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PCGS Currency Makes Inventory of Recovered
Andrea Doria Bank Notes
50th Anniversary of Historic
Shipwreck
(Newport Beach, CA) - PCGS Currency, a division of
Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT) of Newport Beach, California, has made
the first known public inventory by series type of historic bank notes
recovered from a safe salvaged from the submerged Italian ocean liner, Andrea
Doria. |
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More than
3,600 recovered notes certified by PCGS Currency will be made available to
collectors by Rare Coin Wholesalers of Dana Point, California to coincide with
this year's 50th anniversary of the ship's sinking.
"Some of the U.S.
notes are in remarkably excellent condition," said Jason W. Bradford, President
of PCGS Currency. "We found a total of 99 star notes among the different Series
1935 Silver Certificates."
Star notes have a star in front of the
serial number indicating the original note with that number was replaced by the
Treasury Department, perhaps because of a printing error.
During a voyage
from Genoa, Italy to New York City, the Andrea Doria and another liner,
Stockholm, collided in heavy fog off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts on
the night of July 25, 1956. A total of 52 passengers and crewmembers were
killed, and more than 1,600 people were safely rescued before the 700-foot
long, 30,000-ton Andrea Doria sank the next morning.
On August 27,
1981, during Hurricane Dennis, marine explorer and department store heir, Peter
Gimble, and his team recovered the Banco di Roma (Bank of Rome) safe that had
been submerged in the shipwreck 250 feet under the Atlantic Ocean for 25 years.
It was believed the 650-pound safe contained First Class passenger's jewelry
and other valuables; however, those items apparently were removed by their
owners prior to evacuation or earlier on the evening of the collision in
preparation for the ship's docking in New York the next day.
 When the safe
finally was opened during a live television broadcast three years later on
August 3, 1984, the sunken treasure contents were revealed: stacks of U.S. $1
Silver Certificates and Italian bank notes in 50, 100 and 1,000 Lire
denominations. Gimble and his wife, actress and diver Elga Andersen,
subsequently preserved and sold some of the notes in specially-made Lucite
holders.
Rare Coin Wholesalers acquired the remaining notes and
submitted them to PCGS Currency for certification and the first-ever public
inventory of the remaining 3,606 notes.
"The Andrea Doria saga is a
phenomenal story of a tragic nautical accident and a dramatic, incredible
rescue of passengers and crew," said Steven L. Contursi, President of Rare Coin
Wholesalers.
"A quarter-century after the sinking Peter Gimble made a
mind-boggling effort during a hurricane to locate and retrieve these notes
encased in packets of mud and salt water, and then preserve them as treasure
for future generations. I'm sure there will be considerable demand for these
pieces of history with this year's 50th anniversary of the shipwreck."
There are 2,726 U.S. $1 Silver Certificates according to the PCGS
inventory:
Series 1935: 5 notes
Series 1935A:
17 notes
Series 1935B: 6 notes
Series 1935C 68 notes
Series 1935 C*
1 star note
Series 1935D 224 notes
Series 1935D* 1 star note
Series
1935E 2,302 notes
Series 1935E* 97 star notes
Unknown Series 5 notes
"There are a total of 878 undated Banca d'Italia notes from
the 1947 to 1951 series, the type that would have been in general circulation
in Italy in 1956, and as well as a pair of North Africa notes," said Bradford.
North Africa $1 2 notes
Italy 50 Lire 13 notes
Italy 100 Lire 7 notes
Italy 1,000 Lire 858 notes
For additional information about PCGS Collectors Universe,
contact the company at P.O. Box 9458, Newport Beach, CA 92658. Phone: (800)
447-8848. E-mail: info@pcgscurrency.com. Online:
www.PCGSCurrency.com.
For
information about the availability of the recovered Andrea Doria bank notes,
contact Rare Coin Wholesalers, P.O. Box 3873, Dana Point, CA 92629. Phone:
(800) 347-3250. E-mail: coins@rcw1.com.
Web: www.rcw1.com. |
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Media Contact:
Jason
Bradford, PCGS Currency, (800) 447-8848 x 166
Steven L. Contursi, Rare Coin
Wholesalers, (800) 347-3250
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| Publication Date: 03/01/2006 |
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