PMG Unveils Gallery of Banknotes in D. Brent Pogue Collection of US Paper Money

Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®) has unveiled an online gallery of all 220 dazzling rarities in the D. Brent Pogue Collection of US Paper Money, which is entirely certified by PMG.

Pogue assembled the most valuable collection of coins and banknotes in history, with a market value well above $100 million. His US banknotes, with a total estimate of $8 million to $10 million, include many finest-known examples, special serial numbers, Star / replacement notes and other stunning rarities. Many of the notes are pedigreed to some of the most important collections of the last century.

The online gallery here includes high-resolution images along with details of all of the PMG-certified Pogue notes. Visitors can also click to see the PMG Population Report for each note to research its relative rarity.

The 1863 $100 “Spread Eagle” Legal Tender Note in the Pogue Collection is graded PMG 65 Gem Uncirculated EPQ and has an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. Click the images to enlarge them.

Stack’s Bowers Galleries will present the collection in an auction on March 19, 2020, in conjunction with the Whitman Coin & Collectibles Expo in Baltimore. Stack’s Bowers already has completed five sales of Pogue Collection coins.

Two of the amazing Pogue paper money rarities with estimates of $400,000 to $600,000 each are an 1863 $100 “Spread Eagle” Legal Tender note graded PMG 65 Gem Uncirculated EPQ and an 1890 $100 “Watermelon” Treasury Note graded PMG 63 Choice Uncirculated EPQ.

The “Spread Eagle” design, Fr. 167a, is named for the stunning image of the national bird with wings outstretched that occupies nearly the entire left side of the note’s front. PMG has graded a total of nine examples, none of them nearly as fine as the Pogue note.

The 1890 $100 “Watermelon” Treasury Note graded PMG 63 Choice Uncirculated EPQ in the Pogue Collection has an estimate of $400,000 to $600,000. Click images to enlarge them.

The “Watermelon” design, Fr. 377, earned its nickname from a resemblance of its large zeros on its back. This example is the finest graded by PMG. In fact, it is the only example certified by PMG in any uncirculated grade.

A 1907 $1,000 Gold Certificate, Fr. 1219e, is graded an impressive PMG 66 Gem Uncirculated EPQ. The note, with beautiful gold ink on its front, is by far the finest of the 22 examples that have been certified by PMG. Its estimate is $300,000 to $500,000.

A $10 Demand Note, one of the first “greenbacks,” issued as the Civil War began in 1861, has a hand-written notation on the back signed by Charles Henry Dalton, at the time the Agent of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in Washington. The note, Fr. 7a, is one of the rarest Demand Notes of all denominations, with just three examples known. Graded PMG 58 Choice About Uncirculated EPQ, it also is the finest-known $10 Demand Note of any type or variety. Its estimate is $200,000 to $300,000.

Other particularly notable banknotes offered in the sale presented by Stack’s Bowers include:

• An 1869 $50 Legal Tender Note, Fr. 151, graded PMG 65 Gem Uncirculated EPQ with an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000.
• An 1869 $100 Legal Tender Note, Fr. 168, graded PMG 65 Gem Uncirculated EPQ with an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000.
• An 1880 $1,000 Legal Tender Note, Fr. 187k, graded PMG 25 Very Fine, with an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000.
• An 1891 $50 Treasury Note, Fr. 376, graded PMG 64 Choice Uncirculated, with an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000.
• A 1907 $1,000 Gold Certificate, Fr. 1219e, graded PMG 66 Gem Uncirculated EPQ, with an estimate of $300,000 to $500,000.
• An 1880 $100 Silver Certificate, Fr. 342, graded PMG 65 Gem Uncirculated EPQ, with an estimate of $300,000 to $400,000.
• An 1880 $50 Silver Certificate, Fr. 328, graded PMG 65 Gem Uncirculated EPQ, with an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000.
• An 1880 $100 Silver Certificate, Fr. 340, graded PMG 45 Choice Extremely Fine, with an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000.
• An 1875 $50 National Bank Note, Fr. 449, Serial Number 1, graded PMG 55 About Uncirculated, with an estimate of $250,000 to $300,000.
• An 1875 $100 National Bank Note, Fr. 462, graded PMG 55 About Uncirculated, with an estimate of $250,000 to $350,000.

All estimates are by the auction house and expressed in US Dollars.

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