What? Fractionals again?

dtreter

I am guessing there are a lot of closet fractional collectors out there. Please post some of your fractional notes. They don't have to be rare or ultra high quality to be appreciated. If you post one of your notes, please tell why/how you obtained it...any interesting story about it.



I will go first. Here is my first fractional note. It was given to me by my late father. It was lost among his other currency notes. When I asked him about this curious looking note, he had very little information about them so I searched the web (back in 2001) and found very little information on them. Paul Burkhard's (sp) site fractionalnotes.com was my main source of info. After a few years, he closed his site and again there was very little information on the web. This is the main reason why I developed my informational web site that is shown below. I learned basic html and did all the source code for this site. It was so much fun to do.



Here is the note that got me interested in fractional currency. It will be the last note that I will ever get rid of...it is so special to me.

garrynot

Very impressive site. I have a number of fractionals but don't have access to their photos right now. I have some photos of state fractionals though.

Slasher

There was a time around 2007-2008 that, according to Dave's site where he keeps auction records, that I had the highest all time sales for close to 50 of the 125 fractional currency regular issue varieties.

tomtomtomtom

Dave has a wonderful site that all fractional enthusiacs should visit. Paul's site is still archived....some very interesting reading...his online store was one of the first for fractionals....there is some very interesting reading....lists of errors...inverts etc...take a look.



fractional notes

sellitstore

Because of the story, you have shown us great beauty and value, too, in what would normally be an ordinary note. I can understand why you prize it so highly.

Let's see more notes and hear more stories.

garrynot

Originally posted by: tomtomtomtom

Dave has a wonderful site that all fractional enthusiacs should visit. Paul's site is still archived....some very interesting reading...his online store was one of the first for fractionals....there is some very interesting reading....lists of errors...inverts etc...take a look.



fractional notes

Great site! Thanks!

Tookybandit

I picked up a cool one that I'll post tonight

Steve_in_Tampa

Great story Dave.....and really informative website.

MEC2

Well, I've collected fractionals for a long time, I like that they are a nice, complete little subset, neat designs, and affordable. Here's a picture of my frame, it's an older picture but it is still how it looks. I *do* have new fractionals for it though - a couple are getting slightly nicer versions, I am upgrading one of the first series notes to a perforated border as an example of the type, so I have one, and incorporating the unreleased 15 cent front and back specimens of the third series... just need to get up the nerve to take the glass back apart and re-align all of those notes... yikes.

garrynot

Do these count?

tomtomtomtom

Thanks dave for a great thread! I became interested in these little pieces of history while searching for colonial stamps. There in the display case was was this strange looking note that had a facsimile of a stamp printed on the face. I was told that it was a fractional currency...printed during a time of metal (coin) shortage. a fr 1230. I bought it...terrible shape...and immediately became fascinated. When I started collecting them there was no internet... only auctions, mimeographed sales lists and an occasional coin show within a reasonable commute. It was quite a find to just fill a spot in my collection with something reasonable.

I wish that I still had that note but over time it got sold as I upgraded. I love the history of Dave's note above...but have nothing as touching as his.



An interesting piece of fractional history that I picked up in the early years of Ebay is a deposit slip for $800 worth of fractional currency. The deposit came back as $799.50 with an attached counterfeit Lincoln note.







Another interesting find was this envelope that the sender affixed a 5 cent fractional as postage to an address in the Bronx NY.







...and a picture of the present address.









...hope others keep this thread going!!

garrynot

Those are great Tom. I have one more of particular interest. This is an error note. Missing the S in CENTS. It's the first I have seen outside of the plate note in Austin Sheheen's book and I was fortunate to obtain it.

tomtomtomtom

not an expert in Confederates but am sure that someone will pipe in.

dtreter

Nice notes everyone. Even if you don't have a story about the note, tell why you picked up the one that you posted..what you liked about it...anything

garrynot

Regarding the error note, it is catalogued as Sheheen-512. There are two other error notes where the dates at bottom left, Feb 1863 were mistakenly spelled Frb 1863. Those are relatively attainable and the 15 cent version of that error is on the sheet I posted. The CENT error note must be more scarce, since Tom Denly's and Amanda Sheheen's site have not had one. One day recently I was browsing EBay and there it was. No one else must have noticed it. I bid the requested $14.99 and I won. Crazy.

garrynot

First. I obtained this 1963 edition of Matt Rothert's Guide to American Fractional Currency from a small coin show.







Here are two FR 1233. The bottom reverse shows the plate number.











A nice Stanton obtained at an Augusta Ga. Coin club show.

garrynot

Here is an FR1264 picked up from Harlan Berk.











Here is a nice FR1334.











A nice busy note. FR1294 Fessenden

garrynot

I've been a coin collector all my life and in the last 5 yrs I have been interested in paper and I have put together a nice set of fractionals and obsolete notes.



Here is a nice FR1238 from Glenview IL coin and currency.











An FR1255





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And an FR1258

garrynot

Here is the FR1255

tomtomtomtom

Here is a production proof. I got on a buy it now Ebay. I hoped that it was a rare essay but with the help of Dave and other forum members, It turned out to be a counterfeit production proof. I still think that it's kind of cool to see how counterfeiters were testing their work 150 years ago.











Here is an old thread about the note. link

dtreter

garrynot...your 10C Liberty has one of the secret marks that the engravers left on their printing plates. In your case, it deals with the engraver's placement of the dot above the 'e' in the signature. This doesn't make the note any more valuable nor rarer. Each of the plates had a different secret mark placed on them. You can read more about this in Paper Money Magazine Vol. LIV, No 5, Whole No 299 frpm SPMC.







And Tom, I love that Spinner counterfeit proof. If you ever decide to get rid of it....

bonkrood

Steve_in_Tampa

Florida fractionals;

dtreter

I've been told there are no gems found with the 50C confederate with the red serial number, but this one comes close.

garrynot

Originally posted by: dtreter

garrynot...your 10C Liberty has one of the secret marks that the engravers left on their printing plates. In your case, it deals with the engraver's placement of the dot above the 'e' in the signature. This doesn't make the note any more valuable nor rarer. Each of the plates had a different secret mark placed on them. You can read more about this in Paper Money Magazine Vol. LIV, No 5, Whole No 299 frpm SPMC.







And Tom, I love that Spinner counterfeit proof. If you ever decide to get rid of it....

Thanks for the information! I will take a close look at that.

Steve_in_Tampa

tomtomtomtom

Originally posted by: garrynot

First. I obtained this 1963 edition of Matt Rothert's Guide to American Fractional Currency from a small coin show.

So did I

numbersman

garrynot

Originally posted by: tomtomtomtom

Originally posted by: garrynot

First. I obtained this 1963 edition of Matt Rothert's Guide to American Fractional Currency from a small coin show.

So did I

Mine was free!

techwriter

This is my only collectible Fractional

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garrynot

A Bob Hope note. And a nice one at that.

garrynot

Here is my last one to date.

tomtomtomtom

Great notes everyone! If you want to see some whoppers, visit Dave's site. Dave

garrynot

Thanks Tom. I need to get my 1374 graded. Hopefully it is at least AU.

SMC

Here is my fractional that tells my story. I started collecting fractionals and S.C. obsoletes when I stopped collecting coins after 18 years. I went to the 1985 Memphis and saw the wonderful exhibits of fractionals and decided to do one the next year. I decided to do one on Spencer Morton Clark and asked Milt Friedberg for his research on Clark and he said he had none and that I would have to go find it. That began an obsession with Clark that still lasts today and am in the midst of writing a book about him.
Anyway, there was a red back Clark note with his courtesy signature on the back in Milt's 1997 auction that went for too much for me. Then, there was a red back and a green back in the Ford XIX sale in Atlanta. I was determined to get one. The red back was first and it went a bit higher than I wanted to go so the next lot was the unique green back. I did my best John J. Pittman imitation and stood up with bidder card high in the air until it was mine!
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SMC

Here is the Clark courtesy autograph. I cannot remember how to get the picture to show on the original post.
Clark courtesy autograph

DanCong

you copy the direct link and us the IMG tag


(Picture frame icon when you use the reply function, NOT Quick Reply)


nice note - fractionals are a bit of the "wild west" at the dawn of US National paper money, in that over a short period in time they were evolving and making up the rules as they went.

tomtomtomtom

Originally posted by: SMC

Here is the Clark courtesy autograph. I cannot remember how to get the picture to show on the original post.

Clark courtesy autograph

Have always loved the note!

garrynot

That's pretty cool SMC

Slasher

I remember that very well Benny...............I seem to remember you letting out a big sigh of relief once it was finally yours.

dtreter

Nice stories and notes everyone.



Slasher, You have great knowledge of currency, especially colonials and fractional notes. Why/how did you get so interested in fractional currency?