2017-01-31 Tue

An auction by Kolbe and Fanning on 14th January at the New York International Numismatic Convention sold a Thian master album of Confederate notes that was assembled in 1906 for $41,300. Since the collection did not have the rarest notes in the series like the four Montgomery, Ala., issues of 1861, the first two Richmond issues of 1861, and three other rarities, it could not fetch the $50,000 pre-sale estimate. On 5th January, Heritage sold an album with a complete set of Confederate currency, at the Florida United Numismatists convention, for $99,875.

Raphael Thian was the main clerk of the U.S. Army Adjutant general’s office in Washington. The album has 418 pages with 285 specimens belonging to 63 of the 72 basic types of Confederate currency. The album also contains photo replicates of the first six notes and six red “chemicographic” impressions of reverses that were never used on the 1864 issue because they were made in England and seized in the Union blockade. Every note also has a descriptive text with it. Only very few such albums exist today. Thian’s master albums show types of each note, including watermarks, paper, and plate differences.