Banknote Reporter November 2022

As summer turns to fall, and here on the East Coast the leaves begin to turn into majestic hues of mauve and brown, it seems appropriate to visit a place where the essence of autumn is preserved. This usually means, at least to me, small town Pennsylvania, and since my collection of national bank notes was recently enhanced by a nice find, I thought this month we would visit quaint and attractive Mount Holly Springs. So let’s go! Mount Holly Springs, Penn., is a town in Cumberland County, located about 25 miles north of Gettysburg and a similar distance west of the state capital, Harrisburg. It is easily reached off Interstate 81 just south of Carlisle via State Route 34. It is a well-kept and bustling town of around 2,000 inhabitants. The…

The first national bank note bearing Treasury sheet serial 1,000,000 to reach a numismatic auction has been consigned to Stack’s Bowers Galleries. It is lot 20341 in the Winter 2022 Showcase Auction to be held Thursday, Nov. 3 at 2 pm Pacific Time at Stack’s Bowers Galleries Headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif. This offering ends a decades-long wait by national bank note collectors to even see such a note, let along have a crack at one. The note is a $5 1902 red seal from The American National Bank of San Diego, Calif., charter 7418, bearing serial A1000000-171-B. It ranks by virtual of its Treasury serial as the most remarkable national bank note discovery to come to market this year. Treasury sheet serial 1.000.000 is the highest Treasury serial number used on large-size nationals.…

A large offering of Greek coins and bank notes were available in the A. Karamitsos Auction 988 Part A and Part B on Oct. 21-23. One of the top coins in this sale is a Greece 1882A 10 Lepta graded NGC MS 67 RB (Part A, lot 6107) with a starting price of €5,500 (about $5,500). This coin is struck in copper, with an image of King George I and the inscription “ΓEΩPΓIOΣ A! BAΣI∧EϒΣ TΩN E∧∧HNΩN” (“George! King of the Greeks”) on the obverse. George I was originally a Danish prince, born in Copenhagen. He was 17 years old in 1863 when he was elected King of Greece by the Greek National Assembly, which deposed the previous King Otto. His reign lasted nearly 50 years, until his assassination in 1913. The…

Bob Calderman and his wife Lauren in search of a hip sandwich spot while visiting Albuquerque, N.M., found themselves at Slow Roasted Bocadillos Downtown in the Wells Fargo bank building at 200 Lomas Blvd NW. After enjoying a phenomenal Cuban Reuben, nature called, so Bob was directed down a hall to a desk where a security officer would unlock a door leading to his salvation. Beyond the guard Bob could see that there were a number of antique safes on display in the bank lobby. Seeing his interest, the guard invited him in to have a look smiling that “They have old money on the wall, too!” Among the items was the rubber stamp used to affix the signatures of cashier L. C. Becker and president J. H. Becker onto…

Collecting Counterfeit Currency Do you collect counterfeits? Well, the Secret Service says you can’t collect U.S. Counterfeits, but you can collect Confederate States of America counterfeits. Theyaren’tU.S. currency, but we have a lot of interest in Confederate currency and that includes Confederate counterfeits. Who counterfeited them? Well, I suspect some were counterfeited below the border of the United States and the Confederacy, but the United States counterfeited them as a weapon of war. We learned that trick from the British who counterfeited our Continental currency in an effort to undermine our economy. That was the same motive our government had, to weaken the economy of the Confederacy. The Civil War contributed to our hobby in a number of ways. Numerous efforts were used to keep our economies going. Tokens and medals…

One of just two known examples of an extraordinary hand-signed, triple signature 1882 $100 gold certificate lived up to its billing – and then some – when it sold for $750,000 to lead Heritage Auctions’ Long Beach Expo U.S. Currency Signature® Auction - Long Beach to $10,682,198 Oct. 5-7. The event was part of an extraordinary week of Heritage Long Beach Expo auctions. The Harry W. Bass Jr. Core Collection Part I US Coins Signature® Auction reached $20,459,645, then the Long Beach Expo U.S. Currency Signature® Auction - Long Beach brought $10,682,198. Last but not least, the second Long Beach Expo U.S. Coins Signature® Auction finished at $17,875,326 boosting the three events to $49,017,169, setting a new all-time record for any Long Beach Expo numismatic auction total. The only privately-owned example of…