1. An office for lending money to private borrowers.
1720. Lond. Gaz., No. 5859/9. Subscriptions for erecting … Loan-Offices, Publick Treasuries, &c. pretending to assist the Poor.
1732. New Jersey Archives (1894), XI. 304. Purchasing New-Jersey Currency and keeping it up till they could make an Advantage of it by imposing upon the Poor, who were in necessity of it to pay into the Loan-Office.
1897. Daily News, 8 May, 4/7. Indictments charging against four prisoners loan-office and turf frauds.
2. An office for receiving subscriptions to a government loan.
1777. J. Adams, Wks. (1854), IX. 45. The design of loan-offices was to prevent the farther depreciation of the bills by avoiding farther emissions.
1779. Franklin, Wks. (1888), VI. 428. The interest … is payable only at the loan office in America from whence the bills issued.
1865. H. Phillips, Amer. Paper Curr., II. 55. Congress … erected a Loan Office in each of the United States.
attrib. 1781. Franklin, Wks. (1888), VII. 178. Accepted a number of loan-office bills this day.
So Loan-officer (U.S.), an official charged with the duty of receiving subscriptions to a government loan.
1737. Col. Laws N. York (1895), II. 1040. An Act to facilitate and Explain the duty of the Loan officers in this Colony.
1790. J. Adams, Wks. (1854), IX. 571. The loan officers or collectors, or some other known character, will have this additional duty annexed to him.
