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$200,000 for a rag?
Berny
Posts: 132 ✭✭✭
At the FUN show, Heritage auctioned a unique US treasury note that realized just shy of $200,000. It had a starting bid of $18,000 and an estimate of $30,000-$50,000.
By the way, the central vignette of the large eagle above a canal with locks appears on many obsolete notes. This note was printed by RWH, a well known printer of obsolete notes. Maybe some of my unique obsolete rags will go for such a mighty sum - after a couple of hundred years of inflation.
So post some obsolete notes with vignettes shown on this US treasury note.
Heritage describes the note as:
Unique Signed & Issued $500 1847 Treasury Note
Washington, DC- United States Treasury Note $500 Jan. 22, 1847 Hessler X110C
A newly discovered note which is of the utmost rarity and desirability, as it is the sole signed and issued example of any post-War of 1812 and pre-Civil War United States Treasury issues that is not a Proof or Essay. Unlike the Proofs illustrated in the Hessler reference, this note was actually currency, and as the multiple endorsements on the reverse indicate, it actually circulated as such. This note is dated January 22, 1847, and is signed by both the Register of the Treasury and the Treasurer of the United States. This Treasury Note was issued pursuant to the Act of July 22, 1846, which authorized the issuance of one year Treasury Notes, with an interest rate of one-tenth of one percent to five and two-fifths percent. The notes were issued at par, with the interest payable at redemption. The July 22, 1846 Act was a direct outgrowth of the ongoing war with Mexico, which had been declared on May 13, 1846. The government's need for funds to pursue the war led also to the same Act being the statutory authority to issue ten year notes labeled United States Loan of 1846, which, unlike the Treasury Notes of 1846, were not meant to circulate as bearer instruments. The Act of 1846 authorized $10,000,000 in Treasury Notes, but only $7,687,800 were actually issued, in denominations of $50, $100, $500, and $1000, with the Proof illustrated in Hessler's reference listed as Rarity 8 (1-3 known). As of the last Treasury accounting as of June 30, 1896, $5900 was still listed as unredeemed, including an entry under the title of "Old Debt, Unadjusted short $1000."
The Ford Collection sale in 2004 contained the only known example of this note in an unissued Proof form, and it sold at the time for $8340. In forming an estimate for this unique signed and issued example, there is no comparison piece upon which to base any figure. Unlike Proofs or Essays, this note is a true bearer item issued by the United States government that was meant to and actually did circulate as currency, and it is just as much deserving of a place in any set of United States Paper Money as a Silver Certificate or Legal Tender Note. Our best guess here is to estimate this most conservatively, and let the market pronounce its own judgment on value. We can say with full conviction that if this note were recognized as deserving of a place in the standard currency references, as it should be, it would easily be a six figure item, and quite possibly for multiples of six figures. PMG Very Fine 25, with a few pinholes and small internal splits, but remarkably intact for a note of this age and denomination.
By the way, the central vignette of the large eagle above a canal with locks appears on many obsolete notes. This note was printed by RWH, a well known printer of obsolete notes. Maybe some of my unique obsolete rags will go for such a mighty sum - after a couple of hundred years of inflation.
So post some obsolete notes with vignettes shown on this US treasury note.
Heritage describes the note as:
Unique Signed & Issued $500 1847 Treasury Note
Washington, DC- United States Treasury Note $500 Jan. 22, 1847 Hessler X110C
A newly discovered note which is of the utmost rarity and desirability, as it is the sole signed and issued example of any post-War of 1812 and pre-Civil War United States Treasury issues that is not a Proof or Essay. Unlike the Proofs illustrated in the Hessler reference, this note was actually currency, and as the multiple endorsements on the reverse indicate, it actually circulated as such. This note is dated January 22, 1847, and is signed by both the Register of the Treasury and the Treasurer of the United States. This Treasury Note was issued pursuant to the Act of July 22, 1846, which authorized the issuance of one year Treasury Notes, with an interest rate of one-tenth of one percent to five and two-fifths percent. The notes were issued at par, with the interest payable at redemption. The July 22, 1846 Act was a direct outgrowth of the ongoing war with Mexico, which had been declared on May 13, 1846. The government's need for funds to pursue the war led also to the same Act being the statutory authority to issue ten year notes labeled United States Loan of 1846, which, unlike the Treasury Notes of 1846, were not meant to circulate as bearer instruments. The Act of 1846 authorized $10,000,000 in Treasury Notes, but only $7,687,800 were actually issued, in denominations of $50, $100, $500, and $1000, with the Proof illustrated in Hessler's reference listed as Rarity 8 (1-3 known). As of the last Treasury accounting as of June 30, 1896, $5900 was still listed as unredeemed, including an entry under the title of "Old Debt, Unadjusted short $1000."
The Ford Collection sale in 2004 contained the only known example of this note in an unissued Proof form, and it sold at the time for $8340. In forming an estimate for this unique signed and issued example, there is no comparison piece upon which to base any figure. Unlike Proofs or Essays, this note is a true bearer item issued by the United States government that was meant to and actually did circulate as currency, and it is just as much deserving of a place in any set of United States Paper Money as a Silver Certificate or Legal Tender Note. Our best guess here is to estimate this most conservatively, and let the market pronounce its own judgment on value. We can say with full conviction that if this note were recognized as deserving of a place in the standard currency references, as it should be, it would easily be a six figure item, and quite possibly for multiples of six figures. PMG Very Fine 25, with a few pinholes and small internal splits, but remarkably intact for a note of this age and denomination.
Bernie
Always looking for material from the Niagara river region.
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Comments
I would hardly call a VF a rag though. I was expecting to see an note in Good or worse.
I agree with you - I held it in hand and it is a very presentable note.
By the way, the winning bidder was there and he is a very knowledgeable collector who knows what he's doing.
Member ANA, SPMC, SCNA, FUN, CONECA
https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/hopkinton-nat-bk-check-jpg.336205/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bibliodyssey/4764042456/sizes/o/
here is just the central vignette:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/...ey/4764042456/sizes/o/
The eagle is the same, but the bottom is different.
Bernie
Always looking for material from the Niagara river region.
http://currency.ha.com/itm/gold-certificates/fr-1192a-50-1882-gold-certificate-pmg-very-fine-25/a/3521-17494.s?ic4=ListView-Thumbnail-071515
Which is the better buy?
here is just the central vignette:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bibliodyssey/4764042456/sizes/o/
Interesting to see all the die cracks in this print, including a big horizontal one through the eagle and many small ones on the sides. That plate must have gotten a lot of use.