Citibank Gold Certificate - Unissued Certificate from 1930s

This is an unissued gold certificate associated with Citibank, dating to the early 1930s. It remains uncancelled and was never circulated.

Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York and later became First National City Bank of New York before becoming Citibank in 1976. 

From 1865 to 1933, gold certificates like these would have been used to facilitate transactions between parties without needing to transfer large (and heavy) amounts of gold bullion. Prior to the use of gold certificates, if you wanted to move a large amount of gold as part of a transaction, you needed a well protected wagon train to mitigate risks. Gold certificates changed all that- the gold stayed in a vault, and only the paper changed hands.

During the Great Depression, the U.S. Government stopped using gold certificates and recalled those in circulation in an effort to stabilize the economy. These certificates are a relic of when America was on the gold standard, before World War II, the Korean War, and the Cold War.

An unissued certificate means there is no bearer name printed on them- these were held in storage, waiting for a purchaser to denote the amount of gold they owned, when their name would be inscribed.