These Astonishing Montana Towns Printed Money In The Past

"When I was young I thought money was the most important thing in life, now that I’m old- I know it is!"- Oscar Wilde 

Every once in a while, I learn something about Montana and it makes me take pause and realize what an incredible history we have. There was "Bitcoin" in Montana over a hundred years ago. I recently saw an online auction for a “First National Bank of Missoula” note. I have never seen one before. I didn’t think it was real. It is.  

Missoula Used To Print Money

According to Antique Money, Missoula was printing money up until 1935:

The Western Montana National Bank Of Missoula in Montana printed $1,546,500 dollars worth of national currency. Over $1,000,000 face value is a lot of money. However, some types and denominations of currency from this bank could still be rare. This national bank opened in 1889 and stopped printing money in 1935, which equals a 47 year printing period. That is a fairly normal lifespan for a national bank. During its life, The Western Montana National Bank Of Missoula issued 13 different types and denominations of national currency. 

Money Was Printed All Over Montana

After looking for  "Montana Currency" for sale, I was surprised to see how many different towns in Montana have printed money in the past. It makes sense that smaller towns would have printed money. It was never something I thought about. The fact that some of this currency still exists is fascinating. It also could be worth a lot of money. Looking at the list of places that have printed money in Montana is wild. You have the bigger cities like, Billings, Butte, Missoula, and Helena. I expected that. Then there is Ismay, Grass Range, Moore, Hobson, Carter, Winifred, Geyser, and more all printed money at one time or another.

Rare Montana Money

If you are ever lucky enough to find bills that were printed in one of the many towns in Montana they could be worth some big bucks to the right collector.