Stack’s Bowers Galleries is privileged to be able to offer this incredible Fr.2 1861 $5 Demand Note from the Philadelphia Treasury Office to the collecting public for a second time. The note comes to us as the penultimate highlight of The Vanderbuilt Collection featured in Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ Official Auction of the Whitman Coin and Collectibles Spring Expo.
This note was last featured in our January 1990 Stack’s auction where it realized an astounding $26,400 in a market far less sophisticated than today. It has resided in the same collection over the past 28 years that has seen the market for collectible United States paper money grow by leaps and bounds.
The note has been graded and encapsulated by Paper Money Guaranty who assigned the grade of Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ making this note the finest graded example of the catalog number by both PMG and PCGS. As a matter of fact it is the single finest graded Demand Note by either PMG or PCGS.
Demand Notes were the first issues of Federal paper money in the sense that we think of today. The popular term "Greenbacks" originated with these notes which feature ornately engraved green printed backs. The $5 Demand Notes feature a portrayal of the statue Freedom, by Thomas Crawford, which was mounted on top of the U.S. Capitol in 1863. At the lower right is a portrait of Alexander Hamilton. Each Demand Note was hand signed by Treasury officials on behalf of the Register of the Treasury and the Treasurer. Earlier Demand Notes featured "for the" handwritten in the signature panels while later examples like this one have "for the" printed.
The very existence of any Demand Note in a Gem Uncirculated grade is a true marvel of survival. The presently offered example was miraculously preserved as they day it was printed. A sharply printed and darkly inked design is well framed on bright white paper which is seen in full originality. Brilliant green color is seen in the large 5 protector and die checks centered on the face as well as in the wonderfully ornate back design. The intricate back that these Demand Notes are so well known for is excellently centered and presented with great detail.
This design type is ranked #38 in the book 100 Greatest American Currency Notes by Q. David Bowers and David M. Sundman. This is among the finest early Federal type notes in existence and an immensely important piece of United States currency The very existence of any Demand Note in a Gem Uncirculated grade is a true marvel of survival.. The most astute curators of American numismatic history should easily recognize its significance to our field. The note carries a pre-auction estimate of $250,000 to $350,000.
To consign to an upcoming Stack’s Bowers auction contact Director of Currency Peter Treglia at petert@stacksbowers.com or Currency Specialist Brad Ciociola at bciociola@stacksbowers.com.
