2018-07-13 Fri

19th-century Gold Certificates are rare because almost all of them were held privately and were not exported like double eagles and other gold coins. Metallic gold was mostly preferred over paper money for reserves by foreign treasuries. However, double eagles were exported in large numbers and millions have been returned since World War II.

Almost all existing Gold Certificates of the 19th century are of lower denominations. The Anderson $1,000 note is the highest denomination in its series and is also the finest out of the two known examples. The 1882 $1,000 Gold Certificate, graded Currency Extremely Fine 45 is a part of the Joel R. Anderson Collection and will be offered by Stacks and Bowers very soon for a record price.

The note features a portrait of Alexander Hamilton, a large brown spiked Treasury Seal with GOLD overprinted in gold letters, a large 1000 counter, bold blue serial numbers within gold panels, the engraved signatures of Rosecrans and Huston. The reverse features intricate designs in orange-gold with a bald eagle with shield and a large Roman numeral M counter.

There is a record of only four examples of this catalogue number. Two are a part of the National Numismatic Collection at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The offered note was the only privately held example known until 2013 when another example was discovered. The second example was graded Very Fine 35 by PCGS and sold for $881,250 in 2014. The offered note has bright paper, bold inks and was not circulated much. The note would be offered with an estimated price of $600,000-$800,000.

Image Courtesy: Stacks and Bowers