SANTA ANA, CA (May 26, 2016) — A recently discovered Original Series $100 National Banknote from the Salem National Banking Company of Salem, New Jersey, Charter #1326, will have collectors abuzz when it crosses the block at the Stack’s Bowers Galleries Official Currency Auction of the ANA World’s Fair of Money this August in Anaheim, CA. The note is the first First Charter $100 to come forward from the state of New Jersey and is now one of just about 40 Original Series $100s known from all note issuing banks combined.
A true miracle of survival, this $100 was originally acquired by a family member of the consignor who worked in banking in New Jersey in the 1960s. The gentleman played a role in the former national bank’s acquisition and during an audit of the bank’s vault, vintage notes from the national banking era were discovered. In a stroke of good fortune he was able to purchase the notes at face value. While he had no numismatic experience to speak of, he had the foresight to purchase these odd looking antique notes and hold on to them for the next 40 plus years.
The Salem National Banking Company was chartered August 1, 1865, and issued a total of $2,936,280 in both large and small size. They issued a scant 575 Original Series $100s before doing away with the denomination beginning with the Series of 1875. The example Stack’s Bowers Galleries will auction in August displays only moderate circulation and retains bright paper and boldly inked design elements including the cherry red overprint displaying serial number 518. The note has been graded Very Fine 35 Net by PMG with the grading service noting some deftly executed restoration in their assigned grade. The note will carry a pre-auction estimate of $80,000-$120,000.
Also to be offered from the group of notes purchased from the bank nearly five decades ago will be several Original Series and Series of 1875 $5 and $10 notes from the Salem National Banking Company, as well as a $10 Brown Back from the bank and a serial number 1 sheet of 1929 Type-1 $5s.
Stack’s Bowers Galleries is currently planning for the firm’s Official Currency Auction of the ANA World’s Fair of Money and other upcoming events. Stack’s Bowers representatives will be accepting consignments at the Memphis International Paper Money Show. If you cannot attend the show please give us a call at 1-800-458-4646 or email Currency Specialist Brad Ciociola at bciociola@stacksbowers.com or Director of Currency Peter Treglia at petert@stacksbowers.com.
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 D. Brent Pogue Collection, 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 Santa Ana, 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, August and December Hong Kong Auctions.
