Caine Collection U.S. Currency in Stack’s Bowers Spring Auction
Stack’s Bowers Galleries is presenting its Spring 2024 Showcase Auction of U.S. Currency in two sessions hosted at Griffin Studios in the firm’s Costa Mesa, California, headquarters. The first will be held on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, and the second will take place on Thursday, March 28. Both sessions offer diverse rarities drawn together from multiple areas of interest.
It begins with offerings from the Colonial-era up through the American Civil War. Obsolete selections drawn from the Caine Collection offer a multitude of Proofs and issued notes that are seldom encountered at auction. This includes a scarce and visually stunning Continental issue of May 10, 1775, $20 CC-9 graded PCGS Banknote Very Fine 30, printed on marbled polychrome paper supplied by Benjamin Franklin and featuring vignettes adapted from those drawn from his hand highlighting the Colonial-era and Continental notes.
The Wednesday session will be rounded out by a geographically diverse assortment of National Bank Notes highlighted by a pair of exceptional offerings. The first, a 1902 $20 Plain Back from the National Bank of Sylvania, Georgia graded PMG Very Fine 25, is only the third note recorded on this extremely rare Screven County charter along Georgia’s border with South Carolina. The second, a Serial Number 1 Circus Poster 1882 $5 Brown Back from the Northern National Bank of Ashland, Wisconsin graded PMG Extremely Fine 40, presents another rare opportunity.
Topping the rarities offered on Thursday is a rare uncut sheet of Fr. 226 1899 $1 Silver Certificates graded PMG Choice Uncirculated 64. This sheet, featuring serial numbers 9 through 12, was among the first produced by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) to display the iconic Black Eagle vignette at center. Unlike so many comparable sheets from the period, this example does not suffer from the effects of improper storage and handling, as confirmed by the grade assigned by PMG. A true survivor, this item is a memorable offering in a sale stacked with an assortment of comparable rarities.
