PMG-certified 1865 Note Realizes $264,000 at Stack’s Bowers Sale

A banknote certified by Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®) realized $264,000 at the Stack’s Bowers Galleries currency auction on November 14, 2019.

The 1865 $500 Interest Bearing Note, Fr. 212f, graded PMG 25 Very Fine, had an altered serial number and the payee’s name removed after it was redeemed, apparently in an attempt to redeem it again.

It also bears signs that Treasury Department officials discovered that plan, writing the correct serial number by hand on the note and punch-cancelling it repeatedly. A hand-written note on the back says: “Writing has evidently been removed from the payee mark on this note SMC June 26/68.” Numismatic experts believe that indicates the note was written by Spencer Clark, head of the National Currency Bureau at the time.

This 1865 $500 Interest Bearing Note, Fr. 212f, is graded PMG 25 Very Fine. It realized: $264,000. Click image to enlarge.

The note, submitted to PMG through its CrossOver service, was part of the collection of well-known numismatist Joel R. Anderson and is the only 1865 $500 Interest Bearing Note, Fr. 212f in the PMG Population Report.

Other notable paper money results of the Stack’s Bowers sale in Baltimore include:

• A 1902 $10, Fr. 632, First National Bank of Rosebud, Montana, Serial Number 1, graded PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated. Realized: $48,000.
• A 1902 $10, Fr. 613, Farmer’s National Bank of Kingfisher, Oklahoma Territory, graded PMG 30 Very Fine. Realized: $45,600.
• A 1928 $500 Gold Certificate, Fr. 2407, graded PMG 63 Choice Uncirculated. Realized: $31,200.
• A 1902 $50, Fr. 664, First National Bank of Youngwood, Pennsylvania, graded PMG 20 Very Fine. Realized: $26,400.
• A 1902 $10, Fr. 633, First National Bank of Elsinore, California, Serial Number 1, graded PMG 63 Choice Uncirculated. Realized: $14,400.
• An Uncut Sheet of 1928-A $1 Silver Certificates, Fr. 1601, graded PMG 63 Choice Uncirculated. Realized: $12,000.
• An 1882 $500 Gold Certificate, Fr. 1216, graded PMG 15 Choice Fine. Realized: $11,400.
• A 1995 $1 Federal Reserve Star Note, Fr. 1922-K*, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Serial Number 1, graded PMG 66 Gem Uncirculated EPQ. Realized: $10,800.
• An undated $2, Fr. 387a, Indian Head National Bank of Nashua, New Hampshire, graded PMG 20 Very Fine. Realized: $9,600.
• A 1929 $5, Fr. 1800-1, First National Bank of Ketchikan, Alaska, graded PMG 40 Extremely Fine. Realized: $9,300.

All prices realized include a buyer’s premium.