Innehållsförteckning för January 2019 från Banknote Reporter

High-grade Canadian paper will provide a major highlight at Heritage Auctions’ 2019 FUN World Currency Signature sale slated for Jan. 9-15 in Orlando at the Florida United Numismatists convention. The catalog contains something for all serious collectors of Canada’s currency. One lot in particular will be missing from existing collections: a plate set, A through D, of four Royal Bank of Canada $5s all dated 3 January 1927 and all with the same serial 1000003 (P-S1383; Ch. # 630-14-04). The notes bear the signatures of Morris W. Wilson and Sir Herbert Holt and were consigned by Wilson’s grandson. They are hence on the market for the first time in 90 years. Their grades make them highly desirable: PCGS New 62 PPQ, Very Choice New 64 PPQ (2), and Gem New…

For over thirty years, mints around the globe have welcomed each Lunar New Year with gold and silver coins. These lunar issues are now the largest annual numismatic program on the planet. In recent years, coins have been joined by Lunar New Year bank notes produced by a small number of countries. Mongolia was the first, followed by two banks in Macau. More recently, the Pacific island of Niue has gotten in on the act. With the Year of the Earth Pig set to dawn on Feb. 5, 2019, all four issuing authorities had notes available by mid-2018. First in line was Mongolbank [Bank of Mongolia]. As in past years, it has issued a 5g silver, 70x150mm foil 100-togrog note courtesy Lichtenstein’s Coin Invest Trust. The back of the note…

Brian Lavin made an extraordinary purchase when he bought this Series of 1875 note and then carefully checked it out. It bears Tillman-Morgan Treasury signatures, making it a Fr. 423a, which is a rarity. Not just a rarity, but a flaming rarity! Those signatures were current between July 1, 1893, and June 30, 1897, ranging 11 to 15 years after the series ceased being assigned to new banks. Treasury signatures were assigned to plates based on the date inscribed in the title block, in this case March 3, 1896. The only way such a late plate date could occur on a Series of 1875 note was for a new plate to have been made for an existing issuing bank either as the result of a title change or the bankers…

Knight’s mid-November Kansas world auction came heavily seasoned with an assortment of rarities from around the globe. Top-equal price went to a Nederlands Nieuw-Guinea 100 gulden of 8 December 1954 (P-16a). This is the Queen Juliana issue, and it was the first time Knight had offered this seldom-seen denomination. Graded PMG XF40, the note on offer is the best of three in the PMG population report. On an estimate of $9,500-13,500, it had no problem in realizing $10,800. That price was matched by a rare Icelandic 1 rigsdaler of 1798 (P-A5c) printed on the back of a Danish 1 rigsdaler courant (P-A28) and issued in Iceland by Courant Bank while under Danish Administration. It bears the security hand-stamp ‘B’ within a circle. Neither Sieg nor the Standard Catalog of World…

For some months, Spink’s London and New York offices have been in close cahoots over the company’s Jan. 11 NYINC bank note auction, set to take place during the New York International Numismatic Convention. One result should see South American collectors spending considerable time mulling over the catalog. A substantial portion of the sale is devoted to “The Ibrahim Salem Collection of South America.” If Spink’s previous sales of Salem’s holdings are anything to go by, the catalog holds numerous pleasant surprises. One such is an El Banco Anglo-Costa-Ricense 50 pesos specimen dated 1 January 1864 (P-S110s). Any prospective bidder among Costa Rican aficionados may find stiff competition from those who delight in vignettes of Queen Victoria. All notes of this 1864 issue featured an engraving of Her Majesty at…

An increasing number of collectors appear to be aware of the charter number over seal variety on Original Series $1 and $2 notes based on inquiries that I have received. The variety was produced for about two and a half months in 1874 and traces its origin to a hue and cry over the wretched condition of National Bank Notes in circulation and legislation proposed to remedy the problem. Previously, there was no effective mechanism to cull worn National Bank Notes from circulation, so the stock of national currency in public hands progressively deteriorated. Awareness of germs was gaining traction in public health, so women’s groups in particular seized on the soiled currency as a health hazard and agitated strongly for a remedy. Passage of the Act of June 20,…

The first few weeks of the new year see a spate of world paper money auctions around the globe. One of the first will be Spink China with their sale of Bank Notes, Bonds & Shares, and Coins of China and Hong Kong, which is scheduled for Jan. 4-5. For collectors of Chinese paper, the catalog deserves more than a casual perusal. Notes from all the main players are represented: HKSBC, Qing Dynasty, trading banks, colonial enclaves, and early PRC renminbi. Issued singles, runs, and specimens are all there, both the ubiquitous and rare. As happens so often these days, a rarity from Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation leads the charge. This time around, it is a $50 dated 1 January 1921 (P-168): the design with the classical sculptured…

I found myself flipping through my Nationals collection the other week, and I came across a few Iowa notes that reminded me of visits I had made to their towns more than a decade ago. I thought it would be fun to revisit those towns since they were pretty interesting. Let’s go! Rural Gladbrook, Iowa, in northwestern Tama County – about equidistant from Marshalltown and Waterloo – sits on State Route 96 just north of Union Grove State Park. My interest in Gladbrook was, again, based on a National Bank Note in my collection. So, as the afternoon sun began its downward spiral, I followed the circuitous route of twists and turns into downtown Gladbrook. Many years ago, at the Memphis International Paper Money Convention, I had the chance to…

Here is an oversize numismatic card sent out in 2006 by a company in California. The note image it contains is a United States interest-bearing Treasury $20 made because of the War of 1812. Five issues were made between 1810 and 1815 in various denominations because of the fighting with Great Britain. Making war is expensive, and the Treasury Department had nowhere to turn in order to acquire the necessary funding for military operations. This particular piece shown is an unissued remainder as it has no signatures, serial number, or filled-in date. It is estimated that anywhere from 13 to 30 of these $20 notes in all conditions are in existence today.…