2019-02-05 Tue

Part IV of Joel R. Anderson Collection of U.S. Paper Money Sale by Stack’s Bowers Galleries will be organised on 28th February in Baltimore. A set of nine Series 1869 “Rainbow” legal tender notes, is one of the main highlights. Black, red, and green inks were used to print these notes on special paper embedded with blue fibres. Notes in 9 denominations were issued in this series and the offered set contains one example of each variety namely, $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, and $1,000. Except for the $1,000, al other notes have got the “premium paper quality” tag by PCGS.

The lower denomination notes are offered several times at different auctions, but the ones in this particular set are in supreme condition. The $1 note is graded Gem New 66 and is the second finest known. The $2 note is graded Gem New 66 and is the third finest known. The $5 note features the famous “Woodchopper” vignette. It is graded Superb Gem New 67 and is the second finest known. The $10 note is graded Gem New 66 is also known as “Jackass Note” because the eagle looks like a donkey when held upside down. The $20 note is graded Superb Gem New 67 and is the finest example of its type.

Only five of the 68 $50 notes are listed as Uncirculated. The one offered in this collection is graded New 64 and is the finest known. It carries an estimated value of $300,000 to $500,000. The $100 note in this collection, graded Gem New 66, is one of the 27 finest known examples. It’s also being offered for the same estimated value.

The $500 and $1,000 notes have estimates of $1.5 million to $2.5 million. Both are the only example of its type in private hands. Out of the three existing examples of the $500 note, only one is in private hands and is graded Choice About New 55. It will be offered publically for the first time. The $1,000 note is graded About New 53 was last sold on 25th November 1944 by Albert A. Grinnell in New York for $1,135. The only other example of this note is a part of Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s collection. It’s considered to be one of the rarest banknotes of America.

Image Courtesy: Stacks and Bowers