Official Auctioneer of the ANA World’s Fair of Money, Aug. 11-16

The Official Currency Auction of the 2010 ANA World’s Fair of Money in Boston, MA will be conducted by Heritage Auctions Aug. 11-16. The auction includes three floor sessions and one online session. Lot viewing will be conducted at the Hynes Convention Center, Room 210, 900 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02115 and the floor sessions will be held at the Hynes Convention Center, Room 203, 900 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02115.

In addition to lot viewing in Boston, a preliminary lot viewing will take place at Heritage Galleries Beverly Hills, 9478 W. Olympic Blvd., Suite #100, Beverly Hills, CA 90212 on Friday, July 30, 2010 and Saturday, July 31, 2010.

Session One will begin on Wednesday evening, Aug. 11, at 6 p.m. ET and includes Continental Currency, Colonial Currency, Fractional Currency, Encased Postage, Obsolete Currency, Confederate Notes, a Confederate Bond, Miscellaneous, Postal Notes, Military Payment Certificates, World Currency, and Canadian Currency.

Heritage Currency Auctions is presenting The Collection of a Patriotic American, a complete collection of all 102 Friedberg numbers associated with Continental Currency and believed to be the finest collection ever assembled. The collection also includes 71 additional related items, including the extremely rare marbled edge counterfeit detector; eight extra Fugio bills representing the different plate positions; 21 different contemporary counterfeits; nine sheets of Continental Currency, including a very rare sheet of Fugio bills; and nine counterfeit detector sheets. Among the 71 items are 23 pieces issued by cities and states payable in Continental Currency: four notes from Albany dated 1776 and 19 typeset certificates from Georgia dated June and September 1777.

Among the many highlights of the collection is the finest known Continental Currency May 10, 1775 $20 PCGS Choice About New 58PPQ. The $20 from this first issue of Continental Currency is the only piece of the 102 different Continental Currency notes that has a different shape, size, paper, and color. Benjamin Franklin procured the distinctive marbled edge paper from his contacts in Paris.

Other exceptional rarities in the collection include: a Continental Currency February 17, 1776 Twenty Four Note Sheet Choice About New, the finest of three known examples; a Continental Currency May 20, 1777 Complete Double Sheet of Sixteen Extremely Fine-About New which is unique to Heritage’s best knowledge; a Continental Currency May 10, 1775 $20 Counterfeit Detector PCGS Choice About New 58, one of only two known examples and the only one available to collectors as the other piece belongs to the Colonial Williamsburg Museum; and a gorgeous Georgia June 8, 1777 $8 PCGS Choice About New 58PPQ that was payable in Continental Currency, hence its inclusion in this collection. (more…)

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.

Over the last two days, Stack’s held its annual January Americana in its private gallery in New York City. The sale began with a packed auction room and saw spirited and competitive bidding throughout both sessions.

Over 3,000 lots were sold, and $5 million worth of material changed hands. Properties from over 125 consignors were showcased in this sale, and included items from the Manhattan Collection, the Maryland Historical Society, the Clinton Sherwood Ward Collection of U.S. Gold Coins, Clem Schettino Collection of New Jersey Coppers, the Museum of the Fur Trade, the Alan Bleviss Collection of Civil War Tokens, Part III, and medals from the family of Charles E. Barber.

American Paper Currency began the sale, and Obsolete Currency led the way. The second lot of the sale was an exceptionally rare California and Salt Lake Mail Line $10 note, a note that was not represented in the Ford Collection and is only the second of its kind that we have catalogued. This very rare type is in Very Fine condition and sold for $18,400. Hawaiian obsolete currency offered the rare six-piece set of Lahainaluna Seminary scrip notes, a beautiful set of “token” currency that sold for $14,375. Obsolete notes also featured the exceedingly rare and important Union Bank of Missouri $5 note issued from the branch in Kansas City that sold for $8,050. New York notes showcased a breathtaking Ontario County Bank $1 Proof note from Phelps, NY that was once part of the Ford Collection. This Gem Uncirculated note sold for an impressive $8,625.

Colonial currency lots boasted the extremely rare New York 1709 Twenty Five Shillings in Very Fine condition. Only 800 notes of this denomination were authorized, and competition for this prize was fierce to the tune of $17,250. Vermont colonials offered the newly discovered example of the 1781 Half a Crown note. This item, graded Fine-15 by PMG, came to us via the Museum of the Fur Trade and was reportedly obtained in the Washington, D.C. area in the 1960s before that. It joined a new collection after a top bid of $12,650. (more…)