GreatCollections Offers Stunning US Rarities from Schwenk Family Collection
Posted on 8/25/2026
A collection of some of the greatest banknotes in US numismatics is headed to auction, with several of the notes expected to sell for six figures, including two $1,000 denomination rarities certified by PMG®. The notes are being offered in individual lots over the course of several weeks in the late summer and early fall of 2026.
One of the centerpieces of the entire collection is an 1882 $1,000 Gold Certificate graded PMG 30 Very Fine, in a lot ending Sept. 6. Only about a dozen examples of this very rare catalog number are known, and they have invariably sold for more than $100,000 in recent years.
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Meanwhile, an 1880 $1,000 Legal Tender graded PMG 30 Very Fine NET is being offered in a lot ending August 30. The PMG Population Report lists eight examples of this this particular catalog number certified by PMG, about half the number of known survivors. The front shows a portrait of DeWitt Clinton, an early governor of New York, while a vignette of Columbus in his study appears to the left.
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The Schwenk Family Collection of 100 Greatest American Currency Notes is one of the top sets in the entire PMG Registry. With a set name of Schwenk's Greatest, it is in second place in points in the 100 Greatest American Currency Notes, Type Set, by Bowers and Sundman category, as of mid-August 2026. The category is based on the "100 Greatest American Currency Notes" book published in 2005 by numismatists Q. David Bowers and David M. Sundman.
Other PMG-certified lots from the The Schwenk Family Collection of 100 Greatest American Currency Notes that are being offered in the next few weeks include:
- a 1918 $500 Federal Reserve Note (New York) graded PMG 40 Extremely Fine, in a lot ending Sept. 6
- a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania $100 Original National Bank Note graded PMG 25 Very Fine, in a lot ending Sept. 6
- an 1863 $100 Legal Tender graded PMG 30 Very Fine, in a lot ending Sept. 13
- a a 1907 $1,000 Gold Certificate graded PMG 30 Very Fine, in a lot ending Sept. 13
- a Confederate States of America 1861 $500 graded PMG 30 Very Fine, in a lot ending Sept. 13
- a 1905 $20 Gold Certificate graded PMG 63 Choice Uncirculated EPQ, in a lot ending Sept. 20
- a 1890 $2 Treasury Note graded PMG 65 Gem Uncirculated EPQ, in a lot ending Sept. 20
- a a National Gold Bank and Trust Company, San Francisco 1872 $10 National Gold Bank Note graded PMG 25 Very Fine, in a lot ending Sept. 20
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