Press Release - November 30, 2005
Heritage Strikes Gold!
Dallas, Texas: Heritage Currency Auctions of America (HCAA) will offer two rare Gold Certificates in their upcoming Signature Auction, to be held January 6 & 7, 2006 in conjunction with the Florida United Numismatists (FUN) Convention in Orlando, Florida.
"The first of these incredible pieces," said Allen Mincho, Director of HCAA, " is a Fr. 1191 $50 1882 Gold Certificate, graded Extremely Fine 40. In its most recent auction appearance, we sold this note as lot 1578 of the Lawrence Cookson Collection in January 1999. It was described there as:
'One of the most spectacular rarities in this or any collection, and the only example of its type in private hands. Four notes are known to exist, three of which are permanently impounded in government hands and this note, the fourth example, which is far and away the finest known. Its pedigree traces it from the Barney Bluestone sale of the Albert A. Grinnell Collection on March 10, 1945, where it realized $95, to the collection of James Stack. It reappeared as Lot 1799 of the Stack's March 15, 1990 sale where it realized $28,600. While at the viewing for that sale, this note and the matching Hundred (also in Dr. Cookson's collection, Lot number 1590) caused dealer/friend Lyn Knight to remark, 'What are these? I didn't even know they made these.' Neither Lyn, this cataloger nor anyone else in attendance at that sale had ever seen a Gold Certificate with the Large Spiked Seal. Few if any U.S.notes have the visual impact of this note and its companion Hundred. Four separate colors are used for the face printing, and all are at their full brightness on this magnificent note: the basic black background, blue for the serial numbers, orange for the overprint on the face and bright red for the seal in the center. Both the face and the back are perfectly centered among large, even margins. When last on the market, there were a few small pinholes and a tiny edge split which have now been so expertly repaired that this cataloger is unable to locate either minor problem. This is the first and very likely only time that this generation of collectors will have an opportunity to add this singularly rare and beautiful number to their holdings.'"
"In the Cookson sale," Mincho said, "the note was estimated at $100,000 up and realized $165,000 after heated floor bidding. Neither the rarity, nor desirability of this note has changed in the last 70 years, but the market for incredibly significant rarities certainly has. We would expect this note to more than double its previous realization."
"Also being offered is the Fr. 1204 $100 1882 Gold Certificate," said Mincho, "graded Extremely Fine 40PPQ. As with its mate, the $50 Red Seal, this $100 was last sold in our January 1999 sale of the Dr. Cookson Gold Certificates. It was described there as:
'One of the most important and exciting notes in Dr. Cookson's holdings, this Large Red Seal hundred is the matching note to the Fifty appearing as lot 1578. It was previously in the collection of Albert A. Grinnell where it was purchased by James Stack and remained in his collection for over 40 years until it was acquired at auction by Dr. Cookson in March of 1990 for $33,000. Four Fr. 1204s have been traced: two low grade examples, both permanently impounded in government hands, and a Very Fine that has been off the market for over half a century and is not likely to appear any time soon. When this note was auctioned in 1990, no current collector or dealer had ever personally seen an example of this type. Since that evening, the note has resided in Dr. Cookson's collection and was justifiably one of his most prized possessions. This evening a new collector gets to add his name to the short pedigree of this irreplaceable treasure. The note itself is well margined, bright and stunningly attractive, with its medley of ink colors and pure white paper. The original embossing is still clearly evident and the note is separated from the Gem grade by four light vertical folds. It is our hope that this note and its companion Fifty remain together as they have been since they were acquired by Grinnell.'"
"In our 1999 sale," Mincho said, "this beauty realized $154,000 on an estimate of $100,000-up. We would expect about double that this evening for this note that is by far the finest known example of the only two collectible pieces."
The Fr. 1191 $50 1882 Gold Certificate PCGS Extremely Fine 40 has a pre-auction estimate of $350,000 and up. The Fr. 1204 $100 1882 Gold Certificate PCGS Extremely Fine 40PPQ carries a pre-auction estimate of $300,000 and up.
Other featured collections in the HCAA FUN Signature Auction include The Midwest Collection of Small Size Type Notes, The Scottsdale Collection, and The California Proof and Specimen Collection.
Images, descriptions, and prices realized from all previous Heritage auctions, are available in the Permanent Auction Archives at the Heritage website.
To purchase a catalog for any Heritage Auction, please contact Nicole Jewell at Heritage Numismatic Auctions, Inc., 3500 Maple Avenue, 17th Floor, Dallas, TX, 75219 or visit HeritageGalleries.com/Coins to order by credit card.
For additional Heritage press releases, please visit http://www.HeritageGalleries.com/Coins/common/info/press/default.php.
