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This website devoted to the history of U.S. Treasury securities. U.S. Treasuries are the most important debt instruments in existence today. Every trading day around the world, hundreds of billions of dollars of these bonds are bought and sold. They are a bedrock of the global financial system. Within this site, you will find information on how Treasury bonds work, their history, and the history of America's national debt.
This website is a project of The Joe I. Herbstman Memorial Collection of American Finance, a collection specializing in the history and preservation of United States debt instruments from the 1780's through the 1980's. Within the collection, examples of Treasury Debt securities and other historical material relating to the national debt are presented.
The Joe I. Herbstman Memorial Collection was established in memory of Dr. Joe I. Herbstman. Joe passed to his children his great knowledge of investment finance, along with an appreciation for history and a lifelong love of learning. The Herbstman Collection was born from this inheritance. The collection is specifically focused on the various federal debt instruments of the United States, from the earliest revolutionary loans to the last paper bonds issued in the 1980's. U.S. Treasury securities are the most important sovereign debt instruments within the global financial system. The mission of The Herbstman Collection is to serve as an educational resource presenting a visual history of our national debt. The collection can be viewed at www.TheHerbstmanCollection.com, or by clicking the banner above.