Stack’s Bowers Galleries Offers Very Rare Silver Certificates Certified by PMG

Some of the rarest US Silver Certificates known to the paper collecting community are among more than 700 banknotes certified by Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®) that are being offered in a Stack's Bowers Galleries auction. Bidding is already underway for the various sessions, including Session 6: U.S. Currency Part 1: Colonial Notes and Confederate Currency and Session 7: U.S. Currency Part 2: National Bank Notes, which are being held on April 3, 2025, and Session 8: U.S. Currency Part 3: Small Size, Large Size & Error Notes, which is being held the next day.

The top PMG-graded highlight in the auction is an 1880 $500 Silver Certificate graded PMG 15 Choice Fine (Session 8, lot 22343), with an estimate of $600,000 to $800,000. This is the sole example of this Friedberg Number available to collectors, with its only known counterpart residing in the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank collection. Bearing a portrait of Charles Sumner, an influential Massachusetts Senator who served from 1851 until his death in 1874, this banknote is part of the Shores Collection.

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Another PMG-certified highlight of the auction is an 1878 $10 Silver Certificate (New York) graded PMG 30 Very Fine (Session 8, lot 22305), with an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. Another rarity with provenance from the Shores Collection, this particular banknote is one of only four known examples of this Friedberg number. Similar to the 1880 series, this Silver Certificate features a portrait of American financier Robert Morris along with three signatures, including Assistant Treasurer J.C. Hopper's penned countersignature.

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The auction also includes an incredibly rare uncut sheet of Continental Currency certified by PMG, with an estimate of $30,000 to $50,000. To learn more about this impressive lot, click here.

Other PMG-certified notes in the auction include:

• an 1869 $100 Legal Tender graded PMG 45 Choice Extremely Fine (Session 8, lot 22210), with an estimate of $150,000 to $250,000
• an 1880 $50 Silver Certificate graded PMG 55 About Uncirculated EPQ (Session 8, lot 22331), with an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000
• an 1886 $5 Silver Certificate graded PMG 67 Superb Gem Uncirculated EPQ (Session 8, lot 22273), with an estimate of $75,000 to $125,000
• a 1922 $500 Gold Certificate graded PMG 50 About Uncirculated (Session 8, lot 22440), with an estimate of $75,000 to $125,000
• an 1878 $20 Silver Certificate graded PMG 20 Very Fine (Session 8, lot 22319), with an estimate of $80,000 to $120,000
• an 1886 $20 Silver Certificate graded PMG 55 About Uncirculated (Session 8, lot 22323), with an estimate of $60,000 to $90,000
• an 1891 $100 Silver Certificate graded PMG 45 Choice Extremely Fine EPQ (Session 8, lot 22340), with an estimate of $60,000 to $90,000
• an 1869 $50 Legal Tender graded PMG 30 Very Fine (Session 8, lot 22204), with an estimate of $60,000 to $80,000
• a Clifton, Territory of Arizona 1882 $10 National Bank Note graded PMG 25 Very Fine (Session 7, lot 21006), with an estimate of $60,000 to $80,000
• an 1886 $5 Silver Certificate graded PMG 67 Superb Gem Uncirculated EPQ (Session 8, lot 22270), with an estimate of $60,000 to $80,000

Estimates are provided by the auction house. The $ symbol represents US Dollars.