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The Bank of Kentucky brought suit against Briscoe and others as holders of a promissory note for which the notes of the bank had been given, as a loan, to the drawers of the note. The defendants claimed that their note was void since those given in return by the bank were nothing else than "bills of credit" and repugnant to the clause of the Constitution which prohibited States from issuing such bills. The Circuit Court and the Court of Appeals of Kentucky gave judgment for the bank on the ground that the act incorporating the Bank of Kentucky was constitutional and that the notes issued were not "bills of credit" within the meaning of the National Constitution. In 1834 the Supreme Court came near deciding adversely; but in 1837, when the case was finally decided, it was decided in favor of the bank, the bills not being deemed "bills of credit" in spite of the close relations of bank and State.