PMG Registry Featured Set: 100 Greatest US Notes
Posted on 8/25/2026
The PMG Registry is in the news this week, as the premier numismatic event in the United States — the ANA World's Fair of Money — is being held in Pittsburgh. PMG will announce the winners of the 2026 PMG Registry Awards on Thursday (so stay tuned to PMGnotes.com and PMG social media!). Meanwhile, one of the greatest sets in the PMG Registry is headed to auction through GreatCollections, so we've decided to give it a salute as the PMG Registry Featured Set for August.
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As of late August 2026, the Schwenk's Greatest set has the second-highest number of points for the incredibly challenging 100 Greatest American Currency Notes, Type Set, by Bowers and Sundman, and actually has a higher completion rate (77%) than any other competitor. The category is based on the "100 Greatest American Currency Notes" book published in 2005 by numismatists Q. David Bowers and David M. Sundman, and is a parade of elite banknotes, many of which are extremely difficult for collectors to acquire. An 1890 $100 "Watermelon" Treasury Note (named for the design on the back in which the zeroes look like watermelons) is a centerpiece of the Schwenk's Greatest set, with 13,914 points, the highest point total of any rarity in the set.
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Meanwhile, an 1863 $100 Legal Tender Note adds another 8,098 points to the set. Bidding is already up to $20,000 for this note nearly three weeks before the lot closes on the GreatCollections site.
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Another phenomenal note is a 1928 $5,000 Federal Reserve Note (Kansas City), which has seen bidding soar past $50,000 with nearly two months until the auction! These high-denomination notes, which are in the same category as the notes that Americans carry around in their wallets, were discontinued after the 1928 and 1934 series, and were generally only used for transactions between large financial institutions when they did circulate. They are a top highlight of whatever auction they appear in.
We offer our appreciation and thanks to the PMG Registry member who built this collection, as well as more than 2,000 others who have also built sets in the PMG Registry. Check out the Schwenk's Greatest slideshow while you can!
Winning sets for the 2026 PMG Registry Awards will be announced at the ANA World’s Fair of Money this week! Winners will receive a personalized plaque, an icon of recognition next to their PMG Registry set, and a $500 PMG grading credit.
Thank you all for your continued support of the PMG Registry, the finest online collecting platform for paper money. The PMG Registry is a free online resource where collectors register and display their certified notes and can compete against other collectors around the world for recognition and prizes. This popular resource now boasts more than 2,000 users, more than 26,000 registered sets, and more than 150,000 registered notes.
Questions or comments? The PMG Registry team is here to help. To learn more about the PMG Registry, click here.
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