The Rare Coin Company is poised to set yet another World Record when it bids to acquire the very first Australian Commonwealth Banknote ever printed, the 1913 Ten Shilling note. If successful, this will be the second time in less than four months that The Rare Coin Company has set a new world record for the price paid for an Australian banknote at public auction.

Queensland, Australia — The Rare Coin Company is poised to set yet another world record when it bids to acquire the very first Australian Commonwealth Banknote ever printed, the 1913 Ten Shilling note. Rob Jackman, the Company’s founder will attend the International Auction Galleries auction at the Sofitel Hotel Gold Coast in Queensland on Sunday 9th of March 2008 from 3pm. It is estimated that the banknote is valued at $1.3 to $1.4 million dollars and that the auction will attract a number of major coin dealers and private collectors.

If successful, this will be the second time in less than four months that The Rare Coin Company has set a new world record for the price paid for an Australian banknote at public auction. In November 2007, the Company paid $1,223,250 dollars for an Australian 1924 George V One Thousand Pound banknote, which was sold at auction by Nobles Numismatics in Sydney.

Further background information about the 1913 Ten Shilling banknote:
On the 1st of May 1913 the first official Commonwealth banknote was printed with a number of important personages in attendance, including Andrew Fisher, The Governor of the Commonwealth Bank Dennison Miller, the Governor General Thomas Denman, and the Lord Mayor of Victoria. A quick demonstration of the printing process was followed by a ceremony where the first banknotes were then produced by a hand numbered machine press. The Governor General’s daughter, Judith, was then involved in operating the lever of the hand press to produce the first Australian Banknote, with the serial number M000001, and was subsequently presented with this important note. Thomas Denman and his family returned to England upon the completion of his term, and the note then remained with the family’s descendants until it was returned and sold in Australia in 2000 by Mr. Barrie Winsor. The note is still in its original Government House envelope, inscribed in old ink “Judith’s 10/- Note, May 1st 1913″. (more…)

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing is excited to celebrate the year 2008 by offering the 2008 $2 Single Note. This product features a crisp, uncirculated Series 2003A $2 note with a serial number beginning with “2008xxxxD.” Each 2008 $2 Single Note is protected by a clear, acid-free polymer sleeve, in a commemorative 2008 folder.

The second Federal Reserve Bank designation that will be offered for the 2008 $2 Single Note is New York. Other Bank designations will be made available during calendar year 2008. Total quantity available for this product is 10,000 notes.

This product is limited to 100 units per household during the quantity restriction period from February 25 - March 9, 2008. Order Here

The first redesigned $5 bill, which will continue to feature the portrait of President Abraham Lincoln, will enter circulation on March 13 and will be spent at the gift shop of President Lincoln’s Cottage at the Soldiers’ Home in Washington, D.C. The venue, which has recently been restored and open to the public, was used by President Lincoln as a retreat. President Lincoln understood that maintaining the integrity of U.S. currency was critical to the stability of our economy. In fact, President Lincoln established the United States Secret Service the same evening he was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. and made it the agency’s primary mission to safeguard the nation’s currency from counterfeiters.

On March 13, Federal Reserve banks will begin distributing redesigned $5 bills to customer banks, which will then distribute currency to businesses and consumers. The new bills will first begin circulating in the U.S. and gradually in other countries as international banks place orders for $5 bills from the Federal Reserve. Older-design $5 bills will maintain their full face value. Therefore, it will not be necessary to trade in old $5 bills for new ones. (more…)

Nearly two dozen $20 denomination notes from the infamous 1971 “D.B. Cooper” skyjacking have been certified by PCGS Currency on behalf of the owner who found them a quarter-century ago.

The bills belong to Brian Ingram, 36, of Mena, Arkansas who was eight years old in 1980 when he found the only ransom cash ever recovered from the infamous skyjacking.

“Even though the notes were damaged from apparently being in the Columbia River for years, we were able to match serial numbers with those on the FBI’s list of the $200,000 in $20 bills the skyjacker had when he jumped from the jetliner. There was even a Series 1963A star note,” said Laura A. Kessler, Vice President of PCGS Currency (www.PCGSCurrency.com) of Newport Beach, California, who headed the certification team. Read Full Story

The No. A251-1-A $5 Red Seal on The First National Bank of Paintsville, Ky., shown here is a remarkable and historically significant find. It was ferreted out by Kentucky collector Richard Deavers.

Notice that it bears Treasury sheet serial A251, the as-yet lowest recorded Red Seal Treasury serial number from any sheet combination. It is from the second printing of $5 Red Seals delivered to the Comptroller’s office, a delivery that arrived on April 21, 1902, consisting of bank sheet serials 1 through 150. The first 100 of them were sent to the bank that same day.

The First National Bank of Litchfield, Minn., charter 6118, received the first printing of 5-5-5-5 Red Seals, delivered to the Comptroller on April 18. It was just a fluke that the $5 paperwork for the Litchfield bank preceded that of Paintsville. Read Full Story