MORE ON THE 1894 BRITISH HONDURAS NOTES

Until very recently, the 1894 British Honduras first emission One Dollar plate note in the Pick catalog was considered unique by the banknote-collecting community, as the only known issued example from 1894 of any denomination, although in AD condition (“Absolutely Destroyed!”)

This note was a prized piece, despite its execrable condition, in the collection of Amon Carter, Jr., the Texas magnate. After his death in 1982, his holdings were disbursed, and the note was sold by Spink in October, 1997.

I had always wondered about the horizontal shadow seen in the Pick catalog across the full width of the British Honduras P-1 plate note. In Europe years ago, I finally had my first opportunity to hold the note itself in my hands. Then I understood that it was no shadow. It was sticky brown ooze coming through from the old tape on the back. The note had been “circulated-to-pieces,” and the tape was there to hold together its four completely separated segments !

In a seismic and unexpected event, a second example surfaced in 2017. Fortunately, this one is a beauty. It is PMG-graded Very Fine 20 net, and has no major detractions. It will be auctioned in New York on January 12, 2018, as Stack’s Bowers Lot 30070. It has sterling provenance, as the consignor is the great-granddaughter of Albert E. Morlan, the U.S. Consul in 1890s Belize, British Honduras.

An equally remarkable piece immediately follows in Lot 30071. It is the Five Dollar denomination, in specimen form, with full counterfoil. Stack’s Bowers comments that this is the finer of only two 1894 Five Dollar specimens they have verified, grading it a conservative “bright and unmarked Extremely Fine or better.”

Both pieces are characterized and authenticated by the repeated watermark of a crowned C C, indicating “British Crown Colony.” This watermark was used by British Honduras only for the 1894 first issue, and never again.

The significance of these two notes is accentuated by their place of honor on the catalog’s front cover. They are also the only notes in the sale each accorded its own full two-page spread.

The 1894 emission circulated for only a few weeks before being replaced. It’s difficult to overstate the importance of these prohibitively rare landmark notes. They are absent from virtually every collection in the world, even the most preeminent.

To read the complete lot descriptions, see:
BRITISH HONDURAS. Government of British Honduras. 1 Dollar, 1894 Issue. P-1. PMG Very Fine 20 Net. Ink Stamp. Splits, Minor Rust. (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-95OF1)
BRITISH HONDURAS. Government of British Honduras. 5 Dollars, 1894. P-3s. Specimen. Extremely Fine. (https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-95Q32)

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