DEL MONTE BANANA LABEL ERROR NOTE POPULAR

How can a $20 bill be worth over $57,000? Because of a printing mishap.

The "Del Monte note," a rare $20 banknote with a banana sticker on it, is currently for sale through Heritage Auctions, a Dallas-based auction house. Currency collectors are paying close attention and breaking previous bidding records with their offers, according to Heritage Auctions.

"The note has been viewed on our website over 4,300 times," Dustin Johnston told CNN. He's the vice president and managing director of the currency department with Heritage Auctions.

The banknote, from the 1996 series, is unique because of the sticker, which found its way onto it between stages of the printing process, and has part of the Treasury seal and the note's serial number printed over it.

Current bidding for the note is at $57,500, for a total cost of $69,000 after a buyer's premium is applied.

"Most 'obstructed error' notes result from a loose piece of paper, scotch tape, band-aid, or other detritus becoming attached to the currency stock during the printing process and later falling off. Most notes of this class thus exhibit a blank area somewhere on the note," said Leonard Augsburger, the project coordinator of the Newman Numismatic Portal at Washington University in St. Louis.

He said most banknotes featuring obstructions will sell for between $100 to $1000.

"The Del Monte note is more spectacular," Augsburger added.

"This is one of those really incredible errors that is immediately obvious. It's tactile, so if you're pulling [money] out and you're just counting it, you're probably gonna feel just the increased height of the sticker. And then of course the color just jumps out at you," Johnston added.

In 2003, the note sold on eBay for around $10,000. It was sold again in 2006, in an auction by Heritage Auctions, and at that time it went for over $25,000.

Johnston told CNN that the note is so important that, for both auctions, he flew to pick it up in person and bring it back to the auction house.

"By examining the sticker and the overprint, it is clear that the sticker was applied after the front was printed and before the serial number and seal were applied," Augsburger said.

"The placement of the sticker is intriguing -- if it were placed in most areas of the note it would not be possible to prove that it was applied between the second and third stage. This suggests a deliberate placement," he added.

Johnston told CNN the sticker could have been affixed to the note for testing purposes.

"Over the last 20 to 30 years, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing has started using optical recognition to review the notes as they come off the printing press. Previously people did that," Johnston explained.

To read the complete article, see:
Auction bids are topping $57,000 for a rare $20 banknote with Del Monte sticker on it (https://www.cbs58.com/news/auction-bids-are-topping-57-000-for-a-rare-20-banknote-with-del-monte-sticker-on-it)

To read the earlier E-Sylum articles, see:
DEL MONTE BANANA LABEL ERROR NOTE SELLS FOR $25,300 (https://www.coinbooks.org/esylum_v09n02a05.html)
DEL MONTE BANANA LABEL ERROR NOTE OFFERED (https://www.coinbooks.org/v23/esylum_v23n49a35.html)

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