Rare Interest Bearing Note leads sale

An 1864 $500 Interest Bearing Note, one of only two of its design type known, leads the Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ November Baltimore official currency auction of the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Winter Expo, Nov. 5 and 9.

This exceedingly rare 1864 Interesting Bearing Note is estimated at $300,000 to $500,000 in Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ sale in Baltimore.

The rarity is unique for the Friedberg number, Fr. 212b, and has been off the market since 1971. The PMG Very Fine 25-graded note, which also serves as the Friedberg plate note, is estimated to $300,000 to $500,000.

For Confederate currency collectors, a newly discovered Raphael Thian, “The Currency of the Confederate States” Master Album, is being offered. The album was discovered earlier this year after more than 50 years of storage.

Almost tossed out was this Raphael Thian “The Currency of the Confederate States” Master Album, estimated at $60,000 to $80,000.

The lot description notes that “the example offered here is new to the market and a miracle of survival,” as a family member of the consignor had received the album as a reward for finding a neighbor’s ring in the early 1950s. “Since that time it had laid forgotten in a basement in the Carolinas. Earlier this year the album was noticed by the keen eye of our consignor and picked from a trash pile as the family was cleaning the basement out and thus it was saved from being lost for eternity.”

Open pages from the Thian Confederate Currency album.

The rarity is inscribed by Thian on one of the inner leafs, “Presented to Mr. Charles D. Edmonton, with the kindest regards and best wishes of R.P. Thian September 8, 1906.” Featured are more than 400 pages with 287 examples of Confederate currency and 275 actual Confederate Treasury Notes.

The album is one of only around a half dozen known, with half of those impounded in government or institutional collections, and has a pre-sale estimate of $60,000 to $80,000.

The finest PCGS-graded Fr. 271 1899 $5 Silver Certificate is offered. The PCGS Superb Gem New 68 PPQ graded “Chief” is one of only four examples of the design type to achieve that grade from PCGS. The note is estimated at $30,000 to $40,000.

The finest PCGS-graded 1899 $5 Silver Certificate, Fr. 271, is being offered.

Also sure to attract attention is an 1886 $5 “Silver Dollar Back” Silver Certificate graded Gem New 66 PPQ by PCGS. This popular Silver Certificate carries an estimate of $30,000 to $40,000.

The finest graded Fr. 63b 1863 $5 Legal Tender Note, in Superb Gem New 67 PPQ, is being tendered. It’s expected to bring $25,000 to $35,000 and is described as “excellently centered and boldly printed.”

Estimated at $25,000 to $35,000 is the finest known Fr. 63b 1863 $5 Legal Tender Note.

National currency specialists will be interested to see a Fr.1800-1 1929 $5 from the First National Bank of Katchikan, Alaska, charter 12578, cross the auction block. National Bank Notes from Alaska are the rarest of all the states “and examples from this southern Alaska bank only come to the market about once every year or two.” This example is graded Very Good 10 by PCGS and is estimated at $12,500 to $17,500.

A rare national from Alaska is graded PCGS Very Good 10. It is from The First National Bank of Ketchikan.

Bidding for the November Baltimore currency auction is now open online at www.StacksBowers.com. The live session of the auction will be held Thursday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. EST while an Internet-only session is slated for Monday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. EST.

This article was originally printed in Bank Note Reporter.
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