19th Century U.S. Rarities Offered in Stack’s Bowers Sale
Stack’s Bowers Global Showcase Auction on August 16th offers a bounty of vintage American and Confederate bank notes.
Hundreds of vintage American and Confederate bank notes are available to collectors in the Stack’s Bowers Global Showcase Auction on Aug. 16, 2024.
Among notes featured in this auction is an 1869 $50 Legal Tender from the Porter Collection graded PMG 35 Choice Very Fine (Session 6, lot 21098), with an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. Of 604,000 notes printed and just over 70 recorded by Track & Price, this note is significant for its blue-tinted paper and unique design. Discontinued after a few years due to extensive counterfeiting and replaced by the Series of 1874, this Friedberg type is highly coveted by collectors and rarely appears in public sales. It features a vignette titled "The Return of Peace" by Charles Smith and a portrait of statesman Henry Clay, a long-time Kentucky senator and Whig Presidential nominee, alongside an overflowing cornucopia below the Treasury Seal. The back showcases bold geometric patterns and anti-counterfeiting clauses, with imprints of the American Bank Note Company.
Also featured is a July 15th,1865, $50 Interest Bearing Note from the Porter Collection graded PMG 20 Very Fine (Session 6, lot 21118), with an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000. Only eight examples of this note are recorded today, with two held by the Smithsonian Institution, leaving just six available to collectors. From 2007 to 2018, none crossed the auction block, highlighting its rarity. It features a central vignette of a Bald Eagle with "E PLURIBUS UNUM," large "50" die counters, green border prints, red serial numbers, and a red Treasury Seal.
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