BICENTENNIAL $2 BILLS

 

I begin this week with a discussion of Bicentennial $2 bills. In 1976, the Treasury Department issued a new series of two-dollar Federal Reserve Notes with a green seal on the front and the Declaration of Independence on the back. With the portrait of Thomas Jefferson on the front, it was announced that they would be issued by banks on Jefferson's birthdate, April 13.

In an example of mass hysteria, collectors and dealers affixed 13 cent stamps to the notes and rushed to their Post Office to create a "first date cancellation." These became an instant collectible and dealers were happy to provide them for their customers. Sets were made up for the twelve federal reserve districts and offered for a premium.

There were variations of the theme. State stamps were placed on the notes which were then cancelled in the state matching the stamps. Some were cancelled over Bicentennial stamps. A second round were made with a July 4, 1976, cancellation.

This is a contrived collectible field with a very limited secondary market. Thousands of pieces were made and thousands remain available by the dealers who handle them.

Having established two-dollar bills with a postal cancellation as collectible objects, I jump back to my interest in association items. I put four of these on my scanner to serve as examples.

1. Signed by Matt Rothert (1904-1989), ANA President 1965-1967. This was cancelled at the American Numismatic Association Mid-Winter Convention in Little Rock on March 11, 1988. The stamp is an Arkansas Centennial stamp.

2. Signed by Virgil Hancock ANA President 1975-1977. This was cancelled over a block of four Bicentennial stamps. The cancellation date is unreadable.

3. Signed by Stephen Taylor, ANA president 1987-1989, while he was ANA president. Signed at the National Silver Dollar Convention on November 10, 1988. The four notes shown are all from the Stephen Taylor collection so he signed the note for himself.

4. Signed by Ed Rochette, ANA president 1991-1993. Signed at the 101 st Anniversary Convention of the American Numismatic Association, in Orlando, Florida, on August 12, 1992. The green stamp is the Numismatics stamp. The red stamp is for the settlement of Florida.

I noticed that the four notes are all of different lengths. I can't explain that.

In this collection are three other ANA presidential signatures on notes not shown. These include David L. Ganz (1994). Kenneth Bressett (1993) and Kenneth Hallenbeck (1987).

There are more than two dozen notes in the Taylor collection. Other signatures include:

• Aubrey Bebee, collector, Colorado Springs, 1988
• Adeline Bebee, wife of Aubrey, Colorado Springs, 1988
• Cynthia Granby Baker, Denver Mint Superintendent 1988-1989. Broadmoor 1989
• Harry Clements, Director of the BEP 1979-1983, Memphis 1982
• Philip Diehl, Director of the Mint 1994-2000, Portland 1993
• Frank Gasparro, Chief Engraver at the Mint 1965-1981, Cherry Hill, NJ 1986
• Stella Hackel, Director of the Mint 1977-1981, Cincinnati 1990
• Jay W. Johnson, Director of the Mint 1999-2001, Philadelphia 2001
• Marcel Jovine, coin designer (1987)
• Elizabeth Jones, Chief Engraver at the Mint 1981-1990, Cherry Hill, NJ 1986
• Bob Leuver, Director of the BEP 1983-1988, (1991)
• Katherine Davalos Ortega, Treasurer of the United States 1983-1989, Milwaukee, 1986
• Donna Pope, Director of the Mint 1981-1991, Boston 1992
• Patricia Verani, coin designer (1987)
• R. S. Yeoman, numismatic author, Colorado Springs, 1988

Many of the notes include cancellations from an ANA convention. It is likely that the cancellation was done first with the signatures written in open spaces at some later time.

This group, collectively, represents the government officials that Taylor met through his ANA connections. In my opinion, the intact collection is worth more than the sum of its parts.

I thought about adding to the collection but decided to leave the collection as created by Taylor.

I have hundreds of autographs collected since 1982. Unfortunately, they are not all in the same place. That is a typical problem with my collection. There are also signatures I can't read. In some cases, I printed the name on the back of the card. In many cases, I have no idea who signed.

The earliest ANA presidential autograph I can find is Grover Criswell. I have many but not all of the ones since then.

If I may offer some advice, don't use me as an example. If you have items in your collection that you can't find, you may as well not have them.

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