Innehållsförteckning för November 2022 från Banknote Reporter

Stunning Canadian currency rarities sold for six figures each in a September 2022 Stack’s Bowers Galleries auction. The notes are part of the Paradise Collection of bank notes from around the world. One of the top sellers of the auction was a Dominion of Canada 1911 500 Dollars graded PMG Choice Fine 15, which sold for $240,000 (lot 40125). This extremely rare note is considered by many collectors to be one of the grails of Canadian currency. The auction also included another great rarity from the Great White North: a Canada, Bank of Canada 1935 500 Dollars – “English” graded PMG 20 Very Fine (lot 40137). This note, which features a portrait of Sir John A. Macdonald, the first prime minister of Canada, sold for $102,000. According to the Charlton…

On Sept. 12, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen held a ceremonial swear-in for President Biden’s appointee, Chief Lynn Malerba, to serve as the Treasurer of the United States. The swearing in ceremony took place in the Cash Room at the Department of the Treasury and included remarks by Secretary Yellen and Chief Malerba. President Biden announced his intent to appoint Chief Malerba as Treasurer on June 21, 2022. That day, Chief Malerba joined Secretary Yellen on a visit to Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The visit marked the first time in history that a Treasury Secretary had visited a Tribal nation. Chief Malerba is the first Native American person to serve as the nation’s Treasurer. She became the 18th Chief of the Mohegan Tribe in 2010 and…

Over 27 billion coins feature Queen Elizabeth II’s likeness, alongside approximately 4.7 billion bank notes. With the queen’s passing, there has been much speculation on what will happen to those coins and bank notes, as well as what the new portrait of King Charles III will look like. The Royal Mint announced on Oct. 3 the release of a commemorative set for the late queen. These are the first coins to have King Charles’s effigy. Per tradition, a new monarch will face the opposite direction than their predecessor, which makes the new king face left, as the queen faced right on her coins and bank notes. According to a press release by the Bank of England, images of updated bank notes featuring the King’s new portrait will be revealed by…

The first national bank note bearing Treasury sheet serial 1,000,000 to reach a numismatic auction has been consigned to Stack’s Bowers Galleries. It is lot 20341 in the Winter 2022 Showcase Auction to be held Thursday, Nov. 3 at 2 pm Pacific Time at Stack’s Bowers Galleries Headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif. This offering ends a decades-long wait by national bank note collectors to even see such a note, let along have a crack at one. The note is a $5 1902 red seal from The American National Bank of San Diego, Calif., charter 7418, bearing serial A1000000-171-B. It ranks by virtual of its Treasury serial as the most remarkable national bank note discovery to come to market this year. Treasury sheet serial 1.000.000 is the highest Treasury serial number…

Collecting Counterfeit Currency Do you collect counterfeits? Well, the Secret Service says you can’t collect U.S. Counterfeits, but you can collect Confederate States of America counterfeits. Theyaren’tU.S. currency, but we have a lot of interest in Confederate currency and that includes Confederate counterfeits. Who counterfeited them? Well, I suspect some were counterfeited below the border of the United States and the Confederacy, but the United States counterfeited them as a weapon of war. We learned that trick from the British who counterfeited our Continental currency in an effort to undermine our economy. That was the same motive our government had, to weaken the economy of the Confederacy. The Civil War contributed to our hobby in a number of ways. Numerous efforts were used to keep our economies going. Tokens and…

Many impressive East African bank notes were available in a Heritage Auctions sale. Bidding for these and over 400 other rarities from around the world was intense at the World Paper Money Signature Auction #4039 held on Oct. 20. The auction’s top lot was an East Africa, Currency Board 1920 50 Florins = 5 Pounds – Mombasa graded PMG 55 About Uncirculated (lot 25140) that had an estimate of $40,000 and up. This denomination is extremely rare in its issued form, with only five examples in the PMG Population Report. Adding to the appeal of this particular note is its low serial number: 00008. Also notable was an Isles of France & of Bourbon 1790 5 Livres graded PMG 61 Uncirculated (lot 25300) with an estimate of $8,000 and up.…

The proof for the first Series of 1875 $5 plate for The Chase National Bank was lifted before the plate was finished. Notice at the base of the title block that the script postal location New York and day and last two digits of the year in the plate date are missing. The omissions within the date are particularly odd. The work on the proof reveals that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing siderographers were entering the plate date in parts, with the day and last two digits of the year yet to come. I never saw evidence of this before. In fact, what I have observed is that a full engraving of the $5 title block for each bank was construction on its own component die. This was done…

A large offering of Greek coins and bank notes were available in the A. Karamitsos Auction 988 Part A and Part B on Oct. 21-23. One of the top coins in this sale is a Greece 1882A 10 Lepta graded NGC MS 67 RB (Part A, lot 6107) with a starting price of €5,500 (about $5,500). This coin is struck in copper, with an image of King George I and the inscription “ΓEΩPΓIOΣ A! BAΣI∧EϒΣ TΩN E∧∧HNΩN” (“George! King of the Greeks”) on the obverse. George I was originally a Danish prince, born in Copenhagen. He was 17 years old in 1863 when he was elected King of Greece by the Greek National Assembly, which deposed the previous King Otto. His reign lasted nearly 50 years, until his assassination in…

One of just two known examples of an extraordinary hand-signed, triple signature 1882 $100 gold certificate lived up to its billing – and then some – when it sold for $750,000 to lead Heritage Auctions’ Long Beach Expo U.S. Currency Signature® Auction - Long Beach to $10,682,198 Oct. 5-7. The event was part of an extraordinary week of Heritage Long Beach Expo auctions. The Harry W. Bass Jr. Core Collection Part I US Coins Signature® Auction reached $20,459,645, then the Long Beach Expo U.S. Currency Signature® Auction - Long Beach brought $10,682,198. Last but not least, the second Long Beach Expo U.S. Coins Signature® Auction finished at $17,875,326 boosting the three events to $49,017,169, setting a new all-time record for any Long Beach Expo numismatic auction total. The only privately-owned…

Believe it or not, an organization with the name “Independent Order of Odd Fellows” was officially inaugurated on April 26, 1819 in Baltimore, Md. by individuals from England. The main purpose of this organization is to render help to members in need. But the idea of this kind of assistance is a concept that goes back to ancient times when Israelites were exiled in Babylon. Some of these people banded together to form a kind of brotherhood for mutual support. This idea persisted among Jewish prisoners taken to Rome. Even the Emperor Titus Caesar recognized the concept, and from there it spread across the Empire. Several fraternal societies were formed in England to provide workers with benevolence if they fell on hard times. Even such help as medical treatment was…

In an effort to prevent and deter increasingly sophisticated counterfeit attempts, U.S. currency will be going through a redesign process. According to the Bureau of Engraving & Printing (BEP), over a decade of research and development, alongside years of optimization and integration testing will be behind the release of these new bank notes and their enhanced security features. Before these enhanced bank notes can be released, rigorous testing must be done to mitigate manufacturing risks and allow for acceptance in commerce. This testing can take years to complete. The BEP also notes that there are over 10 million bank note equipment machines worldwide that processes U.S. currency, which will add to the time consuming testing process. All of these tests and redesign efforts are being carried out by the Advanced…