1891 $100 Silver Certificate a top lot

An 1891 “Monroe” $100 Silver Certificate, Fr. 344, sold for $152,700 in Heritage Auctions’ Long Beach Expo Signature Currency Auction, Sept. 7-12.

Total for the sale was $3,909,242. All prices here include the 17.5 percent buyer’s premium.

Graded PMG Choice Extremely Fine 45 EPQ, the 1891 rarity is “one of a mere 31 specimens recorded for this Friedberg number, six of which are permanently impounded in government institutions leaving barely two dozen pieces for the collecting fraternity.” It’s also the second highest certified graded of the known specimens. The higher graded note, a PMG About Uncirculated 50, sold for $176,000 three years ago.

Also bringing $152,700 was a 1928 Chicago $5,000 Federal Reserve Note, Fr. 2220-G. Graded PMG About Uncirculated 55, it is part of a small print run of 3,480 1928 $5,000s from the Chicago District. Only nine of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks printed $5,000s, with “about two dozen survivors...known from all the banks combined and at least two of those, both Chicago survivors are locked up in the collections of the San Francisco Federal Reserve and the Smithsonian. Track & Price tracks only one other Chicago note from the census to an auction appearance. That piece, a PMG 50 Net, went unsold in a 2011 auction.”

Another $5,000, this one a newly reported 1934 Federal Reserve Note, Fr. 2221-G, garnered $141,000 in PMG Choice Uncirculated 64. “A total of 6,600 1934 Chicago $5,000s were printed and issued,” according to the cataloger. “While New York and Chicago have plenty of survivors recorded in the census, attrition took its toll and high grade notes are far and few between. This Choice Uncirculated 64 example sits right near the top of the PMG census for the district, with no Gems reported in their population report.”

Another attention grabber was an 1863 “Spread Eagle” $100 Legal Tender Note, Fr. 167a, at $135,125. It was graded PCGS Very Fine 30PPQ.

This wholly original specimen is “a perfect, mid-grade example that was not only left untouched, but also avoided many of the pitfalls of circulation to garner a Premium Paper Quality designation.”

Selling for $94,000 was a 1934 $10,000 Federal Reserve Note, Light Green Seal, Fr. 2231-G. In PMG Extremely Fine 40, the rarity was part of a print run of 3,840.

Other top lots included:

• 1882 $10 Brown Back, The National Bank of Raleigh, N.C., charter 3389, Fr. 482, PMG Very Fine 30 EPQ, $35,250.

• 1891 $20 Silver Certificate, Fr. 321, PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ, $32,900.

• 1902 $5 Plain Back, The First National Bank of Crows Landing, Calif., charter 9765, Fr. 601, PCGS Very Fine 35, $32,900.

• Confederate States T1 $1,000 1861 PF-1, Cr.1, PMG Very Fine 25 Net, $32,900.

• 1918 $1,000 Federal Reserve Note, Fr. 1133-B, PMG Choice Very Fine 35 Net, $21,150.

• 1880 $10 Silver Certificate, Fr. 289, PMG Choice Uncirculated 63, $18,800.

For additional information, visit www.HA.com.

More Collecting Resources

• The Standard Catalog of United States Paper Money is the only annual guide that provides complete coverage of U.S. currency with today’s market prices.

• Order the Standard Catalog of World Paper Money, General Issues to learn about circulating paper money from 14th century China to the mid 20th century.