Canadian Rarity Among Hundreds of PMG-certified World Notes in Heritage Sale

Heritage Auctions is offering nearly 500 world banknotes certified by Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®), including great rarities from Canada and the Netherlands. Online bidding is expected to begin in early March for the World Paper Money Signature Auction 4042, which will be held March 23, 2023.

One of the top notes offered is a rare Canada, Banque du Canada 1935 $20 - French with Serial Number 7 graded PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated EPQ (lot 24138), with an estimate of at least $25,000. This is one of the most famous Canadian banknotes ever produced, as it is the first to feature Queen Elizabeth II, well before she acceded to the throne.

Canada, Banque du Canada 1935 $20 - French with Serial Number 7 graded PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated EPQ Click images to enlarge.

The note featuring an adolescent Elizabeth was only in circulation for a few years before she was replaced by King George VI on the 1937 notes. Adding to this particular note's rarity, the text is in French instead of English. While 1 million notes were produced in English, only 202,500 notes were printed in French. This note has Serial Number 7 and stands alone as the second highest-graded among 100 total examples in the PMG Population Report.

The sale also includes a Netherlands 1909-16 1,000 Gulden Specimen graded PMG 55 About Uncirculated (lot 24384), with an estimate of $60,000 and up. Netherlands banknotes from 1904 to 1924 are already scarce, but this high-denomination 1,000 Gulden is the rarest of the series.

Netherlands 1909-16 1,000 Gulden Specimen graded PMG 55 About Uncirculated Click images to enlarge.

This historically important denomination from the Netherlands would have been able to redeem a significant amount of silver and gold coinage in the early 1900s. This is the only graded example of the banknote in the PMG Population Report.

Other PMG-certified banknotes from the auction include:

• a group of six Netherlands Indies 1810 notes (100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 1,000 Rijksdaalders) graded PMG 30 Very Fine to PMG 40 Extremely Fine (lot 24422), with an estimate of $80,000 and up
• a Zanzibar / British Administration 1920 1 Rupee graded PMG 40 Extremely Fine (lot 24545), with an estimate of $40,000 and up
• a Province of Canada 1866 $5 graded PMG 15 Choice Fine (lot 24127), with an estimate of $25,000 and up
• a Trinidad & Tobago 1921 100 Dollars graded PMG 20 Very Fine (lot 24537), with an estimate of $25,000 and up
• a German East Africa 1912 500 Rupien graded PMG 40 Extremely Fine (lot 24274), with an estimate of $15,000 and up
• a Hawaiian Islands 500 Dollars Front Proprietary Proof graded PMG 66 Gem Uncirculated EPQ (lot 24301), with an estimate of $15,000 and up
• an Italian Somaliland 1950 100 Somali graded PMG 67 Superb Gem Unc EPQ (lot 24331), with an estimate of $15,000 and up
• a Saint Thomas & Prince / Portuguese Administration 1897 10,000 Reis graded PMG 35 Choice Very Fine EPQ (lot 24466), with an estimate of $15,000 and up
• a Bahamas, Central Bank 1974 100 Dollars graded PMG 65 Gem Uncirculated EPQ (lot 24035), with an estimate of $12,000 and up

All estimates are provided by the auction house. The $ symbol represents US Dollars.