Heritage Offers Extremely Rare Red Seal Serial Number 1 Notes Certified by PMG

Five vintage Federal Reserve Notes with Serial Number 1 that are certified by Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®) are taking center stage in an upcoming Heritage Auctions sale. They are among the top highlights from more than 800 PMG-certified notes being offered in Heritage’s GACC U.S. Currency Signature Auction, which is set to open in mid-September and end on October 8-10, 2025.

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The five PMG-certified Serial Number 1 notes include:

• a 1914 $100 Federal Reserve Note (San Francisco) graded PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated EPQ
• a 1914 $50 Federal Reserve Note (San Francisco) graded PMG 63 Choice Uncirculated EPQ
• a 1914 $20 Federal Reserve Note (San Francisco) graded PMG 65 Gem Uncirculated EPQ
• a 1914 $10 Federal Reserve Note (San Francisco) graded PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated EPQ
• a 1914 $5 Federal Reserve Note (San Francisco) graded PMG 65 Gem Uncirculated EPQ

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All five of these Number 1 notes previously sold in separate lots in April 2011, realizing a total of more than $600,000. Adolph Miller, a professor of economics and appointed member of the first Federal Reserve Board, purchased all five Serial Number 1 notes from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for $185 not long after they were printed.

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The 1914 Series marked the beginning of Federal Reserve Notes, which were initially printed with Red Seals in only five denominations: $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. The only other series of Large Size Federal Reserve Notes was the 1918 Series, which included higher denominations. The 1928 series shrunk the dimensions of the notes about 15% to the family size that Americans use today in everyday transactions.

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The $100 note in this auction is one of only five known surviving examples of a Red Seal 1914 $100 Federal Reserve Note with Serial Number 1, according to the auction house. Of the four others, one is in the ANA museum and another in the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank collection. Only three known surviving Red Seal 1914 Federal Reserve Notes with Serial Number 1 are known each from the $50 and $20 denominations, with a Federal Reserve Bank collection owning one of each.

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Other PMG-certified Serial Number 1 notes in the auction include:

• a Portland, Maine 1882 $5 Brown Back National Bank Note graded PMG 45 Choice Extremely Fine EPQ
• a San Francisco, California 1882 $10 Brown Back National Bank Note graded PMG 30 Very Fine
• an Esmont, Virginia 1902 $5 Red Seal National Bank Note graded PMG 63 Choice Uncirculated
• an uncut sheet of Weed, California 1929 $5 National Bank Notes (all with a Serial Number 1) graded PMG 55 About Uncirculated
• an uncut sheet of six Tifton, Georgia 1929 $20 National Bank Notes (all with a Serial Number 1) graded PMG 58 Choice About Uncirculated EPQ
• an uncut sheet of Bar Harbor, Maine 1929 $20 National Bank Notes (with Serial Numbers 1 to 6) graded PMG 50 About Uncirculated
• an Elko, Nevada 1929 $5 National Bank Note graded PMG 55 About Uncirculated EPQ
• a 2017A Federal Reserve Note (Chicago) graded PMG 67 Superb Gem Uncirculated EPQ