PMG-certified Note from Civil War Expected to Excel at FUN Show Auction

An incredibly rare banknote issued during the Civil War and certified by Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®) will be in the spotlight at the Heritage Currency Signature Auction at the FUN Show in Orlando on January 10, 2020. The 1863 $100 Compound Interest Treasury Note graded PMG Very Fine 30 EPQ has an estimate of at least $250,000 USD.

1863 $100 Compound Interest Treasury Note, graded PMG Very Fine 30 EPQ Click image to enlarge.

Issued at a time when the nation's debt was escalating rapidly, the note depicts George Washington on the front. A chart on the back shows that the note's 6 percent interest compounded twice a year would mean a $119.40 payout at its three-year redemption date. Nearly all of the other $100 notes like this one were quickly redeemed.

PMG's Exceptional Paper Quality (EPQ) designation indicates that this note is, in the opinion of PMG's grading team, completely original. (The other known example of this particular Friedberg catalog number has a lower numeric grade and a notation about minor repairs.)

Other highlights include:

• an 1880 $100 Silver Certificate graded PMG 30 Very Fine with an estimate of $100,000 and up
• a Guernsey, Wyoming 1882 $5 Brown Back with Serial Number 1 graded PMG 45 Choice Extremely Fine with an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000
• an 1886 $20 Silver Certificate graded PMG 55 About Uncirculated with an estimate of $60,000 and up
• a Juneau, Alaska 1902 $10 Plain Back graded PMG 35 Choice Very Fine with an estimate of $60,000 to 90,000
• an 1882 $20 Gold Certificate graded PMG 45 Choice Extremely Fine with an estimate of $60,000 and up
• an 1861 $5 Demand Note - New York graded PMG 50 About Uncirculated EPQ with an estimate of $55,000 and up
• a Geneva, New York 1882 $100 Brown Back graded PMG 15 Choice Fine with an estimate of $55,000 to $75,000
• a Minneapolis, Minnesota $5 graded PMG 15 Choice Fine with an estimate of $50,000 to $70,000
• a 1933 $10 Silver Certificate graded PMG 66 Gem Uncirculated EPQ with an estimate of $50,000 to $60,000
• an 1869 $20 Legal Tender graded PMG 65 Gem Uncirculated EPQ with an estimate of $50,000 and up

Heritage Auctions is also conducting a world currency auction at the FUN Show. Two of the top lots in that sale may be of interest to US collectors. They are a pair of Russian-American Company walrus skin notes issued by a Russian trading firm that operated in Alaska in the decades before it was sold to the US. To learn more about these notes, click here.

All estimates are provided by the auction house.