HERITAGE: GACC CURRENCY SALE

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V28 2025 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 28, Number 40, 2025, Article 20

Heritage Auctions will be hosting their GACC U.S. Currency Signature Auction on October 7 - 10. Select items from the Curators' Picks are discussed below. -Garrett

T5 $100 1861 PF-1 Cr. 5 Jones Signature PMG Very Fine 25. This note was one of nine T-5 $100s issued on August 12, 1861, with serial numbers 2101 - 2109 and bears the signature of C.T. Jones, signing for the Register. At present, this is the only known T5 having Jones sign for Tyler. A comparison of the note versus the plate on page 132 of Fricke's 2014 catalog strongly suggests that this is one and the same note. The back bears two endorsements, the first, in red ink, from William J. Bromwell, disbursing clerk for the Department of State, issuing the note on August 26, 1861, and the second receiving the note and recording its face value plus accrued interest of $4.25. The note has two sealed hammer cancels. A rare chance to acquire an excessively rare note that will take any collection to which it is added to the next level.

To read the complete item description, see:
T5 $100 1861 PF-1 Cr. 5 Jones Signature PMG Very Fine 25. (https://currency.ha.com/itm/confederate-notes/1861-issues/t5-100-1861-pf-1-cr-5-jones-signature-pmg-very-fine-25/a/3599-20105.s)

Selma, AL- Bank of Selma $100 Apr. 4, 1862 UNL Gunther-Derby AO-414-$100b Rosene 292-5 PMG Very Fine 25. The Bank of Selma was incorporated in 1859, with W.M. Smith as the first president and R. Lapsley as the first cashier. With hostile Union forces drawing near to the city of Selma on April 20, 1865, the president burned the majority of the institution's notes, as he did not desire for the Union to take them as souvenirs of the war. Evidently, the bank survived for a little while longer after the Civil War, as it did not close until August 11, 1868. However, not all of the bank's affairs were wrapped up by this date, as contemporary annotations on both the face and back of this piece detail that this note was "Presented for payment to W.M. Brooks, President of the Bank of Selma" on June 3, 1871.

Because of the president's last minute effort to keep the company's currency from the North, virtually all notes from this institution are quite scarce. Our current $100 offering is no exception to that affirmation. This majestic note was produced by Leggett, Keatinge & Ball prior to Robert Leggett being barred from the firm for associating with a possible Union spy. At right, Liberty stands holding a cornucopia and her well known pole and cap, and at center is Juno Moneta conversing with Mercury, who floats in the clouds. Juno Moneta holds the key to a safe at her right, and Mercury gifts her a cornucopia brimming with coins. Atop the safe stands a griffin. At left is a regal statue of George Washington. This exact vignette was also utilized by the Southern Bank Note Company on the left side of the T31 $5 Confederate Treasury Note of 1861. The life sized statue resides in the Massachusetts State House in Boston, MA. Designed and created by English sculptor Sir Francis Chantrey, this piece of art was completed in 1826 and dedicated in 1827. Rich orange-red protectors at upper right and left and lower center add color to the face of the piece.

We have offered three examples of this striking design previously, including the note in this lot. This exact representative last crossed our auction block in January 2012, when it brought $4,600. We have not offered any $100 from this institution since October 2021, but we did auction a $50 of similar layout in January 2024, graded PMG VF 20, which brought $5,040. We would not be surprised to see our conservative estimate exceeded for this beauty. PMG comments on contemporary annotations and pinholes.

Serial Number 1 Fr. 62 $5 1862 Legal Tender PMG Choice Fine 15. This evenly circulated and solid New Series 13 bears bears low Serial Number 1-A. The 1862 and 1863 series $5 Legals were only numbered up through 999999, at which point the series number was changed and the serial numbers started over with Number 1. Three Serial Number 1s, including this example, are known for this Friedberg number.

Rhode Island August 22, 1738 2s 6d PMG About Uncirculated 50. PMG has graded only three examples of this number, two VF 20 notes and the note in this lot. We auctioned one of the PMG VF 20 notes for $6,600 in September 2023. We have also auctioned a PCGS XF 40 Apparent piece for $14,400 in November 2017. The well printed example in this lot has three bold signatures and is in a comment free holder. It has signs of minor handling, but we cannot find any folds that break the paper. This note is not valued in the 23rd edition of the Friedberg reference, Paper Money of the United States and in the 2023 edition of The Early Paper Money of America by Eric P. Newman, it is valued at $16,800 in XF 40.