1902, A Good Year at Auctions
Two rare bank notes tied to 1902 brought strong prices at auction, including a Canadian $5 chartered note and a scarce Wisconsin $100 National Bank Note.
Only two years into the turn of the twentieth century, the world had changed a lot. The sinuous lines of Art Nouveau defined the arts, and new scientific and technological innovations were being discovered throughout the world. The United States was adjusting to the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, who had assumed the office after the assassination of his predecessor, President William McKinley, and the British Empire was a year into the Edwardian era following the death of Queen Victoria.
1902 has also proved to be a precious time over 124 years later for bank note collectors. At the Stack’s Bowers Summer 2026 Global Showcase Auction from August 31–September 5, a chartered 1902 Canadian $5 note from the Gentleman's Collection of Canadian Banknotes earned a winning bid of $5,368 thanks to its quality and historical significance.
The PMG Fine Choice 15 issue comes from The Metropolitan Bank in Toronto and was created during the first year of its operation in 1902. The bank would continue in business for over twelve years until it merged with the Bank of Nova Scotia in 1914. According to Stack’s, notes from this bank are rare, and there are few opportunities for collectors of Canadian chartered bank notes to acquire such an example. Also, despite the signature on the face's left of the bank’s president and founder SJ Moore being a common feature on these issues (as seen pictured), there are fewer than a dozen owned privately.
Although not directly made during that time, the sale of a Series of 1902 plain back bank note proved it was also a good year numismatically speaking at GreatCollections. Sourced from the Sparta Collection of Wisconsin National Bank Notes, the Friedberg 698 $100 from Ashland, Wisconsin, sold on August 30 for $4,839.75. This impressive sale of a Choice About New 58 with only minimal handling is rare, as it is from one of only four banks in the Lake Superior shipping town that issued National Currency, and $100s were also generally less ordered than lower denominations. According to GreatCollections, it is perhaps the finest from the town.
The note’s face shows blue charter numbers, the portrait of former Comptroller of the Currency and the drafter of the Coinage Act of 1873, John J. Knox, and hand-signed signatures from the bank's president and cashier. Also shown are the engraved signatures of the Register of the Treasury, Judson W. Lyons, and Treasurer of the United States, Ellis H. Roberts, who both had left office a decade earlier. GreatCollections notes in the catalog description that this inclusion dates the plate, not the printing, and that few banks were using such late plates. An eagle flanked by two allegorical figures is featured on the back.
More information about these auctions is found at auctions.stacksbowers.com and greatcollections.com.
Ponder more paper money:
