2017-08-03 Thu

Stacks Bowers is going to offer part 2 of the Joel R. Anderson Collection of US Paper Money this month. One of the highlights from the collection is an 1880 $1000 “Black Back” Silver Certificate of Deposit graded PCGS Currency Very Fine 25. A total of 8,000 such notes were printed, out of which only five survive today. Three notes are a part of institutional collections while two exist in private hands. The designs are bold along with brown and blue overprints. The paper is bright and creamy white. The grading service mentions minor edge repairs and that the note was moderately circulated.

The note features a portrait of William Marcy, who has served as U.S. senator, governor of New York, U.S. Secretary of War and U.S. Secretary of State. He was responsible for making southern portions of present-day Arizona and New Mexico, a part of US. It features a big brown Treasury Seal and a brown denomination counter; printed signatures of Bruce and Wyman, large counter with 1000 on Roman numeral M. The black printed back design is detailed while Roman figures and symbols are depicted on the letters of CERTIFICATE.

No Bruce-Gilfillan signed notes exist. A Very Fine Amon Carter specimen is in private hands but never been publicly offered. $500 and $1000 denominations of this series are very rare, due to which only two 1880 “Black Back” Silver Certificate type sets have been put together so far. The offered note was sold for $667,000 in October 2005. Currently, the note has an estimated value of $800,000 – $1,200,000.

Image Courtesy: Stacks Bowers Galleries