2018-08-17 Fri

Part II of the Joel R. Anderson Collection is being offered for sale by Stacks Bowers since 16th August. The collection contains several examples of the extremely rare Silver Certificates of Deposit of the series of 1878 and 1880.

One of them is an 1880 $1000 “Black Back” Silver Certificate of Deposit, graded PCGS Currency Very Fine 25. Only two such notes are privately held. The print is bold and strong colour is present in the brown and blue overprints. The paper is bright and creamy white. It has minor edge repairs on the back of the holder.

The note depicts a portrait of William Marcy who served several important positions in politics. It also has a big brown Treasury Seal with a brown denomination counter. It features the printed signature of Bruce and Wyman and a huge counter with 1000 overlapping Roman numeral M. The reverse design is black and detailed. The letters of CERTIFICATE contain Roman figures and symbols.

A total of 8,000 such notes were printed, but only five survive today. No Bruce-Gilfillan signed notes exist. Another example of this type is an Amon Carter specimen that is graded Very Fine but has never been publically auctioned.

It is possible to put together only two 1880 “Black Back” Silver Certificate type sets, due to rarity. The offered note was auctioned for $667,000 in October 2005. This time it is being offered with an estimated value of $800,000-$1,200,000.

Image Courtesy: Stacks and Bowers