Until three years ago, no one even knew that the 1770 Nuevo Reino Pillar Dollar existed. That changed quickly, however, when an amazing stash of 14 coins was found during the bulldozing of a parking lot in Bogota that was being razed for a new building. Buried beneath the dirt and the decades was the old foundations of the Nuestra Senora del Pilar church.

The church, which existed from 1770 until 1948 when it was set ablaze during riots, was also a convent and school for girls. The church was eventually torn down and the area turned into a parking lot. When construction began on a new building three years ago and crews started digging, a small group of coins turned up — including the 14 1770 Nuevo Reino Pillars.

Now, of the two that aren’t already in private hands, or held by private institutions, the most pristine will be a featured lot in Heritage’s May 31 Long Beach World Coin Auction. It is estimated at $60,000-$80,000. It is officially listed as a Carlos III Pillar 8 Reales 1770NR-VJ, KM39 (Date Unlisted), Calico 1000, Cayon Unlisted, MS64 NGC.

The amazing thing about this Pillar Dollar is that we can actually trace it to the very day and place of its minting. The entire history of this coin, and the reason for which it was created, is right on its face

Few world crowns demand as much numismatic interest as the Columnarios, or Pillar Dollars, that were struck from 1732 to 1773 in numerous Spanish mint houses throughout the Americas. By the second half of the 18th century, the Pillar Dollar had truly become “world currency,” finding wide use both in Europe, the United States (where it was legal tender) and the Far East.

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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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