I recently stumbled across this picture of a 1929 Wellesley National Bank note on eBay, where someone is trying to sell it for a lot more than the $5 on the note itself (it was at $225 as of this writing).
I’m no financial or history whiz, and first emailed Wellesley Bank to see if they had any background on this sort of bank note, which Wikipedia says were issued by national banks chartered by the U.S. government. I never heard back from Wellesley Bank, though realized right after I messaged them that the note actually says Wellesley National Bank and perhaps wasn’t from what we now know as Wellesley Bank.
Indeed, local historian Josh Dorin confirmed that those are separate banks: “The Wellesley National Bank (the first official bank in Wellesley) opened in 1904 in the newly constructed Taylor Block on the south side of Washington Street in Wellesley Square. Charles N. Taylor was its first president and constructed that building specifically to house the bank (with apartments and offices above). The bank moved around Wellesley Square over the years and merged with South Shore National Bank in 1966 (and took on the South Shore name)…. Wellesley Bank was until recently the Wellesley Cooperative Bank. It was founded in 1910 (and opened the following year) and was also located in the main part of Wellesley Square.”