Wild West Outlaws History Novelty Currency Bill Note

Wild West Outlaws Novelty Commemorative Bills - New

The Wild West Commemorative History Note

This beautiful bill, The Wild West, pictures famed California robber "Black Bart," the poet bandit, who robbed Wells Fargo stagecoaches from 1875 to 1883.  Bart was later identified as Charles E. Boles, a middle-aged gentleman with good manners. Bart would wait at the crest of a hill and emerge with a double barrel, twelve-gauge shotgun when his chosen victim, always a Wells Fargo stagecoach, slowed near the crest. He would rob the stagecoach of its strong box but would resist robbing the passengers. He often left a note in the empty strongbox signed, "Black Bart, the PO8" (poet).  Twenty-eight times Black Bart successfully robbed Wells Fargo coaches.  On the twenty-ninth time he was wounded by a passenger who shot at him as he fled.  Investigators found a blood-stained handkerchief with a laundry mark.  That mark led them to a San Francisco laundry where Boles was identified and subsequently taken into custody.  He was convicted and sentenced to six years (served 4) in the famous San Quentin Prison.  His sentence was light because Bart was not part of a gang, but was a solitary robbery; he never loaded his twelve-gauge shotgun; he was afraid of horses, so he walked to the robberies and ran away; Bart was not young, but was a rather aging man; and Bart was a gentleman who never cursed or showed disrespect during robberies.  The Front of the Bill shows a likeness purported to represent Black Bart, a stagecoach similar to the 29 that Boles robbed, and the famous Colt revolver handgun.  The Back of the Bill shows a western landscape scene between pictures of a solitary outlaw and an outlaw gang.

Wording and/or Theme found on this bill:

-  $25 - Twenty Five Dollars

-  Serial Number is BLAZINGCOLTS (Blazing Colts)

-  To the Tough Men of the Old West

Pictures found on this bill:

-  Black Bart

-  Stagecoach without Horses

-  Sage Coach with Team of Horses

-  Six Shooter Revolver Pistol

-  Western Desert Scene

-  Cowboys and/or Outlaws

Each Bill: