Exciting paper money discovery features unknown stamped signature pairing

The interests of rare U.S. currency collectors, and numismatists across the spectrum, have been piqued by Heritage Auction Galleries with the announcement of the discovery of a previously unseen significant rarity in the form of a 1915 $5 Federal Reserve Bank Note type. The newly listed Fr. 788a $5 1915 FRBN will serve as one of the anchors of Heritage’s 2009 CSNS Signature CAA Auction, in Cincinnati, May 1.

The Houston B. Teehee/John Burke signature combination on the note features the previously unknown stamped signature pairing of M.W. Bell as Secretary and Joseph A. McCord as governor.

“This is the first note ever reported with that combination,” said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage, “and the fact that a new Friedberg number has been created adds to the overall appeal of this note, which is already a beauty without the added value of this ‘new’ pairing.”
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The Adams-Carter 1804 Class III Silver Dollar  will be offered for sale next month at Heritage’s Cincinnati (CSNS) US Coin Auction #1124 April 28- May 3. The following is a brief history and additional background on the 1804 Dollar and the Adams-Carter specimen specifically, provided by Heritage.

Photos used with permission and courtesy of Heritage Auction Galleries

The acquisition and ownership of an 1804 silver dollar is a yardstick by which all great numismatic collections are measured, as it has been for more than a century and a half.  Known as “the King”, the 1804 silver dollar is the single most famous numismatic rarity, attracting more attention than any other single coin.

Several books, numerous articles, and many auction appearances have filled countless published pages over the past 150 years. Previous owners rank among the most famous numismatists, and in some cases among the famous personalities in this country. Limited market availability means that the successful capture of one of these prizes can take a lifetime.

Many American numismatic pieces, patterns and regular issues, are rarer than the 1804 silver dollar, with its population of 15 known specimens. Another issue, the 1933 double eagle, with an auction record in excess of $7 million, holds the title of most expensive, at least based on past sales. However, no other U.S. coin can ever be popularly accepted as the King of Coins. The 1804 silver dollar is clearly the most famous coin ever struck at a U.S. mint. Its rarity has been documented for more than 150 years.

B. Max Mehl once wrote: “In all of numismatics of the entire world, there is not today and there never has been a single coin which was and is the subject of so much romance, interest, comment, and upon which so much has been written and so much talked about and discussed as the United States silver dollar of 1804.”
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The 1875 introduction of the twenty cent denomination was a direct outgrowth of the increasing power of Western silver-mining interests and the “Crime of ‘73,” the Mint Act of 1873 that among other things demonetized the silver dollar and eliminated the half dime. According to Don Taxay’s The U.S. Mint and Coinage:

“For some years following the gold rush, inflation had stayed the need of small coins in California. No dimes were struck at the San Francisco Mint until 1859, and no half dimes until 1863. Thereafter, the coinage of half dimes increased steadily, and during 1872 and 1873 the output at San Francisco almost equalled that of its entire preceding nine years. The figure would have even been higher but for the fact that the coin was abolished by the Act of February 12, 1873. Since minor coins were not struck at the San Francisco Mint, the loss of the half dime caused some difficulty in making change. Many items were priced at a dime, or “short bit,” and persons paying for one of these with a quarter had often to accept a dime or Spanish bit [12.5 cents] as change. To alleviate this problem, Nevada Senator J.P. Jones, in February 1874, introduced a bill for the coinage of a twenty-cent piece. The bill was supported by Director Linderman, and enacted on March 3, 1875.”

It is certainly no accident that a Nevada politico introduced the ill-fated denomination, one that today is merely a numismatic curiosity (or curio?). The Comstock Lode, the richest lode of silver ever discovered in the United States, lay within its borders. Its discovery in 1859 hastened the territory’s admission into the Union in 1864. The peak production years for the massive deposits of gold and silver were from about 1876 through 1878, with about $36 million of silver ore extracted annually from the ground during that time.

Patterns for the denomination were developed in 1874 and 1875 (Judd-1354 through 1358; Judd-1392 to 1415), with the first production strikes occurring that same year.

The denomination was a disaster, a total failure. (more…)