Rare and desirable $50 First Liberty Loan Bond issued June 15, 1917, complete with sixty coupons in booklet form. This 30-year coupon bond carried a 3.5% interest rate and had an original issuance of $1.98 billion. The certificate features a portrait of Thomas Jefferson engraved by Charles Burt, along with a vignette of the Statue of Liberty, and bears the facsimile signatures of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Register of the Treasury. Fewer than thirty examples are known. In fine condition.
Liberty bonds were issued in several series by the United States Treasury between 1917 and 1919 to finance America's participation in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financial securities to many citizens for the first time. Many iconic posters were released to encourage participation in the liberty loan campaigns, and movie stars hosted bond rallies to gather publicity for the bonds.
