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Here’s a chance for a collector to acquire a super rarity, unpriced in the standard Friedberg catalog “Paper Money of the United States” but not mortgage both the house and the back forty to acquire it. This note has a lot of eye appeal too, and a great story thrown in for the bargain.

[edit] Specifications

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[edit] Background

The note shown is a $10,000 Gold Certificate Series 1900. It was not intended for normal currency purposes, but rather for interbank transfers of large sums, and balancing gold accounts. How it got into “circulation” is one of those old fish tales that really is true.

Gold Certificates as a class of U.S. currency are storied. The first ones were authorized by an Act of Congress dated March 3, 1863, which permitted the Treasurer of the United States to receive gold on deposit and issue certificates as evidences thereof. Since most of this gold represented loans to the government by bankers, these notes did not circulate, but instead served primarily within the banking system as a way of anteing up. Today these first notes are extremely rare, or known only from proofs. Apparently certificates in amounts of $20-$10,000 were utilized, with the earliest issue date known Nov. 13, 1865. In 2006 a private sale of a $100 Gold Certificate of this type was reported at $2.1 million!

[edit] History

Series 1882 circulating Gold Certificates were issued in denominations of $20-$10,000. In 2000 a unique Series 1882 $1,000 Gold Certificate (Fr. 1218d) realized $945,000 at auction. Additional circulating Gold Certificates were issued in Series 1905-1907 in denominations of $10 and $20. Small denomination notes from these series are collectible.

Then there are the high value, five- and ten-grand non-circulating Series 1888 and Series 1900 Gold Certificates of the type represented by the $10,000 note shown.

Paper money expert Gene Hessler has reported that 9,000 of the Series 1888 $5,000 Gold Certificate were printed as “transfer documents.” These notes were uniface (printed on the face only), and wider than normal large sized currency. It is not known how many were issued, but all were redeemed. No issued notes, and no cancelled notes are known. Proofs do exist in the government’s hands. These notes bore a portrait of James Madison.

Hessler also reports 9,000 of the $10,000 Series 1888 Gold Certificates were printed to serve the same purpose at a higher value. President Andrew Jackson appears on the face. Once again, the number issued is unknown, but all have been redeemed. However again, Proofs in the government’s custody are extant.

Apparently Series 1900 only included $10,000 Gold Certificates. These certificates are also wider than large size currency and uniface. According to Hessler, 363,000 of these certificates were printed in sheets of three. Records indicate that 277,250 of these certificates were actually issued. Those issued before formation of the Federal Reserve System in 1914 were issued to large commercial banks.

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Those issued thereafter were normally issued to Federal Reserve Banks or the Federal Reserve Board. The largest number of these were issued to institutions in Washington, DC, New York City and Philadelphia, however issues to seven other cities (Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, New Orleans, St. Louis and San Francisco) are also known.

Examples with eight different signature combinations are known. Most common are the last ones issued with Teehee-Burke, like the example shown. Earlier signature combinations are scarcer, especially Napier-Burke.

All of the extant examples of the Series 1900 $10,000 notes had also once been redeemed, as evidenced by the note shown which had been issued on Dec. 16, 1915, to the Federal Reserve Board. This note was redeemed by the U.S. Treasury, and punch canceled Sept. 14, 1918, as evidenced on its back.

However here it is, available to a lucky collector after all!

How this came about is one the legendary tales of numismatics. Several accounts have appeared in print, all of which agree that after these certificates were redeemed they were stored in the Old Washington Post Office, located at 12th Street and Pennsylvania. Constructed 1892-1899, the completed structure was the largest office building the country and the first steel frame building in our nation’s capital. Its signature feature was a massive 315-foot high tower. Despite its size, DC had outgrown the building within 15 years, and postal service was moved to an even larger structure adjacent to Union Station.

The Old Post Office was scheduled for levelling, but the hard times of the Great Depression left little money in the federal budget for such deconstruction projects. So the building was designated as “over flow” and storage space for a variety of federal bureaus and departments. One of these was the nearby U.S. Treasury Building, which stored old records there.

On Dec. 13, 1935, a fire broke out in the building. Hoping to save records from the conflagration and water damage, clerks began to heave files and documents out the windows. Lo and behold, redeemed and canceled $10,000 Gold Certificates rained from the skies down on firefighters and rubber-neckers alike. Passersby presumed they had a windfall, only to find out the notes could not be redeemed a second time by them.

Hundreds were salvaged by bystanders, though, and over the years it is believed as many as 500 have worked their way into collectors’ hands. Since the federal government regards these certificates as government property subject to seizure, it is difficult to determine the number available with precision. Ongoing census figures recording serial numbers, however, have documented nearly 300 examples. No seizures have been reported in recent memory, and today these notes are sold quite openly in auctions and elsewhere.

In addition to being cancelled, some examples have water and/or fire damage, while others are nearly pristine except for their cancellation. Although unpriced in Friedberg, other catalogers do assign values to these certificates. The 25th edition of Krause-Lemke values them at $1,750 in Fine to $8,000 in Gem CU regardless of signature combinations. The 7th edition of Hessler-Chambliss prices them from $500 in Fine to $4,000 in CU, allowing for variations in signatures, and not pricing the “rare” Napier-Burke notes. At auction exceptional examples have sold for more than $10,000, although $2,000-$3,000 seems the norm.

The last Gold Certificates issued were Series 1913 and Series 1922 issued for circulation. On April 5, 1933, as part of his New Deal financial measures, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an Executive Order requiring the public to turn in Gold Certificates (as well as bullion and coins) by May 1st. The deadline was extended. On Dec. 28, 1933, FDR further instructed private holders of Gold Certificates to deliver them to the U.S. Treasurer. On Jan. 17, 1934, Gold Certificates became illegal for individuals to own.

On Jan. 9, 1935, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing ceased printing Series 1934 $100,000 Gold Certificates for Federal Reserve interbank transactions. A sheet of these notes has been part of the BEP’s traveling currency display at coin shows for years.

On April 24, 1964, ownership of Gold Certificates came full circle. On that date Treasury Secretary C. Douglas Dillon rescinded restrictions on ownership of Gold Certificates issued prior to Jan. 30, 1934.