PMG-certified Silver Certificate Realizes More than $500,000 in Stack's Bowers Galleries Auction

Three Silver Certificates and a Legal Tender Note that are certified by Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®) each realized six figures in a Stack's Bowers Galleries auction. Stack's Bowers' Session 6: U.S. Currency Part 1: Colonial Notes and Confederate Currency and Session 7: U.S. Currency Part 2: National Bank Notes were held on April 3, 2025, and Session 8: U.S. Currency Part 3: Small Size, Large Size & Error Notes was held the next day.

The top PMG-graded note in the auction was an 1880 $500 Silver Certificate graded PMG 15 Choice Fine (Session 8, lot 22343), which realized $528,000. The only known counterpart to this rarity resides in the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank collection, making this particular Silver Certificate the sole example of this Friedberg Number available to collectors. The note features a portrait of Charles Sumner, who was an influential Massachusetts Senator who served from 1851 until his death in 1874.

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Another PMG-graded highlight of the auction was an 1878 $10 Silver Certificate (New York) graded PMG 30 Very Fine (Session 8, lot 22305), which realized $228,000. The note features a portrait of American financier Robert Morris along with three signatures, including Assistant Treasurer J.C. Hopper's penned countersignature. It is among only four known examples of this Friedberg number.

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In addition, a rare uncut sheet of PMG-certified Revolutionary War notes far exceeded the auction house's estimate. A Continental Currency February 17, 1776 Sheet ($1 to $8) graded PMG 58 Choice About Uncirculated (Session 6, lot 20130) realized $72,000. This surviving sheet is from the year in which the United States declared its independence and is the first of the four earliest Continental sheets known to have been issued. According to the auction house, this is the only known double pane sheet of non-fractional denominations of this issue.

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Other PMG-certified highlights in this auction include:

• an 1869 $100 Legal Tender Note graded PMG 45 Choice Extremely Fine (Session 8, lot 22210), which realized $192,000
• an 1880 $50 Silver Certificate graded PMG 55 About Uncirculated EPQ (Session 8, lot 22331), which realized $114,000
• a 1922 $500 Gold Certificate graded PMG 50 About Uncirculated (Session 8, lot 22440), which realized $78,000
• an 1891 $100 Silver Certificate graded PMG 45 Choice Extremely Fine EPQ (Session 8, lot 22340), which realized $75,000
• an 1878 $20 Silver Certificate graded PMG 20 Very Fine (Session 8, lot 22319), which realized $66,000
• an 1886 $20 Silver Certificate graded PMG 55 About Uncirculated (Session 8, lot 22323), which realized $60,000
• an 1869 $50 Legal Tender Note graded PMG 30 Very Fine (Session 8, lot 22204), which realized $55,200
• an 1886 $5 Silver Certificate graded PMG 67 Superb Gem Uncirculated EPQ (Session 8, lot 22270), which realized $55,200
• a San Rafael, California 1902 Date Back $5 Sheet graded PMG 53 About Uncirculated EPQ (Session 7, lot 21111), which realized $55,200
• an 1886 $5 Silver Certificate graded PMG 67 Superb Gem Uncirculated EPQ (Session 8, lot 22273), which realized $54,000

Prices realized include buyer's premium.