What is the name of the first national bank chartered under the U.S. National Bank Act in 1863?

The first national bank chartered under the U.S. National Bank Act was the First National Bank of Philadelphia.

The bank received national charter number 1 in 1863, during the American Civil War. Congress created the national banking system to establish a more uniform currency and a stronger federally supervised banking structure. National banks could issue standardized notes backed by U.S. government securities, helping replace the confusing variety of state-bank notes then circulating.

Philadelphia financier Jay Cooke was among the people associated with organizing the first chartered bank. The institution became the first commercial bank to issue a federal banknote and operated independently until 1955, when it merged into the Bank of North America and Trust Company.

The name can be confused with the First Bank of the United States, chartered in 1791, or with later banks bearing “First National” in their names. Those institutions belong to different periods or received different charters. The key clue here is the 1863 federal national-banking system, whose first charter went to Philadelphia.