Cooper’s parachute enhances note values

Coincidences make news a fascinating business. In the March Bank Note Reporter and elsewhere we reported that PCGS Currrency had certified two dozen $20 Federal Reserve Notes that had been part of the $200,000 ransom money given to D.B. Cooper in 1971.

Cooper was a plane hijacker who parachuted out of 727 in the Pacific Northwest and was never heard from again.

Did he get away? Did he die from trying to parachute from such a high altitude? These questions have been festering for nearly 40 years.

Now look at the news this morning. The Cooper parachute may have been found in Washington State. It is a coincidence, but what an extraordinary one it is.

Slab ransom money. Discover parachute a few short weeks later. The two events make a fascinating coincidence. The coincidence undoubtedly enhances the value of the notes. By how much, I will be curious to discover.

I also expect we will learn more as time goes on about the hijacking itself and whether the parachute really was Cooper's, but PCGS Currency certainly was very lucky in its timing. Congratulations on a PR coup.