Historic Montgomery Collection Up for Auction

The Montgomery Collection of Confederate Bonds & Fiscal Documents will be auctioned on Nov. 17, 2022 by Lyn Knight Auctions in association with Archives International Auctions and will consist of 512 lots including numerous C.S.A. Bond rarities. This is one of the most significant offerings of Confederate Bonds and Fiscal Documents to be sold at auction since the Frederick R. Mayer Collection of Confederate Banknotes and Bonds was offered by R.M. Smythe at their Memphis 2007 Auction.

The Montgomery collection was put together over a fifty-year period by a passionate collector who was striving to complete his Confederate Bond collection. There are over 300 different types and varieties of Confederate bonds and when duplicates appear, evidently, it was to obtain either a lower Serial Number or better condition example for his collection. The Montgomery Collection contains 43 examples of bonds with the Serial Numbers of 10 or lower, which includes 9 different Serial #1 bonds, as well as 5 different Serial #2 bonds. The collection also includes many examples that deserve further research and include varieties with Serial Number ranges outside what was previously documented for those issues.

The first Confederate bonds were issued in Montgomery, Ala., which was the first capital of the Confederacy, when it was formed in February 1862 by the seven States that had seceded from the United States following the election of Lincoln. The capital was moved to Richmond, Va. in May of 1861. Highlights from the Montgomery Collection includes 6 different examples of the Feb. 28, 1861, Montgomery, Ala. issues of the T7 through T10 rarities, from $50 to $1,000 denominations, all printed by American Bank Note Company in New Orleans, including 3 examples with the location changed to Richmond, Va., from Montgomery, Ala. In addition, there are 6 examples of desirable T11 to T14 bonds including an outstanding Unissued, $100, T14-B21 bond with only 7 or 8 known to exist, with the other T-11 and T12 bonds being rarity 8.

Other highlights include a Richmond, Va., Oct. 26, 1861, T115-B141, $500,000 Bank Note Loan Certificate, which lists as a Rarity 7; a C.S.A. Act of Feb. 17, 1864, T162-B341, $8000, S/N 15 bond which is unique with this denomination; an outstanding S/N 1 bond, C.S.A. Act of Feb. 17, 1864, T172-B352, $100,000, denomination rarity; a historic C.S.A. Act of April 21, 1862, $1,000, T124-B151, numbered with the last S/N 1,000 for the issue out of 1,000 printed, and signed on the back by James Murray Mason, who was forcibly removed from the CSA ship, Trent, by the U.S. Navy, precipitating an international incident with Britain, known as the Trent Affair. This bond is one of four certificates procured by John J. Ford, who acquired S/Ns 997 to 1000, from the Erlanger firm in London in the late 1950s; dozens of additional rare and desirable bonds are present in this collection, with many not appearing at auction in decades and some making their first appearances at auction ever.

The online catalog and Live Bidding Platform for the Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022 auction is on Lyn Knight Currency Auctions’ website at LynKnight.com and can also be viewed as a virtual catalog or a live linked downloadable PDF on their website.