Paper Currency
Intro
The US finances were drained since the panic of 1857 worsened by the loss of the gold stock in the sinking of the SS Central America. President Buchanan was misled when fighting speculation as the major cause of the economic disaster. When Lincoln was elected President on November 6, 1860, the country was close to bankruptcy.
The reaction does not wait for the new administration. On March 2, 1861, two days before Lincoln's inauguration, the Morrill Tariff is one of Buchanan's last signed Acts. This act intending to revive the industrial activity surcharges imports and authorizes the government to create bonds. It thus puts an end to the previous proceeding of the Treasury to redeem any debt in specie payment.
One of the first financial initiatives of the Lincoln administration is the creation of a loan note pre-printed in value and duration based on the Morrill Act. The first issues are a 60-day note with three denominations and 6% interest and a two-year note with four denominations and an interest of 6% per annum.
The release related to the Morrill Act was limited to $ 10 million, to be compared with the $ 64 million of the public debt. The Lincoln administration understands the benefits of the Treasury's issuance of paper money and the development of an operational circulation will be extremely rapid.
The Act of July 17, 1861 authorizes an emission of $ 250 million, of which $ 50 million may be interest-free. The Act of August 5, 1861 defines the conditions of this operation. The new note excluding an interest is the Demand Note. Easy to use for any financial transaction, the Demand Note is the first modern federal bill.
The note with interest is indeed not interrupted by the Act of July 17 : three-year notes are created with coupons for phased payments. To differentiate them from the other Treasury Notes, they are designated as Interest Bearing Note, this wording being also applied a posteriori to the notes issued under the Morrill Act.
Bearers did not have a reason to hoard such notes which quickly gave them a little money, especially in that period of civil war. Only two units issued under the Morrill Act survive, both at $ 50 for two years after date. One of them is kept in a government institution.
The other example is thus the only one of its whole category in private hands. It was dated August 9, 1861 in handwriting by the clerk and signed by the bearer. It was sold for $ 605K by Heritage-CAA in May 2001 and for $ 370K by Heritage in May 2005. A comment in the 2005 catalog warned very fairly that the 2001 result was impossible to reach again by that date.
This Interest Bearing Note graded Very Fine 25 by PCGS was sold for $ 1.02M by Stack's Bowers in Philadelphia on August 16, 2018, lot 2021.
The reaction does not wait for the new administration. On March 2, 1861, two days before Lincoln's inauguration, the Morrill Tariff is one of Buchanan's last signed Acts. This act intending to revive the industrial activity surcharges imports and authorizes the government to create bonds. It thus puts an end to the previous proceeding of the Treasury to redeem any debt in specie payment.
One of the first financial initiatives of the Lincoln administration is the creation of a loan note pre-printed in value and duration based on the Morrill Act. The first issues are a 60-day note with three denominations and 6% interest and a two-year note with four denominations and an interest of 6% per annum.
The release related to the Morrill Act was limited to $ 10 million, to be compared with the $ 64 million of the public debt. The Lincoln administration understands the benefits of the Treasury's issuance of paper money and the development of an operational circulation will be extremely rapid.
The Act of July 17, 1861 authorizes an emission of $ 250 million, of which $ 50 million may be interest-free. The Act of August 5, 1861 defines the conditions of this operation. The new note excluding an interest is the Demand Note. Easy to use for any financial transaction, the Demand Note is the first modern federal bill.
The note with interest is indeed not interrupted by the Act of July 17 : three-year notes are created with coupons for phased payments. To differentiate them from the other Treasury Notes, they are designated as Interest Bearing Note, this wording being also applied a posteriori to the notes issued under the Morrill Act.
Bearers did not have a reason to hoard such notes which quickly gave them a little money, especially in that period of civil war. Only two units issued under the Morrill Act survive, both at $ 50 for two years after date. One of them is kept in a government institution.
The other example is thus the only one of its whole category in private hands. It was dated August 9, 1861 in handwriting by the clerk and signed by the bearer. It was sold for $ 605K by Heritage-CAA in May 2001 and for $ 370K by Heritage in May 2005. A comment in the 2005 catalog warned very fairly that the 2001 result was impossible to reach again by that date.
This Interest Bearing Note graded Very Fine 25 by PCGS was sold for $ 1.02M by Stack's Bowers in Philadelphia on August 16, 2018, lot 2021.
1866 Gold Certificate
2013 SOLD for $ 2.1M by Heritage
The first federal American paper money was released during the Civil War, as a way to help the debtors to repay the government. The idea of promoting the gold that abounds in the reserves of the Treasury in New York went soon afterward.
The act of Congress of March 3, 1863 authorized the issue of Gold certificates redeemable only at the Treasury against gold coins of the designated amount. Six denominations are allowed: $ 20, 100, 500, 1000, 5000 and 10000.
The equivalence between metal and paper would be a good idea if the price of the raw metal was immutable. After a relatively short time during which the success of the operation can be considerable, a party is aggrieved: either the government or the speculators. The papers are reimbursed and disappear.
Very few units of the first issue of the top five denominations have survived. None $ 500 and $ 10,000. The only known example in $ 1000 and $ 5000, and two of the three known in $ 100 are in the collections of the Smithsonian.
The interest of collectors at the only "1863" $ 100 certificate in private hands is obvious, especially since it is graded PCGS Apparent Extremely Fine 40. It is dated December 13, 1866.
It was sold for $ 2.1M from a lower estimate of $ 1.5M by Heritage on April 26, 2013, lot 18171.
The act of Congress of March 3, 1863 authorized the issue of Gold certificates redeemable only at the Treasury against gold coins of the designated amount. Six denominations are allowed: $ 20, 100, 500, 1000, 5000 and 10000.
The equivalence between metal and paper would be a good idea if the price of the raw metal was immutable. After a relatively short time during which the success of the operation can be considerable, a party is aggrieved: either the government or the speculators. The papers are reimbursed and disappear.
Very few units of the first issue of the top five denominations have survived. None $ 500 and $ 10,000. The only known example in $ 1000 and $ 5000, and two of the three known in $ 100 are in the collections of the Smithsonian.
The interest of collectors at the only "1863" $ 100 certificate in private hands is obvious, especially since it is graded PCGS Apparent Extremely Fine 40. It is dated December 13, 1866.
It was sold for $ 2.1M from a lower estimate of $ 1.5M by Heritage on April 26, 2013, lot 18171.
1869 Rainbow Notes ex Joel Anderson
1
$ 500
2019 SOLD for $ 1.44M by Stack's Bowers
In 1869 the government changed the design of the entire Legal Tender Notes range, from $ 1 to $ 1000. The Treasury Note wording appearing on these notes should not be used today to avoid confusion with the Treasury Notes issued in 1890 for purchasing silver. The use of blue paper and of a palette of green, blue and red inks has earned this series the sobriquet of Rainbow Notes.
The $ 500 and $ 1000 are among the greatest rarities in the US federal currency. Joel Anderson had collected an example of each denomination. These nine tickets were sold separately by Stack's Bowers on February 28, 2019. They were graded by PCGS Currency. In this exceptional set, only the $ 1000 is not PPQ.
The $ 500 and $ 1000 are each the only unit of their design in private hands. The two $ 500 and the $ 1000 kept in federal collections are in lesser condition.The $ 500 graded Choice About New 55, was sold for $ 1.44M, lot 4015.
With its nuanced colors, the series of 1869 participates in the policy of fraud prevention. The blue paper had been patented in 1866 by the Willcox family which operated from 1729 to 1886 in their Ivy Mills in Pennsylvania. In 1775 the paper for the Continental Note with a polychrome stripe had been provided by them.
Around 1869 the US Treasury also supported the development for postal and revenue stamps of a paper that changes its color when the fraudster removes the cancellation ink with a chemical. This paper will be patented in 1871 by James Willcox under the name of Chameleon Paper.
The Rainbow Notes are being replaced by new designs from 1874.
The $ 500 and $ 1000 are among the greatest rarities in the US federal currency. Joel Anderson had collected an example of each denomination. These nine tickets were sold separately by Stack's Bowers on February 28, 2019. They were graded by PCGS Currency. In this exceptional set, only the $ 1000 is not PPQ.
The $ 500 and $ 1000 are each the only unit of their design in private hands. The two $ 500 and the $ 1000 kept in federal collections are in lesser condition.The $ 500 graded Choice About New 55, was sold for $ 1.44M, lot 4015.
With its nuanced colors, the series of 1869 participates in the policy of fraud prevention. The blue paper had been patented in 1866 by the Willcox family which operated from 1729 to 1886 in their Ivy Mills in Pennsylvania. In 1775 the paper for the Continental Note with a polychrome stripe had been provided by them.
Around 1869 the US Treasury also supported the development for postal and revenue stamps of a paper that changes its color when the fraudster removes the cancellation ink with a chemical. This paper will be patented in 1871 by James Willcox under the name of Chameleon Paper.
The Rainbow Notes are being replaced by new designs from 1874.
2
$ 1000
2019 SOLD for $ 1.44M by Stack's Bowers
In the sale of the Anderson collection of rainbow notes narrated above, by Stack's Bowers on February 28, 2019, the $ 1000, graded About New 53 by PCGS, was sold at lot 4016 for $ 1.44M, same price as the $ 500 narrated above.
Lower denominations are obviously less rare Their grade is greater than or equal to Very Choice New 64. The $ 50, sold for $ 264K at lot 4012, and the $ 100, sold for $ 300K at lot 4014 are the finest graded by PCGS for their respective values.
Lower denominations are obviously less rare Their grade is greater than or equal to Very Choice New 64. The $ 50, sold for $ 264K at lot 4012, and the $ 100, sold for $ 300K at lot 4014 are the finest graded by PCGS for their respective values.
1887-1889 Gold Certificate Series of 1882
2014 SOLD for $ 1.4M by Heritage
Conceived in 1863, the Gold certificate is originally a recognition of a nominative debt by the US government, redeemable at face value against gold coins. At the time of the Civil War, it was a way to better control the circulation of dollars.
The process changes in 1882, when these notes are no longer individual but become payable to the bearer.
American people are pragmatic. The paper currency of the nineteenth century was not hoarded. The scarcity of Gold certificates increased further in 1933 during the great offensive by Roosevelt to revive the economy, when it became illegal to own them as for gold metal in coins and bullion.
The Series of 1882 included a wide range of monetary values. The $ 5,000 and $ 10,000 are known only in two copies each, according to the Friedberg guide. The classification of this author includes eight variants in a single type for the $ 1000 certificate and seven variants divided into two types for the $ 500.
On June 2013 Heritage announced a discovery which looked like an incredible dream to any collector of US currency : an old box had surfaced with four high denomination gold certificates from the Series of 1882 in very fine condition later confirmed VF 35 by PCGS. Coming from the estate of a banker, this hoard had been untouched for more than hundred years.
The rarest was the $ 500 (Friedberg reference Fr. 1215d), the only known copy of this variant apart from another one which is permanently kept in the collection of the Federal Reserve Bank. The other three notes in the hoard were $ 1000 in variants Fr. 1218d, 1218e and 1218f.
They were sold by Heritage on January 10, 2014 : $ 1.4M for the $ 500, $ 880K each for the first two $ 1000 and $ 294K for the latest $ 1000. The $ 500 was illustrated by a video.
Their emission dates are as follows :
$ 500, Fr. 1215d with Rosecrans-Hyatt signatures : 1887-1889
$ 1000, Fr. 1218d with Rosecrans-Huston signatures : 1889-1891
$ 1000, Fr. 1218e with Rosecrans-Nebeker signatures : 1891-1893
$ 1000, Fr. 1218f with Lyons-Roberts signatures : 1898-1905
The Fr. 1215d $ 500 gold certificate was sold for $ 900K by Stack's Bowers on October 25, 2018, lot 3044.
The process changes in 1882, when these notes are no longer individual but become payable to the bearer.
American people are pragmatic. The paper currency of the nineteenth century was not hoarded. The scarcity of Gold certificates increased further in 1933 during the great offensive by Roosevelt to revive the economy, when it became illegal to own them as for gold metal in coins and bullion.
The Series of 1882 included a wide range of monetary values. The $ 5,000 and $ 10,000 are known only in two copies each, according to the Friedberg guide. The classification of this author includes eight variants in a single type for the $ 1000 certificate and seven variants divided into two types for the $ 500.
On June 2013 Heritage announced a discovery which looked like an incredible dream to any collector of US currency : an old box had surfaced with four high denomination gold certificates from the Series of 1882 in very fine condition later confirmed VF 35 by PCGS. Coming from the estate of a banker, this hoard had been untouched for more than hundred years.
The rarest was the $ 500 (Friedberg reference Fr. 1215d), the only known copy of this variant apart from another one which is permanently kept in the collection of the Federal Reserve Bank. The other three notes in the hoard were $ 1000 in variants Fr. 1218d, 1218e and 1218f.
They were sold by Heritage on January 10, 2014 : $ 1.4M for the $ 500, $ 880K each for the first two $ 1000 and $ 294K for the latest $ 1000. The $ 500 was illustrated by a video.
Their emission dates are as follows :
$ 500, Fr. 1215d with Rosecrans-Hyatt signatures : 1887-1889
$ 1000, Fr. 1218d with Rosecrans-Huston signatures : 1889-1891
$ 1000, Fr. 1218e with Rosecrans-Nebeker signatures : 1891-1893
$ 1000, Fr. 1218f with Lyons-Roberts signatures : 1898-1905
The Fr. 1215d $ 500 gold certificate was sold for $ 900K by Stack's Bowers on October 25, 2018, lot 3044.
$ 1000 Treasury Note
Intro
The Coinage Act of 1792 based the balance of the American coinage on an invariable 15:1 parity between gold and silver, with the risk of draining the reserves of the government in case of an imbalance.
The underground of North America is rich. After the gold rushes in Carolina and California, the Nevada silver discovered from 1859 flooded the financial communities.
From 1873 on, the government tried in vain to support both the popularity of gold and the abundance of silver. In 1878, an act of Congress guarantees a minimum monthly purchase of silver by the government at the highest rate of the market. Speculators are becoming more pressing.
Many States do not have gold. The dollar is too expensive for them and they expect an inflation to pay their debts. The government reacts by buying huge amounts of silver bullion paid from 1878 with Silver Certificates of Deposit that are redeemable in silver coins.
Silver still does not appeal the users. In 1889 the federal reserves of silver coins reached $ 283 million. They had to find something else. Once again the remedy will be worse than the disease. The Silver Purchase Act of July 14, 1890 doubles the volume of silver purchased by the government while authorizing its payment by a new bill named Treasury Note or Coin Note, redeemable in coins without stipulating the metal.
That decision is known as the Sherman Silver Purchase Act against the wishes of Senator Sherman, the best federal financial official of his time, who was not supporting this operation.
The government buys silver in huge quantities, and pays with a new type of bill named the Treasury Note which can be be repaid either in gold coins or in silver coins. They naively believed that this provision of liquidity would encourage consumerism. The opposite effect, however, was immediate. Due to lack of confidence in maintaining the value of the federal silver, holders of Treasury Notes rushed to gold.
Speculators rush to sell their silver bullion for this paper which they immediately exchange for gold coins. In the year 1890 the price of silver per ounce fell from $ 1.16 to $ 0.69. The increasingly severe crisis will lead to the catastrophic depression of 1893.
The Treasury Notes are issued in seven denominations in 1890, to which the $ 50 will be added in the following year. The Treasury wants to do too well. For the two largest denominations, $ 100 and $ 1000, the ornamental sharpness of the back is intended to discourage counterfeiting. With this intricacy, they become uneasy to inspect with a risk of no longer discriminating between real and fake.
The numbers 0 of these two denominations are huge and ugly. The $ 100 and $ 1000 are pejoratively nicknamed Watermelon and Grand Watermelon, from the look of the green ovals that make the 0 in the numeral figure.
The government understands its design blunders and creates in 1891 a series with new backs without the 'watermelons', which will be just as ephemeral : the production of Treasury Notes ceases after the series of 1891.
The $ 1000 Treasury notes became the rarest units of federal money. The Friedberg guide assigns them with the reference Fr.379, divided in two 1890 variants Fr.379a and b, and the unique variant Fr.379c of the following year.
In 1893, fearing a financial disaster, the Sherman Act is repealed. The Treasury Notes are redeemed. The big denominations were obviously too expensive to be kept in collections.
The underground of North America is rich. After the gold rushes in Carolina and California, the Nevada silver discovered from 1859 flooded the financial communities.
From 1873 on, the government tried in vain to support both the popularity of gold and the abundance of silver. In 1878, an act of Congress guarantees a minimum monthly purchase of silver by the government at the highest rate of the market. Speculators are becoming more pressing.
Many States do not have gold. The dollar is too expensive for them and they expect an inflation to pay their debts. The government reacts by buying huge amounts of silver bullion paid from 1878 with Silver Certificates of Deposit that are redeemable in silver coins.
Silver still does not appeal the users. In 1889 the federal reserves of silver coins reached $ 283 million. They had to find something else. Once again the remedy will be worse than the disease. The Silver Purchase Act of July 14, 1890 doubles the volume of silver purchased by the government while authorizing its payment by a new bill named Treasury Note or Coin Note, redeemable in coins without stipulating the metal.
That decision is known as the Sherman Silver Purchase Act against the wishes of Senator Sherman, the best federal financial official of his time, who was not supporting this operation.
The government buys silver in huge quantities, and pays with a new type of bill named the Treasury Note which can be be repaid either in gold coins or in silver coins. They naively believed that this provision of liquidity would encourage consumerism. The opposite effect, however, was immediate. Due to lack of confidence in maintaining the value of the federal silver, holders of Treasury Notes rushed to gold.
Speculators rush to sell their silver bullion for this paper which they immediately exchange for gold coins. In the year 1890 the price of silver per ounce fell from $ 1.16 to $ 0.69. The increasingly severe crisis will lead to the catastrophic depression of 1893.
The Treasury Notes are issued in seven denominations in 1890, to which the $ 50 will be added in the following year. The Treasury wants to do too well. For the two largest denominations, $ 100 and $ 1000, the ornamental sharpness of the back is intended to discourage counterfeiting. With this intricacy, they become uneasy to inspect with a risk of no longer discriminating between real and fake.
The numbers 0 of these two denominations are huge and ugly. The $ 100 and $ 1000 are pejoratively nicknamed Watermelon and Grand Watermelon, from the look of the green ovals that make the 0 in the numeral figure.
The government understands its design blunders and creates in 1891 a series with new backs without the 'watermelons', which will be just as ephemeral : the production of Treasury Notes ceases after the series of 1891.
The $ 1000 Treasury notes became the rarest units of federal money. The Friedberg guide assigns them with the reference Fr.379, divided in two 1890 variants Fr.379a and b, and the unique variant Fr.379c of the following year.
In 1893, fearing a financial disaster, the Sherman Act is repealed. The Treasury Notes are redeemed. The big denominations were obviously too expensive to be kept in collections.
1
1890 Fr.379a Watermelon
2018 SOLD for $ 2.04M by Stack's Bowers
Seven $ 1000 Grand Watermelons survive, split into two variants : five units in the Fr.379a and two in the Fr.379b.
The top ranked of the seven units is a Fr.379a, graded About New 50 by PCGS. It was sold for $ 1.1M by Lyn Knight in October 2005 and for $ 2.04M by Stack's Bowers on October 25, 2018, lot 3042.
The top ranked of the seven units is a Fr.379a, graded About New 50 by PCGS. It was sold for $ 1.1M by Lyn Knight in October 2005 and for $ 2.04M by Stack's Bowers on October 25, 2018, lot 3042.
2
1890 Fr.379a Watermelon
2013 SOLD for $ 1.53M by Heritage
An Fr.379a was sold for $ 1.53M from a lower estimate of $ 1.25M by Heritage on April 26, 2013 lot 18129. It is graded PCGS Apparent Extremely Fine 45, 'apparent' meaning that a rework invisible to the naked eye has been made. It is one of only two in private hands from five remaining units.
3
1890 Fr.379b Watermelon
2014 SOLD for $ 3.3M by Heritage
The unique example in private hands of the Fr.379b, graded Extremely Fine 40 by PCGS, was sold for $ 3.3M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Heritage on January 10, 2014, lot 17127.
The third Joel Anderson Collection auction should have several notes that break the million-dollar barrier. https://t.co/uxVDVovEai pic.twitter.com/1EzuHaHo85
— Coin World (@CoinWorld) October 8, 2018
4
1891 Fr.379c
2013 SOLD for $ 2.6M by Heritage
In 1891 the variant Fr.379c removes the watermelon figures. One of them was sold for $ 2.6M from a lower estimate of $ 2M by Heritage on April 26, 2013, lot 18130. This is the only privately owned from two known units. It is graded PCGS Extremely Fine 45 PPQ, with a very slight evidence of circulation.
1891 Silver Certificate
2019 SOLD for $ 1.92M by Stack's Bowers
Interests differ between gold and silver producers. In 1873 the silver dollar is abolished except for trading with the far east. Facing the protests of the silver speculators, the Congress reestablishes the silver dollar in 1878 and associates with it a certificate of deposit refundable in silver coins.
The trend will soon be reversed. To deal with the overabundance of silver, the Congress creates in 1890 the Treasury Note, a certificate of deposit of silver which can be repaid in gold coins or in silver coins. Speculators are appealed by this possibility of playing on both metals at once with the same piece of paper.
A new series of Silver Certificates is prepared in 1891 for all denominations except the $ 500. The highest values of the Silver Certificate are indeed no longer attractive against the Treasury Note. Only 8,000 $ 1000 were printed, of which about 5,600 were circulated.
The redesign effort of the $ 1000 was important. On the face the portrait of William Marcy is transferred from left side to right side. The left side is now illustrated by a Miss Liberty leaning on a shield that displays the denomination. In 1848 Secretary of War Marcy had shipped a gold sample from the California rush for a federal assaying.
This image of Miss Liberty had been prepared in 1877 for a bond. As far as notes are concerned, it is limited to the $ 1000 Silver Certificate of the 1891 series, making its emission the rarest of all US federal currency in terms of design. The completely modified back had also changed its ink color.
Two examples survive. The serial number 1 is kept at the Smithsonian. The other one, graded Very Fine 25 by PCGS, is thus the only one in private hands. It was sold for $ 2.6M on June 11, 2013 in a private sale reported by Stack's Bowers. It was sold for $ 1.92M by Stack's Bowers on February 28, 2019, lot 4037.
The trend will soon be reversed. To deal with the overabundance of silver, the Congress creates in 1890 the Treasury Note, a certificate of deposit of silver which can be repaid in gold coins or in silver coins. Speculators are appealed by this possibility of playing on both metals at once with the same piece of paper.
A new series of Silver Certificates is prepared in 1891 for all denominations except the $ 500. The highest values of the Silver Certificate are indeed no longer attractive against the Treasury Note. Only 8,000 $ 1000 were printed, of which about 5,600 were circulated.
The redesign effort of the $ 1000 was important. On the face the portrait of William Marcy is transferred from left side to right side. The left side is now illustrated by a Miss Liberty leaning on a shield that displays the denomination. In 1848 Secretary of War Marcy had shipped a gold sample from the California rush for a federal assaying.
This image of Miss Liberty had been prepared in 1877 for a bond. As far as notes are concerned, it is limited to the $ 1000 Silver Certificate of the 1891 series, making its emission the rarest of all US federal currency in terms of design. The completely modified back had also changed its ink color.
Two examples survive. The serial number 1 is kept at the Smithsonian. The other one, graded Very Fine 25 by PCGS, is thus the only one in private hands. It was sold for $ 2.6M on June 11, 2013 in a private sale reported by Stack's Bowers. It was sold for $ 1.92M by Stack's Bowers on February 28, 2019, lot 4037.
1896 The Proof Sheets of the Educational Series
2011 SOLD for $ 1.26M by Stack's Bowers
On August 17, 2011, Stack's Bowers sold for $ 1.26M from a lower estimate of $ 1M one of the most unusual sets of US bank notes : prestigious issue, full set, first copies, uncut, not circulated.
The series of Silver Certificates of 1896, known as the Educational Series, is often considered as the most artistic engraving in the history of American paper money. It was issued in three denominations, $ 1, 2 and 5, by the Treasury.
On the obverse, the $ 1 note shows History educating a youth at Washington DC. The $ 2 is devoted to Science: Electricity and Steam are two children looked favorably by the elder figures of Commerce and Manufacture. For $ 5, America dominates the World with the help of Electricity. The back is devoted to portraits of famous American people, two for each value.
The head of the Bureau of Printing and Engraving received an authorization from his administration to keep the first sheet of each of the three values, each sheet including the serial numbers 1 to 4 of these editions. He did not cut them, and had them bound along with a short explanatory typewritten text in a thin book of tall folio size, 20 x 34 cm.
After 2011, this volume has been reworked. The sheets of bank notes have been professionally removed from the book and analyzed by PMG (Paper Money Guaranty) which graded them AU55 (About uncirculated). Back to auction in one lot at Stack's Bowers, the broken set passed on August 7, 2014. It is illustrated in the release shared by CoinWeek.
The series of Silver Certificates of 1896, known as the Educational Series, is often considered as the most artistic engraving in the history of American paper money. It was issued in three denominations, $ 1, 2 and 5, by the Treasury.
On the obverse, the $ 1 note shows History educating a youth at Washington DC. The $ 2 is devoted to Science: Electricity and Steam are two children looked favorably by the elder figures of Commerce and Manufacture. For $ 5, America dominates the World with the help of Electricity. The back is devoted to portraits of famous American people, two for each value.
The head of the Bureau of Printing and Engraving received an authorization from his administration to keep the first sheet of each of the three values, each sheet including the serial numbers 1 to 4 of these editions. He did not cut them, and had them bound along with a short explanatory typewritten text in a thin book of tall folio size, 20 x 34 cm.
After 2011, this volume has been reworked. The sheets of bank notes have been professionally removed from the book and analyzed by PMG (Paper Money Guaranty) which graded them AU55 (About uncirculated). Back to auction in one lot at Stack's Bowers, the broken set passed on August 7, 2014. It is illustrated in the release shared by CoinWeek.
#OTD 8/16/2011 @ #WorldsFairOfMoney @StacksBowers gets record price for #SilverCertificates https://t.co/0c04rGKoh6 pic.twitter.com/INZ7Qkv0L9
— Gulf Coast Coin Show (@BiloxiCoinShow) August 17, 2016
