2019-07-04 Thu

The International Paper Money Show was conducted by Lyn Knight from 13th to 16th June in Kansas City, Missouri. A 10-florin or 1-pound note, issued on 1st May 1920 by East African Currency Board, graded CU 64 by PMG, was sold for $37,600, against an estimated value of $10,000 to $20,000. It’s the best example out of the 4 which are listed in the Track and Price World Paper Money guide.

A 5-dinar note from Iraq, issued on 1st July 1931, featuring a portrait of King Faisal I, graded VF 25 by PMG, was sold for $37,600, against an estimated value of $25,000 to $35,000. Only four such examples are known today and one of them was sold for half the price in 2014. A $50/$100 double-denomination Date Back banknote issued by the Columbia National Bank of Buffalo (New York), graded About New 50 by PCGS Currency, was sold for the highest value at the auction at $49,350.

Nick Bruyer presented his research on “The First U.S. Demand Note” during one of the seminars at the event. According to the research, some pre-Civil War Treasury notes circulated as currency during the Panic of 1837. The Treasury notes of 1837 to 1843 were issued because coins were disappearing from circulation. The first class of notes were offered a high-interest rate and was issued for investors. The second class had a nominal interest rate and were payable to bearer like circulating paper money. These $50 and $100 notes were used to pay government suppliers and employees, the military and members of Congress.

Other interesting topics like emergency paper money of World War I and their counterfeiters, obsolete notes, money from neutral nations during World War II, and Japanese puppet banks in China, were also covered during separate sessions.

Image Courtesy: Lyn Knight Auctions