U.S. Currency Realizes Over $2.8 Million in Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ U.S. Currency Showcase Auction

The Stack’s Bowers Galleries November 2023 Official U.S. Currency Auction of the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Expo realized in excess of $2.8 million from an impressive selection of rarities ranging from colonial paper money to small-size ultra-high denomination rarities. All prices include the buyer’s fee.

Rare Colonial and Continental issues kicked off spirited bidding, as an extraordinarily rare CC-9 Continental $20 note graded Choice About Uncirculated 58* EPQ by PMG printed on marbled paper furnished by Benjamin Franklin and featuring motifs drawn from his own hand far exceeded its estimate when it realized $156,000.

Other strong prices included a PA-45. Pennsylvania. August 10, 1739, 20 Shillings graded VF-35 by PMG that realized $55,200, demonstrating strong demand for rare Colonial/Continental type notes. A Fr. 1132-L. 1918 $500 Federal Reserve Note from San Francisco, graded Choice Uncirculated 64 by PMG and one of just two uncirculated examples of the type, sold for $150,000. An Fr. 1218f. 1882 $1000 Gold Certificate graded Very Fine 25 by PMG, one of ten notes of that Friedberg number currently available to collectors, brought $204,000 after competitive bidding.

A major rarity among National Bank Notes was one that hailed from Alfalfa County, Oklahoma. This 1902 $10 Red Seal from the First National Bank of Carmen bearing serial number 1 achieved $57,600 while an exceedingly Fr. 1186. 1906 $20 Gold Certificate graded Gem Uncirculated 66 EPQ by PMG realized $31,200. An iconic 1899 $5 “Chief” Fr. 281m Silver Certificate graded Superb Gem Uncirculated 67 by PMG, the finest seen by that service, brought $36,000, exceeding the presale estimate.

Small-size ultra-high denomination rarities rounded out the offerings of the November 2023 Auction. A Fr. 2231-C. 1934 $10,000 Federal Reserve Note graded Choice Extremely Fine 45 and pedigreed to poker legend Johnny Chan realized $180,000, the same result brought by a Fr. 2221-G. 1934 $5000 Federal Reserve Note graded Choice Extremely Fine 45 by PMG.

Complete prices realized from the Stack’s Bowers Galleries November 2023 Official Whitman Expo Auction are available at StacksBowers.com. Stack’s Bowers Galleries is now accepting consignments to the Official Auction of the Whitman Spring 2024 Expo, their summer Global Showcase Auction as an official Auctioneer Partner of the ANA World’s Fair of Money and the firm’s ongoing series of Collectors Choice Online Auctions. For more information or to consign your coins to a future sale, contact Stack’s Bowers Galleries at Consign@StacksBowers.com or call (800) 458-4646.

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