Welcome
to my weekly blog on notes from the Joel R. Anderson Collection Part II. A
special catalog is now in preparation a companion to Part I sold recently in
Baltimore. The venue for Part II will be the ANA World’s Fair of Money
convention in Philadelphia in August. I plan to be there all week, through
Friday, and invite you to track me down and say hello. I would be delighted to
discuss the treasures from the Joel R. Anderson Collection as well as any items
in our other auction sessions (including the finest known of the five 1913
Liberty Head nickels).
Paper
money has been one of my specialties. Some years ago I created the Whitman
Encyclopedia of United States Paper Money, which today stands as the
standard source for a lot of federal paper money history and information not
readily available in any other single source.
In the
Joel R. Anderson Collection rarity and finest usually
go together with each note. Many notes are rare on an absolute basis—the only
one in private hands or one of just a few. Others are condition
rarities, as with this, per our catalog:
Highest Graded 1899 $1 Fr. 229 “Black Eagle” Note
Lot
2029. Friedberg 229 (Whitman-65). 1899 $1 Silver Certificate. PCGS Currency
Superb Gem New 68 PPQ.
Perfectly
centered and framed by large margins, this Vernon-McClung signed 1899 Black
Eagle $1 is among the finest examples of the type we have ever offered. This
note is incredibly well printed in dark inks with bold blue overprints that are
deeply embossed into the creamy white paper. A scattering of red and blue
fibers at left and right add to the overall appeal of this marvelous
representation of an iconic American type note. Just a single 1899 $1 Silver
Certificate in the entire series including all varieties has
been graded finer by PCGS. Amazing!
This
incredibly high grade note is one of a number of bills graded 65 and higher
that provide the opportunity for many buyers to acquire an affordable
(considering its condition rarity status as the finest known) note with the
Joel R. Anderson pedigree.
About the Vignette
The
central vignette for which this issue is famous was resurrected from Civil War
era usage on $10 Interest Bearing and Compound Interest Bearing notes, a fact
not widely known as those issues are infrequently seen today (although the four
sections of the Anderson Collection is definitive in this regard!). While the
styling is very close on this later version, it is a modified vignette, with
differences in the size of the Capitol rotunda and its proximity to the eagle
among the easier distinctions to detect. It is this issue for which the
vignette is best known, as these notes were made over a long period of time.
The vignette was titled Eagle of the Capitol, and the original
version was engraved by James Bannister. The updated version seen here was
engraved by G.F.C. Smillie.
PCGS
Population: 6; none finer.
From
Lyn Knight’s sale of June 2006, lot 142.
