Extraordinary Panama 50 Pesos Note Realizes Over $37,000

IRVINE, Calif. – Ponterio & Associates, Inc., a division of Bowers and Merena Auctions, returned to Chicago to present the Official Auction of the Chicago International Coin Fair (C.I.C.F.), April 23-25, 2009, at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare in Rosemont, Ill. The auction realized a total of $1,510,300 offering close to 3,000 lots of coins and currency from around the world, including lots from Russia, China, Mexico, Cuba, Australia, Latin America, and more.

The spotlight was surely on lot 438, PANAMA, Banco de Panama, 50 Pesos, (ND) circa 1869, P-S725, which realized $37,375. Listed as Very Fine with a catalog estimate of $3,000 to $4,000, this lot realized well above that as a result of spirited floor bidding from some enthusiastic collectors. One of a handful of important Panama-related items in the auction, this rare 50 Pesos note with a very low serial number of “0010” is one that few collectors will ever have the opportunity to see.

Clearly one of the most distinct items in the auction was lot 3044, a large Korean wedding ceremonial chatelaine, circa 1800s, with 17 attached strings containing amulets and coins with silk and cloth stringers. Chatelaines were given to brides on their wedding day, adorned with amulets for protection and coins for good luck. The strings contain 129 pieces total consisting of amulets, 1 Mun coins, 5 Mun coins and 100 Mun coins, some of which are seed coins. The item is very rare and in a very nice state of preservation. Spirited bidding brought well above the $500 to $1,000 catalog estimate, realizing an impressive $23,000 from a Korean buyer who intends to return the chatelaine to its home country. (more…)

Gift from grandmother to grandson could bring $20,000+

DALLAS, TX – The only serial #1 star note from the Bicentennial $2 series known to exist in private hands will be offered by Heritage Currency Auctions of America in its Central States auction, May 1, at Cincinnati’s Duke Energy Downtown Convention Center.

The newly surfaced note had been hidden away by its owner since 1976, when it was obtained – along with the serial #2 San Francisco District $2 star, which accompanies it in this sale – by the consignor’s grandmother from a Bank of America branch in Oakland, Calif. She went in with the express purpose of obtaining a couple of the newly issued $2 Bicentennial notes for her grandson’s budding coin and currency collection.

The notes were placed in an envelope and forgotten until more than three decades later when that same grandson, for whom they were purchased in the first place, discovered the envelope. Now these pristine notes are going to be offered to the general public and the level of curiosity from the collecting world is expected to be high.

Each of the two notes has one light storage fold, acquired over the years, a minor exception in both instances. Otherwise each note is as pristine and undisturbed as the day they were pulled from the pack of bills at the Bank of America in the Bay area. Each piece is graded Choice About Uncirculated 58 EPQ (Exceptional Paper Quality) by PMG. The pre-sale estimate for the serial number 1 example is $20,000-$30,000 – which could prove to be quite conservative – as only one collector in the world will be able to boast of owning a serial number 1 Bicentennial star deuce when the hammer falls on this lot.

To see the rest of the lots in this auction, read detailed descriptions and download enlargeable hi-res images, go online to www.HA.com/Currency.

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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