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THE VALUE OF HANDWRITTEN NOTES ON BANKNOTESCurrency Specialist Brad Ciociola wrote in his Stack's Bowers blog about an autographed 1891 $1 Silver Certificate. -Editor  One of the fascinating notes we have encountered while cataloging the incredible D. Brent Pogue Collection of United States Paper Money is a Fr.223 1891 $1 "Martha Washington" Silver Certificate that was courtesy autographed by United States Treasurer Daniel Nash Morgan and presented by him to famed currency collector Albert A. Grinnell. The note is graded Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ by PMG. Morgan’s signature appears above his engraved signature on the face of the note. However, the most fascinating part of this note is the inscription found on the back. Morgan went on to inscribe the back of the note Grinnell. The back inscription reads in part "Presented to Mr. Albert A. Grinnell Detroit, Michigan April 15, 1929." Morgan goes on to list his treasurer title and dates of service and appointment. This is one of the most fascinating courtesy autographs as it ties in to one of the most famed names in the history of United States currency collecting. If Grinnell’s massive currency collection were to be sold in today’s market it would easily be the most valuable currency collection of all-time. I scratched my head at the note's "Gem Uncirculated" grade, wondering how a note damaged by scribbling would not be downgraded. It's not just random scribbling of course, and to the right collector the inscription will enhance, not detract from the note's value. Value and grade are not the same thing, but the market conflates the two. The autograph is indeed mentioned on the holder - but on the back, not as an asterisk linked to the grade. Anyway, a totally unrelated story I saw Sunday morning got me to thinking about other banknotes. A Washington Post article on the prosecution of Nazi war criminals quoted a cold memo from an SS leader enumerating the property stolen from Holocaust victims. Here's an excerpt. -Editor The report included an accounting of the assets collected from the dead, worth 180 billion Reichsmark. Grand larceny on a massive scale, Black thought as he studied the numbers: 236 gold bars Nearly 400,000 gold coins 2,134 silver bars More than 60,000 watches 1,900 freight-car loads of textiles Nearly 16,000 gold and diamond rings 1,716 pairs of gold earrings studded with diamonds 3,240 coin purses Paper foreign currency from the United States, Canada, France, Brazil, Turkey, Switzerland, South Africa, Egypt, Argentina, Paraguay, Sweden, Palestine, Cuba, and Albania My question is, can any of those looted banknotes be identified today? Were any captured from the Nazis at the end of the war? Are they stored in archives today? Do any of them bear autographs or notes from the victims? There's no telling if the banknote had been spent or stolen, but it would still be interesting if there were numismatic items bearing witness to the prior life of victims. -Editor To read the complete articles, see:
Wayne Homren, Editor The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org. To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum All Rights Reserved. NBS Home Page Contact the NBS webmaster 
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