Stacks hosted an American paper currency auction on Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 in New York. 

The 781 lot sale was anchored by The 52 Collection: Part I. This collection was carefully assembled over two decades by Bruce Roland Hagen (currently a professional numismatistwith Stacks), which features American obsolete currency proofs, engraver’s sample sheets, Federal proofs and related items that emphasize the artistry and security of American paper currency from Colonial times to the 1920s.

Two highlights from the sale include:

Silver Certificate. 1895. Five Dollars. Face Essay Proof. Similar to Fr.268. Choice AU. SOLD $18,400

No plate letter. Printed on India paper, mounted on new card. Imprint of Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Virtually the same design used on the Series of 1896, series date at right and concealed in lower right filigree curl by Morgan’s signature. Wide full-length vignette of Electricity Presenting Light to the World engraved by G.F.C. Smillie. This version slightly different from the 1896 final version. Darker printing and the bulb held aloft is differently shaped. Hessler SCE16 FD, page 111.The Hessler Plate Note. Rarity-7. This is a complex series of proofs and essays. This example matches the Hessler Plate Note for this sub-variety best for the details around the light bulb. This is a very desirable essay from the earlier dated, 1895 series and a magnificently printed example. The note was last sold in November 1990 and has been off the market since that time, housed in this private collection. Very light central fold in the India paper and handling. Looks like a Gem. A showpiece and highlight in this collection of Federal Proofs.

The Bank of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri. Ten Dollars. 1850s. Proof. Gem Uncirculated. SOLD $20700

Plate B. Printed on India paper, mounted on original archive book card. Imprint of Danforth, Wright & Co., Philad. & New York. Deep red lathe tint overall with protector TEN bottom center upon micro-lettered repeating TEN pattern. Top center, long line of steamships at the water’s edge being unloaded, amazing perspective running up the riverbank. Lower left, man dressing leather. Lower right, portrait of Col. O. Fallon. Upper left corner, X counter with snowflakes. Upper right corner, 10 counter with petal cycloidals. Haxby MO-50 G4aa Unlisted, different imprint and red tinting. Rarity-7. Certainly not the rarest full color proof in the auction, but debatably one of the central vignettes. Yet another classic American image of the 1850s period, a reminder of Mark Twain’s prose and legacy in the canon of American literature. Every feature of the note is in perfect harmony, from the rich color to the vignettes and intricate counters. There were only four examples on the original sheet this came from in the 1990 ABN sale, which was plated in color in the sale catalogue on page 140. One position is locked into a private collection. The “A,” top position proof from this former ABN Sale sheet realized $4,600 at Schingoethe Part 3 in Memphis, 2005. In the five years since that Memphis sale, stellar looking rarities such as this have generally shown some upside along the way.

A unique six-note uncut sheet of $5 New Jersey National Currency notes stolen two years ago was returned to its grateful owner at the Long Beach Coin, Stamp & Collectibles Expo during dealer set up on June 2, 2010. The sheet was taken in an October 2008 burglary from the offices of dealer Kevin Lipton of Beverly Hills, California, and is the only item recovered so far.

“It’s the only thing stolen from my office that I ever cared anything about,” said Lipton who gratefully gave a $5,000 reward to the part-time dealer who recovered and returned the sheet.

“The notes are from Branchville, New Jersey, and that’s the town where I went to summer camp as a child. I bought the sheet at a Christie’s auction in 1982, and they were framed and displayed in my office for years. The notes are reminiscent of my youth,” explained Lipton.

The sheet is the only known six-note uncut sheet of Series 1929 Type II National Currency $5 notes from The Branchville Bank in Branchville, New Jersey. The notes are consecutively numbered, A000001 through A000006.

It was recovered unframed by Virgel Nickell of Santa Ana, California who describes himself as “a dabbler” in National bank notes. Nickell was at a swap meet in Huntington Beach, California in early May when he was approached by a young man who wanted to sell the notes.

“He wanted $500 for it. I figured it was a common sheet, but my reaction was that it was good buy at $500. But when a friend and I researched it on the Internet we learned it was not only rare, it was not mine,” said Nickell.

“I knew I couldn’t keep it. I had to return this to its owner, so I brought the sheet to Long Beach because I thought Kevin would be there. I wasn’t expecting anything in return. I cried when he gave me money for it. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“I couldn’t believe it when he showed me the notes. They’re the only thing taken that I cared about,” Lipton reiterated.

Long Beach Expo General Chairman Ronald J. Gillio was at Lipton’s table as the notes were being returned.
“Kevin was ecstatic. He was so excited, his face was just beaming,” Gillio said.

Anyone with information regarding the theft or the still missing coins and paper money is urged to contact the Detective Division of the Beverly Hills Police Department at (310) 285-2158.

[ 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…)