IRVINE, Calif. (October 12, 2014) — The Winter 2014 Whitman Coin & Collectibles Baltimore Expo will be an exciting event for rare currency collectors that will present more than 1,200 lots of American currency. The strongest area of this session includes obsolete bank notes, featuring many great rarities. Also noteworthy are some outstanding large size federally issued bank notes.
The sale will begin with Part II of The Peter Mayer Collection of Obsolete Bank Notes. Mr. Mayer has been recognized as one of the hobby’s leading collectors, and has assembled an incredible obsolete bank note collection with several world-class proofs, including a most impressive $10 of the Salem Bank of Salem, Massachusetts. This particular proof features an incredibly rare historical vignette. The Peter Mayer Collection Part I, which sold as part of the Stack’s Bowers Galleries August 2014 Official Auction of the ANA World’s Fair of Money, brought record prices and sparked new interest in the obsolete market.
Additional highlights include the finest known 1882 $20 Gold Certificate Triple Signature, graded PCGS 64 PPQ. Just 27 examples of this rare Friedberg number are known in all grades. The note was offered in an October 17, 1990 Stack’s auction, where it realized a then impressive sum of $20,900. The market has evolved quite a bit in the 25 years since and this note will carry an estimate of $200,000 to $300,000 when it crosses the auction block.
An 1891 $1,000 Silver Certificate proof impression for the famed “Marcy” design type will also be a highlight of the sale. “This offering comes off the heels of an offering we presented in August of another proof impression that realized an impressive $111,625,” said Peter A. Treglia, director of currency for Stack’s Bowers Galleries. “The example to be offered is just as enticing and should create excitement as it is virtually the only way a collector can illustrate the type with only one issued example known in private hands. That issue, of course, is the note we sold privately only a few short months ago for $2.6 million,” Treglia noted.
Other highlights from the sale include:
Salem, Massachusetts. Salem Bank. ND (18xx). $10. Uncirculated. Proof.
Buffalo, New York. Manufacturers and Traders Bank. ND (18xx). $3. Choice Uncirculated. Proof.
New York, New York. Importers and Traders Bank. ND (18xx). $2. Choice Uncirculated. Proof.
Richmond, Virginia. Virginia Treasury Note. Act of June 8, 1861. $50. PMG About Uncirculated 55.
Fr. 151. 1869 $50 Legal Tender Note. PMG Very Fine 20.
Fr. 344. 1891 $100 Silver Certificate. PCGS Extremely Fine 40 Apparent.
Fr. 1133-C. 1918 $1000 Federal Reserve Note. Philadelphia. PMG Very Fine 25.
Fr. 1175a. 1882 $20 Gold Certificate. PCGS Very Choice New 64 PPQ.
Fr. 1180. 1905 $20 Gold Certificate. PCGS Very Choice New 64 PPQ.
Fr. 1703*. 1934B $10 Silver Certificate Star Note. PCGS About New 53 PPQ.
Earlville, Illinois. $5. 1882 BB. Fr. 467. The First NB. Charter #3323. PMG Gem Uncirculated 66 EPQ Star. Serial Number 1.
The sale will be available for viewing and bidding at StacksBowers.com. For more information or to request a catalog, call 800.458.4646 (West Coast) or 800.566.2580 (East Coast).
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.
