[ CoinLink News ] The Official Currency Auction of the 2010 Memphis International Paper Money Show in Memphis will be conducted by Heritage Auctions June 17-21. The auction will include three floor sessions and an online session. Lot viewing will be conducted at the Cook Convention Center, East Hall, 225 N. Main Street in Memphis, and the floor sessions will be held at the Memphis Marriott Downtown, Heritage Ballroom, 250 North Main Street.

Session One will begin on Thursday evening, June 17, at 6 p.m. CST, and includes World Currency, Canadian Currency, Miscellaneous, Continental Currency, Colonials, Fractional Currency, Obsoletes, Confederate Notes, and Military Payment Certificates.

Heritage Currency Auctions is pleased to present a large selection of World notes as part of Session One. Eighty one countries will be represented by the 226 lots being offered. Featured lots include: Australia Commonwealth of Australia £10 ND (1927) Pick 18b R55 PMG Choice About Unc 58, Hawaii Republic of Hawaii Silver Certificate of Deposit $10 1895 (1897) Pick 12a PCGS Fine 12, and a Palestine £10 Palestine Currency Board 1929 Pick 9b PMG Choice Very Fine 35. The Canadian offerings include a BC-19 $1000 1935 PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ and a Halifax, NS- The Bank of Nova Scotia $100 1929 Ch # 550-28-40 PMG Very Fine 20.

Additional Session One highlights include: an extremely rare “Independence” Sword in Hand Note

Massachusetts November 17, 1776 36s PMG Choice Very Fine 35; a Maryland July 26, 1775 $1 1/3 PMG Choice Fine 15 Allegorical Note; fourteen group lots of Obsoletes from the Bank of the State of South Carolina, among them Charleston, SC- Bank of the State of South Carolina Fractional Notes, Including Several Unlisted Varieties; a Confederate T6 $50 1861 PMG Choice Uncirculated 64 EPQ; a rare Ball 277 Cr. 137 $5000 1863 Four Per Cent Call Certificate PMG Very Fine 20; and Military Payment Certificate Series 661 $10 PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ.

Small Size Notes, Error Notes, and Large Size Notes will be featured during Session Two beginning on Friday, June 18 at 6 p.m. CST. Among the Small Size selections are newly discovered $5,000 and $10,000 Federal Reserve Notes from the Dallas district Fr. 2221-K $5000 1934 LGS FRN Note PMG Very Fine 30 and Fr. 2231-K $10000 1934 FRN PCGS Apparent Very Fine 25, and a gorgeous Fr. 2407 $500 1928 Gold Certificate PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ. A number of outstanding Error Notes will be presented, including the “King of Errors,” a Fr. 964/Fr. 904 $20/$10 1914 Double Denomination FRN PCGS About New 50, and a Skaneateles, NY – $10 1929 Ty. 1 The NB of Skaneateles Ch. # 5360 with a rare inverted overprint of the black ink portion. Large Size offerings include a Fr. 1072a $100 1914 Red Seal FRN PMG Gem Uncirculated 66 EPQ that is tied for finest known and the  Ten Note Federal Reserve Proof Presentation Set Number 1 that was presented by Secretary of the Treasury William G. McAdoo on December 21, 1914. (more…)

[ CoinLink News]  After Julius Caesar, the second most recognizable name of the imperatorial era is Marcus Junius Brutus. Was he the last guardian of the Republican age or only an infamous and most vile assassin of Caesar?

Born about 85 BC, Brutus was thrust into the political realm and early became a follower of Cato, a staunch Republican. Later, Brutus built a fortune by lending money at usurious rates and eventually became a Roman senator. What did Brutus really want? Like Edward G. Robinson in Key Largo, “More”?

There grew a great friendship between Caesar and Brutus, but during the Civil War it was clear that Caesar would never return to the former Republican government. Instead, Caesar was swayed by his many victories and public adulation, ultimately accepting the title “dictator for life.”

Caesar’s portrait graced many coin issues, and his likeness was the first of a living person to be depicted upon the specie we now revere. It is ironic to also find the portrayal of Brutus on Coinage.

Marcus Junius Brutus, d. 42 BC. Gold Aureus (8.07 g), struck at a traveling mint in Macedonia or Western Asia Minor, summer/autumn 42 BC. With moneyer, P. Servilius Casca Longus. Bare head right of Brutus with short beard, BRVTVS IMP on either side, all within laurel wreath.

Reverse: Combined military and naval trophies, with prows and shields at base; a small L to left of trophy; CASCA LONGVS on either side. Fr-24 (this coin); Craw 507/1b; BMCRR 62; Syd. 1297; Vagi 94; Kent-Hirmer 99. Faint double striking at back of head, otherwise a splendid likeness, in high relief. Lustrous and sharp! One of the most historic of Roman issues, gold or silver!

Excessively rare. Probably the finest of only 8 recorded specimens. NGC graded Choice About Uncirculated.

The ensuing struggle, the loss of life and of ideals, and the change of government are witnessed and related on this wonderful coin. Shakespeare (perhaps one in the same with Francis Bacon) gave us the perfect glimpse into the stage as life; Joseph Mankiewiez and John Houseman created a magnificent vision in their 1953 film Julius Caesar. With Marlon Brando, James Mason, John Gielgud, Greer Garson, Deborah Kerr and other stellar actors, it is a movie to view and view again. The next time you see it, ponder this aureus .

Estimated Value $400,000 – 500,000. Realized $525,000
Ex John Whitney Walter Collection, Stack’s-Berk Auction (11-29-90), lot 7; ex NFA Auction XXII (06-01-89), lot 23; ex Leu Auction 22 (05-08-79), lot 184. Illustrated in Money of the World, coin 30. Ex Millennia, Lot 75.

Bowers and Merena Auctions will again present the Official Auction of the June 2010 Whitman Coin & Collectibles Baltimore Expo. More than 200 impressive currency lots will join a magnificent array of nearly 3,500 coin lots in the auction that will be held June 16-20, 2010.

Ponterio & Associates, a division of Bowers and Merena, will present the world and ancients auction of coins and paper money, more than 2,300 lots, including over 1,500 lots of Ancient and foreign coins and 828 lots of world paper money.

Prior to the auction, lot viewing opportunities for U.S. currency lots will include a special viewing at the Memphis International Paper Money Show on Thursday, June 17, from noon to 5 p.m. CT, when the notes will then travel to Baltimore for the live auction and viewing at the Expo.

Matt Quinn, director of currency auctions, is enthusiastic about the impressive highlights that will cross the auction block. “We have two magnificent sheets of currency to offer, with the first being a tremendous uncut sheet of Rhode Island Colonials. The Catalog numbers range from RI-282 to 289, with two of each denomination seen, seldom seen in such a large format. The other significant uncut grouping of notes is one of the finest sheets of Silver Certificates we have come across. The sheet is an Uncut Sheet of 12 Fr. 1654 1934D Five Dollar notes encapsulated in a Superb Gem 68PPQ holder by PCGS Currency. This stunning sheet of notes is flawless to the naked eye.”

Some important National Banknotes in the catalog start with a highly scarce large size 1902 Five Dollar Plain Back with the second bank name for charter 9745. This County National Bank of Santa Cruz note retains nice appeal and is likely missing from even comprehensive California collections. The second notable National comes from Muscogee, Indian Territory with the Charter number of 4385. “Territorial notes are ever popular pieces which always command a premium,” Quinn said, “as mostly all in the National Banknote section of the hobby aspire to own one.”

The type collectors will also be fortunate to participate in the sale with a few notable high grade large size pieces available. Quinn added, “One of the most pleasing examples we have seen in some time for Friedberg number 21 will be presented to the collecting community bearing the challenging series ‘A,’ in a robust PCGS Extremely Fine 45PPQ holder. Next a wonderful Fr. 116 1901 $10 Bison note will cross the block encapsulated in a PMG Superb Gem Uncirculated 66EPQ grade which really wrings out all the detail the design could offer. A tasteful selection of high grade Gold Certificates will be the staple in the end of the large size type selection with many outstanding Gem notes seen.” (more…)