The Series 1882 $10 Date Back is from the First National Bank of Hereford, TX (Charter 5604) and at first glance looks like any other well-circulated National Banknote. To anyone but perhaps the most dedicated Texas collector, this is a rather mundane note on its surface. However, this note bears the engraved signatures of Treasury officials J.W. Lyons and Charles Treat.
“You may ask what is so special about this combination,” said Peter Treglia, director of currency at Stack’s Bowers Galleries. “A quick perusal of the 20th edition of Paper Money of the United States lists no 1882 $10 Date Back with that signature combination, nor any other Lyons-Treat 1882 Date Backs for that matter.”
Noted National Currency researcher and author Peter Huntoon confirmed the discovery as a new variety and explained that the signature combination was in place from July 1, 1905 to June 11, 1906. He further expanded that the only way for a post 1902 signature combination to appear on an 1882 dated note was for the bank to undergo a title charge after 1902, which is exactly how this note came to be.
The officers of the bank in Hereford officially changed the title of the bank to the First National Bank of Hereford from the Hereford National Bank on February 17, 1906. New plates were ordered and policy dictated they bear the engraved signatures of the Treasury officials in office at that time. With the bank still operating under the second charter period (officially receiving its charter October 23, 1900), they eventually received 1882 $10 and $20 Date Backs with the Lyons-Treat signature combination.
Furthermore, Huntoon’s research concluded that the First National Bank of Hereford was the only bank to receive 1882 Date Backs from Lyons-Treat plates. Given that the Friedberg number can only be found on notes from one bank, the likelihood of additional notes of this number surfacing is incredibly low.
Editor Arthur L. Friedberg has stated the note will officially be listed as Fr. 545a in the 21st edition of Paper Money of the United States.
The note has been graded and encapsulated by PMG as Fine 12 Net. Stack’s Bowers Galleries will be offering this note to the collecting public in its 2014 ANA World’s Fair of Money Showcase Auction in Chicago, IL, August 6–10, 2014.
Stack’s Bowers Galleries is currently accepting U.S. and world coin and paper money consignments for its ANA World’s Fair of Money Showcase and Rarities Night auctions. For more information, please call 800.458.4646 (West Coast) or 800.566.2580 (East Coast) to speak to a consignment specialist.
About Stack’s Bowers Galleries
Stack’s Bowers Galleries conducts live, Internet and specialized auctions of rare U.S. and world coins and currency and ancient coins, as well as direct sales through retail and wholesale channels. The company’s 80-year legacy includes the cataloging and sale of many of the most valuable United States coin and currency collections to ever cross an auction block — The John J. Ford, Jr. Collection, The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection, The Harry W. Bass, Jr. Collection, The Norweb Collection, The Cardinal Collection and The Battle Born Collection — to name just a few. World coin and currency collections include The Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. Collection of World Gold Coins, The Kroisos Collection, The Alicia and Sidney Belzberg Collection, The Wa She Wong Collection, The Guia Collection, The Thos. H. Law Collection, and The Robert O. Ebert Collection.
Topping off this amazing numismatic history is the inclusion of the world record for the highest price ever realized at auction for a rare coin, the 1794 Flowing Hair Silver Dollar graded Specimen-66 (PCGS) that realized over $10 million, part of their sale of the famed Cardinal Collection. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California, with offices in New York, Wolfeboro, Hong Kong, and Paris. Stack’s Bowers Galleries is an Official Auctioneer for several important numismatic conventions, including American Numismatic Association events, the New York International Numismatic Convention, the Professional Numismatists Guild New York Invitational, the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Spring, Summer and Winter Expos, and its April and August Hong Kong Auctions.
