership that offers depository and checking services.
1842
States-rights Democrat John Tyler is the first President of the United States to bank at Corcoran & Riggs.
1844
The U.S. government selects Corcoran & Riggs as the sole federal depository in Washington.
1845
Corcoran & Riggs finances the invention of the telegraph by Samuel Morse.
Corcoran & Riggs purchases the buildings and assets of the Washington branch of the defunct Second Bank of the United States, located across the street from the Treasury.
Corcoran & Riggs invests heavily in railroads and land, contributing to the nations push westward.
1847
Corcoran & Riggs lends $16 million to the U.S. government for the Mexican War and subsequently covers the loan by selling bonds to London financial houses. As the first sale of American securities in Europe since 1837, this transaction bolsters the credit of all American bankers.
1850
Senators Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster bank at Riggs.
1853
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opens Corcoran & Riggs accounts for construction of the Washington Aqueduct and the extension of the Capitol.
1854
Corcoran retires to devote his life to private investments and charitable causes; George Washington Riggs takes over the bank under its new name, Riggs & Co.
1861
Abraham Lincoln opens an account at Riggs shortly before Civil War hostilities begin, only weeks after Confederate President Jefferson Davis closes his account.
1865
Instead of accepting a charter under the new national bank act, Riggs & Co. remains a private bank. This decision accounts for the bank's stability in the aftermath of the Civil War.
1868
Upon the request of Secretary of State Seward, Riggs & Co. supplies $7.2 million in gold bullion to the U.S. government to purchase Alaska from Russia.
1873
Financial panic throws banking houses across the nation into confusion, yet Riggs deposits double within the next three years.
1881
Following the death of George Washington Riggs, Charles Carroll Glover becomes the dominant force in the bank.
1896
Riggs & Co. accepts a national banking charter. The Riggs National Bank elects its first board, sells stock, and shifts its focus from specialized investment services to general banking services for a large clientele.
Glover becomes the first president of the bank.
1900
Lawrason Riggs, the last member of the family associated with the bank, retires from the board of directors.
With deposits of more than $5 million, Riggs is twice as large as any other bank in the District of Columbia. Riggs issues stock to National City Bank, the largest New York bank, to forge a profitable alliance.
1902
Successful American reports: "The Riggs National Bank is to Washington as the Bank of England is to London."
1904
Headquarters at 1503 Pennsylvania Avenue opens. It features a Ladies' Department designed to meet the special needs of women, including American Red Cross founder Clara Barton and suffragist Susan B. Anthony.
1907
Even though a panic creates severe money shortages, Riggs pays an extra dividend to its shareholders.
1908
Charles Glover presents his plan for economic relief to Congress. This serves as the foundation for a series of financial reforms, including the establishment of the Federal Reserve System in 1913.
1915
Moody's financial monthly reports that Riggs has been for years the favorite bank of army and navy officers, through whose travels its name has been carried to all parts of the world. It has been said that in the Far East the Riggs Bank is the best known American banking institution.
1919
General John J. ("Black Jack") Pershing salutes from horseback during his victory parade. He later joined Riggs' Board of Directors.
1920
Riggs takes advantage of provisions in the Federal Reserve Act that allow national banks to accept savings deposits and establish a trust department.
1921
Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Milton E. Ailes succeeds Glover.
1922
Following consolidations with two local banks, Riggs opens its first four branches.
1925
After the sudden death of Milton Ailes, Robert V. Fleming becomes Riggs' president at the age of 35.
1928
Riggs merges with Farmers and Mechanics Bank of Georgetown, which a Riggs family member helped found in 1814.
1929
Whereas over-speculation strains the resources of most banks, Riggs does not lose any assets because of bad loans or investments following the Great Crash.
1931
Riggs Bank provides $500,000 in cash to Perpetual Savings and Loan of Washington. Depositors and other banks match this sum to end runs on Perpetual.
1933
Fleming advises Roosevelt regarding the structure of the newly established Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
1935
The American Bankers Association elects Fleming its president.
1939
Total assets are $119 million, compared to $57 million when the Great Depression began. During those years, 40 percent of all U.S. banks failed.
1941
Robert Fleming makes a national broadcast appeal for war bond sales; by 1945 Riggs will have sold $233 million in war bonds.
1942
The Bureau of Standards stores their most precious items -- standards of length and mass made mostly of platinum --in the vaults at the Chevy Chase Branch on Connecticut Avenue for safety against air raids.
1943
Riggs provides the accounting facilities for the Office of Price Administration, which distributes ration coupons for basic commodities such as sugar, gasoline, meats, and shoes.
1946
Riggs begins to emphasize GI, home, auto and other consumer-oriented loans as the post-World War II boom begins.
1947
Riggs processes a World War II loan repayment of $50 million, the largest check ever drawn on a District bank.
1948
Riggs' general ledger books are done by machine instead of by hand for the first time.
1949
Nationally syndicated newspaper columnist Bob Considine calls Riggs "just about the closest thing we'll ever have to a Bank of the United States."
1950
Riggs' International Division develops a special relationship with the new International Monetary Fund and World Bank; most embassies are now customers.
1951
Korean War commander Matthew B. Ridgway is a Riggs customer, continuing a military tradition which includes William Tecumseh Sherman, Ulysses S. Grant, Douglas MacArthur, Chester Nimitz and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
1958
Riggs now has 13 branches, after recent mergers with Washington Loan and Trust and Lincoln National Bank.
1961
Riggs sponsors its first television program, World Concert Series, broadcast Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Guests include Arthur Rubenstein and Marian Anderson.
1962
Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, Riggs immediately implements a new plan to store bank records "in vault storage space in a mountainous area distant from the City of Washington."
1963
The Fleming era ends the same year that Riggs opens its new corporate headquarters. Lewellyn Jennings, former deputy Comptroller of the Currency, takes over as Chairman of the Board.
The computer begins to service customer accounts.
1967
Riggs and Data Computer Center, Inc. (renamed Riggs Computer Services, Inc. in 1970 and absorbed into the bank in 1972) established to provide automated accounting services for business customers.
1969
Riggs opens its first TV Drive-in windows using television cameras, audio systems and pneumatic tubes at its Chevy Chase Branch.
1970
Riggs installs its first computer system that enables staff to view a customer's account on a monitor.
1971
The Advertising Club of Metropolitan Washington awards its top honors to Riggs for its first venture into television advertising---a ten-second ``Bank-by-Mail" commercial.
1972
Riggs' first overseas branch opens in Nassau, Bahamas to serve the Eurodollar deposit and loan requirements of its customers.
1973
Upon the invitation of the British Embassy, Riggs opens its first facility with a foreign embassy in Washington.
Luis F. Corea, Riggs' Senior Vice President in charge of the Foreign Department, receives the National Order of Merit from the French government at its embassy in Washington in recognition of his contributions in banking.
1976
Riggs introduces 24-Hour teller machines at its branches. Customer usage is twice the national average for similar equipment.
1980
Riggs becomes Washington's first and only bank to open a branch in London.
Riggs National Corporation is formed as a holding company including all companies sharing the Riggs identity.
Riggs International Banking Corporation (Edge Act Bank) opens in Miami to focus on serving non-U.S. citizens.
1981
Joe L. Allbritton becomes the first active chairman of Riggs National Corporation.
1982
When federal deregulation permits bank money market accounts, Riggs gains a greater share than any other District bank, exceeding the $1 billion mark within three years.
1983
``The most important bank in the most important city in the world" provides the theme as Riggs launches a long-range campaign emphasizing its service capabilities and its commitment to customers.
1984
Riggs purchases the Anglo-Portuguese Bank to form Riggs Bank Europe.
1986
Riggs joins CIRRUS, a nationwide system of 10,000 automatic teller machines, thereby providing customers access to their accounts at more than 12,500 sites.
Riggs opens its first branches in the suburbs as The Riggs National Bank of Virginia with the acquisition of Guaranty Bank and Trust.
Riggs dedicates its newly-restored building on 1503 Pennsylvania Avenue to W.W. Corcoran.
1987
Riggs Bank launches private banking to give clients a one-on-one relationship with an experienced financial advisor.
Riggs expands into Maryland as the The Riggs National Bank of Maryland with the acquisition of First Fidelity Bank of Rockville.
1988
The U.S. Treasury Department awards Riggs the contract to consolidate its separate collections systems. CA$HLINK replaced cash payments with electronic transfers and streamlined the government's cash management system, resulting in significant cost savings to the government.
At the request of the State Department, Riggs opens a branch at the U.S. embassy in London.
Riggs Investment Management Corporation (RIMCO) is created as a subsidiary of Riggs Bank to manage all the money in the trust department and new clients in the institutional, non-profit and pension markets.
1989
Farmers and Mechanics Branch in Georgetown is restored to its original neo-classical style, particularly its interior details and gold dome.
1990
Riggs Bank forms the Financial Services Group by merging private banking, RIMCO, and the trust department to enhance customer service.
Riggs purchases certain assets and assumes the deposits of the National Bank of Washington.
1993
To date, at least twenty-one First Families have banked at Riggs.
1996
Riggs builds upon its reputation in embassy banking in Washington and extends its banking services to non-U.S. embassies in London for the first time.
Customers can meet nearly all their banking needs, including investment sales, by simply placing a telephone call with the establishment of RiggsDirect.
While on an economic development mission to Bosnia and Croatia, Paul Cushman III, head of the International Division, dies in a plane crash with U.S. Commerce Secretary Ronald Brown.
1997
Riggs & Company is formed, bringing together the services of RIMCO and the Riggs Financial Services Group. The subsequent purchase of J. Bush & Co., Incorporated as well as alliances with life insurance agents and brokers and Peat Marwick (KPMG) enable Riggs to bring a comprehensive range of financial services to its clients.
Riggs offers a full-range of banking services, including investment sales, on the web.
1998
Riggs Capital Partners is founded to invest in emerging companies, with particular emphasis on the Washington, D.C. area's vibrant technology market.
1999
Riggs Investment Corp., a broker/dealer, is established; its Investment Centers, located at several branches, provide planning for reduction of taxes, retirement, college education, and wealth building and preservation.
Upon the request of the State Department, Riggs Europe opens a branch in Berlin, the capital of a reunited Germany.
New eagle trademark is introduced to broaden Riggs' identity as a provider of a full spectrum of financial services.
U.S. Treasury Department selects Riggs Bank to redesign and manage the CA$HLINK cash management system, the largest deposit and cash reporting system in the world.
Riggs consolidates and relocates all international banking functions to a newly-restored complex named the Paul Cushman III International Financial Center.
2000
Riggs Investment Banking is launched, offering corporate clients access to a variety of capital markets and financing opportunities.
Riggs & Co. International opened two new offices - one in London and the other in Jersey (Channel Islands)- with a customer-built state-of-the-art information technology platform that provides customers with sophisticated, integrated information on their banking arrangements and investment portfolios.
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Note:
All Old Stock and Bond
Certificates are actual authentic certificates and are sold only as collectibles.
We do not sell reproductions and offer a lifetime guarantee to the
authenticity of everything we sell.