PMG-certified “Rainbow Note” Realizes $180,000 at ANA Stack’s Bowers Sale

An 1869 $50 Legal Tender “Rainbow Note” certified by Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®) realized $180,000 at the Stack’s Bowers Galleries ANA Auction in Chicago. The note is graded PMG 58 Choice About Uncirculated EPQ.

This note is known as a “Rainbow Note” because of the colors on its front design: a reddish overprint ink and blue tinted security paper in addition to the green typically associated with US notes.

This 1869 $50 Legal Tender “Rainbow Note” graded PMG 58 Choice About Uncirculated EPQ realized $180,000. Click image to enlarge.

A banknote from a generation later, an 1882 $1,000 Gold Certificate graded PMG 25 Very Fine, realized $168,000. This note, too, has significant color, including red and gold. Just 11 examples of the issue are known, one of which is in the collection of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

This 1882 $1,000 Gold Certificate graded PMG 25 Very Fine realized $168,000. Click image to enlarge.

A later issue, a 1928 $5,000 Federal Reserve Note (Cleveland) graded PMG 25 Very Fine, also realized $168,000. It is the only known example of this denomination from the Cleveland District and one of fewer than 30 Series 1928 $5,000 notes from any district known.

Another $5,000, this one a 1934 Federal Reserve Note (Chicago) graded PMG 63 Choice Uncirculated, realized $126,000.

Two 1902 Red Seal $100 notes issued in Nebraska sold for five figures each.

A $100 issued by the First National Bank of Sargent and graded PMG 25 Very Fine with Serial Number 1 realized $78,000. Another $100, this issued by the First National Bank of Auburn and also graded PMG 25 Very Fine, realized $66,000.

All prices realized include buyer's premium.