THE "LAZY THREE" SANTA CLAUS NOTE

Last year we sent images of several different Santa Claus obsolete notes from our collection for a story in The E-Sylum. This year for Christmas, we have selected one of our favorite Santa's for the readers of the E-sylum. The $3, "Lazy Three" Santa Claus note comes from the famous Roger H. Durand Collection. This note, and around 30 more Santa Claus notes or related items, were part of the January, 2012 Heritage Signature FUN Currency Auction. A separate catalog was even prepared by Heritage for the Durand Collection. This $3, was Lot 15715 from that sale.

No one had ever assembled more Santa Claus notes then Roger Durand. There are seven different types of Santa Claus vignettes on obsolete notes, though the type seven is not known to exist. The six different types of Santa Claus vignettes will also be found on stock certificates and other numismatic items.

The Durand reference (Interesting Notes About Christmas by Roger H. Durand, 1993, 300 numbered copies) lists all the known Santa Claus notes and vignettes. With the six different types of vignettes that are known only three possible sets can be assembled. Our collection contains a complete type set of the six known vignettes. We have 22 Santa Claus notes in our collection. One of our favorites though, is the note we are using for this story. As you can see it is slabbed, as were all the Durand notes that were sold by Heritage in January, 2012 at the Florida United Numismatist sale in Orlando, FL.

Though the pedigree on the slab for this note is the Roger H. Durand Collection, it actually came to Roger from our collection. Some years back at the CPMX show in Rosemont, IL, we traded this Three Dollar Santa Claus Lazy Three note for a Newport, RI. William Newton & Co. 10 Cents Postage Stamp Affixed Note. At the time of the trade we only wanted to have a complete six type Santa Claus collection, and we already had this type in our collection. We originally purchased this and several other Santa Claus notes and vignettes along with a rare check from Len Glazer at a PCDA show in the late 1980s. The collection Len sold us was from the George W. Wait Collection. Many notes from the Wait collection, including this $3, are portrayed in a reference, Christmas Currency, An Illustrated Trial List by Larry L. Ruehlen, published in September, 1973. So the note we are using for this article is pedigreed to, Wait, Wilson, Durand and now back to Wilson. Only three or four notes are known to exist of this lazy three.

It is a $3 Proof, Mounted on Cardstock, Hole Punch Cancelled, Lazy Three, on the Central Bank of Troy, Troy, NY, dated May 1, 1853. Imprinted: Baldwin, Adams & Co., New York, it has a type three Santa Claus vignette at top center. A young lady is at right and on left a banking department seal. We hope you enjoy this great Santa Claus note.

From our house to yours, we want to wish all of the readers a belated Happy Hanukkah; and a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Yours in Numismatics and Friendship, John and Nancy Wilson, Ocala, FL

To read the earlier E-Sylum article, see: MERRY CHRISTMAS: SANTA CLAUS ON PAPER MONEY (www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v11n51a14.html)

Wayne Homren, Editor

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