UNITED STATES War Bond,.00 Fifty Dollar Adjusted Service WW1 issued 1936

Description

UNITED STATES War Bond, Fifty Dollar Adjusted Service WW1 ISSUED in 1936 THE FINAL MATURITY DATE WAS
The final maturity date was June 15, 1945
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SERIAL # 36 607 271
UNCANCELLED SIZE  7 3/4 X 6 IN.
EMBOSSED WITH UNITED STATES TREASURY SEAL
PRINTED BUY-- BUREAU ENGRAVING AND PRINTING.
3% Adjusted Service Bond of 1945.
This is a most interesting United States Bond that was issued in 1936 to World War One veterans. It features a portrait of Andrew Jackson. These instruments were the culmination of a long struggle by veterans to obtain payment of bonuses originally promised in 1922 by Congress for service in the First World War. Successive presidential vetoes through the years would keep the bonus from being paid. However, the "Bonus Army," whose march on Washington, DC ended in a contentious melee when regular army troops commanded by then Colonel Douglas MacArthur ousted them from their campground in 1932, formed and campaigned for their promised bonus to be issued, which it was finally after Congress overrode President Roosevelt's veto in 1936. These bonds were given upon application only to veterans of the Great War, in an amount based on length of service, at home or overseas, and between specified dates. The bonds were redeemable only by the veteran or his estate, with each bond containing space on the reverse for four fingerprints from the right hand of every applicant for payment, a feature we have seen on no other government obligation of any kind. The final maturity date was June 15, 1945, and they drew no interest unless held for one year. Likely because of their issuance during the depths of the Great Depression, and their many restrictions, most all of these bonds were speedily redeemed. This example is neatly centered within four margins and boldly embossed.