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V11 2008 INDEX
E-SYLUM ARCHIVE
RARE CANADIAN $500 BILL BRINGS $322,000 AT AUCTION
Newspapers in Canada are all over the story of Heritage's
recent sale of a rare $500 Canadian banknote. The story goes that the
owner had found it among some old books and papers and (rightly) suspected
it was valuable. -Editor
A vintage Canadian $500 bill - described as
a "classic rarity" and one of only three known to exist from a 1911
printing that featured a picture of Queen Mary, the wife of King George V
- has been purchased at a Texas auction of antique currency for a stunning
$322,000 U.S. by a Canadian-born businessman living in Dallas.The bank note - its sale price hailed as an "all-time record for a piece of Canadian paper money" - was first found 20 years ago in an old book by an unnamed Canadian man, and was recently re-discovered among a pile of papers being readied for a shredder.
"Its existence represents a true miracle of survival," announced Heritage Auction Galleries, the Dallas-based collectibles giant that handled the sale.
The Queen Mary note is so rare it's absent even from the Bank of Canada's own currency collection in Ottawa, experts said.
"It's a remarkable story," said MacDonald. "Someone was sifting through paper on a desk and shredding documents. And just prior to shredding a handful of documents, this $500 note dropped out and was brought in for discussion to see if it had any value. It was a true discovery note - and importantly, it's in better condition than the other two that exist."
MacDonald said the chances of any $500 bill from 1911 or 1925 remaining in private hands through Great Depression and surviving intact until today were extremely slim.
To read the complete article, see: Rare Canadian $500 bill brings in $322,000 at auction (http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/
story.html?id=85e95e80-ee91-4af1-b131-69ff909fe1d9)
Wayne Homren, Editor
The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.
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