May 2025 Greensheet Market Analysis: Trophy Notes Hold Their Own

The highlight of the Stack's Bowers Spring Showcase auction at $528,000 was the only collectible example of the Fr. 345d $500 Silver Certificate from the series of 1880 with the signatures of Blanche Bruce and A.U. Wyman. The note was graded Fine 15 by PMG and comes with a pedigree all the way back to the Grinnell sale of March 10, 1945, where it sold for a then-lofty $685. It reached $776,250 during the glory days of 2006 and then, most recently, a more realistic $504,000 in 2021. The current realized price is an impressive one in a cautious market, and slightly below an optimistic $600,000 estimate.

To give an idea of the immensity of Grinnell’s holdings, in any sale but Grinnell’s it would be astounding if there were two notes of this type offered side-by-side. Immediately before it was a Very Fine piece with Bruce and Gilfillan’s signature (Fr. 345c) that brought $700 as a Very Fine. The type consists of four notes and there is a total of eight known.

Only two of the other top ten results failed to meet their estimates. Among those that did was one of four known Fr. 284 Triple Signature $10 Silver Certificates of 1878. In addition to the standard signatures of Glenni W. Scoffield and James Gilfillan, this note has the autographed (rather than engraved) countersignature of J.C. Hopper for the Assistant Treasurer of the U.S. It was a quick return to the market as this piece sold for $312,000 a little over two years ago. This time, the Very Fine 30 reached $228,000 on an estimate of $200,000–$300,000.

The highest collectible denomination of series 1869 Rainbow Notes, the $100 (Fr. 168) with an estimate of $150,000–$250,000 in Choice EF 45, sold for $192,000, a record for the grade and $54,000 more than in its last appearance in 2012.

The market is clearly taking a breather from a long run of constantly rising prices and the catalogers recognized it, setting realistic estimates, even if they were lower than a note’s previous selling price, a fact often mentioned in the description. In most cases, their expectations, and the reserves, were met.

The attention of U.S. collectors is now turning to Chicago and the 1,500+ lots in the Heritage CSNS US Currency Signature Auction. It will include five $5,000 and three $10,000 notes, with three of the former from the Boston, Cleveland, and Atlanta Federal Reserve districts in the more elusive 1928 series. It will also have some rare small size star notes, seventy lots of encased postage, what Heritage calls “the finest known $5 “Educational” Silver Certificate.” There will also be nine original artworks from the GFC Smillie estate by the banknote engraver Walter Shirlaw. Among his works it the face of the $5 Educational Note, which is based on one of his paintings, Electricity Presenting Light to the World.

The market for world paper remains vibrant. At an auction conducted by Noonan’s of London at March’s Singapore International Coin Fair, an AU55 $1,000 dated 21 March 1953 issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency of Malaya and British Borneo with the portrait of a young Queen Elizabeth II was estimated at 100,000 to 150,000 Singapore Dollars. After starting at the top estimate, it finally settled at S$260,000 (US$194,000) in a contest between three bidders. Noonan’s says the price “smashed all previous world records for Queen Elizabeth banknotes and is now the most expensive note in this popular field to ever sell at auction.” This was the first time that this note has been offered for sale at public auction.

A week later, the Heritage World Paper Money Signature Auction had eleven notes surpassing $20,000 in a sale with a total price realized of $1,981,816. Leading the 615 lots at $45,600, was a German East Africa 500 Rupien of September 2, 1912, issued by the Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Bank called Choice Uncirculated 63 by PMG. The large 7.1 x 4.3-inch note was printed in Germany by Giesecke & Devrient, still a leading banknote printer today. It is the highest denomination issued by Kaiser Wilhelm II, who is seen in an admiral’s uniform on the left side of the obverse. It is described as one of the most famous and desirable of all African banknotes. There is only one graded higher in the PMG Population Report.

Trailing slightly at $43,200 was highest denomination Surinam remainder from 1865, a 1,000 Gulden dated July 1 of that year in Choice Uncirculated 64. There were just 200 pieces issued, but none are yet recorded. This is the only note in the Population report.

Not all German Notgeld is worth pennies. A German Imperial Bank Note 100 billion Mark dated 15.2.1924 in Extremely Fine 40, and the highest value in the 1924 series, realized $36,000. Another note of the same face value but with a 26.10.1923 date was $28,800 in Gem Uncirculated 65.