Type 2 $20 from Casper, Wyoming

By Peter Huntoon

Anyone who knows me knows that I am no condition crank. Paper money was made to be used. If you can’t respect that, you are in the wrong game, in my opinion.

What I celebrate the most are circulated notes that happened to survive that are still attractive. My idea of a truly nice grade is a solid Very Fine. The definition of Very Fine that I cut my teeth on was an overall clean note that retains the sheen from the sizing in the paper, has no impairments, has folds that do not break the ink on the paper, and has not been doctored.

As I was entering notes into the Wyoming census recently, just such a note went by from a Scottsman (St. Louis) February 2019 sale, a beautiful $20 Type 2 from a rather common Casper bank. This is no rarity although I never had a Type 2 $20 from the bank in my Wyoming collection. There currently are seven Type 2 $20s in the census and overall 57 small size notes.

This note, however, just looks great and no one has doctored it. Anyone can put this in their album, and it will brighten up the page. There are higher grade Type 2 $20s reported from the bank, but most don’t have the eye appeal of this note. The icing on the cake is that it bears the signature of Bryant Butler Brooks as president, who was governor of Wyoming Jan. 2, 1905 to Jan. 2, 1911, before this note was printed. When it comes time to sell, this one will readily move off the shelf, and at a profit.