Favorite Unobtainable U.S. Currency Note

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Great photos!!! I like your suggestions on shooting in dark museums.

 

i just want a black eagle

 

You guys might like the video I posted in this thread earlier this year:

BEP Historical Resource Center: Video Tour from CSPAN3

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This makes me want to go back to DC this summer and take the tour!

 

Flash photography is out of the question but not impossible. These gems are under glass and you would have all kinds of reflections and in some places they are out right forbidden. With low light lens you soon learn why they are called "Fast Lens". Because the Aperture is larger it allows more light in / in less time - meaning less chances for motion blur. If you don't have a fast lens or your using a point-and-shoot you really need a tripod to avoid that motion blur. (In some places those are forbidden)
In photography the f-stop number means the size of the aperture - though the number is reversed. So f/1.4 is huge, and an f/5.6 is smaller.
With a wide angle lens the hand held threshold is about 1/20 - 1/60 of a second. With a wider lens your talking 1/120 - 1/60 of a second. With a telephoto you might need 1/800 of a second @ over 300mm to hand hold.

This is why I dished out all kinds of money for my Canon 24mm L f/1.4 some five or six years ago! It's Super Wide & Super Fast!!! btw: the 'L' just means it's Canon's top of the line, and use special lens to avoid aberrations.
When I bought it, it set me back about $1100 bucks...and of coarse you'll need a Canon SLR camera to use it...

I should mention that when your shooting at f/1.4 you will reduce your depth of field! So focus is critical!!!

 

I know - It's not currency but heck it was in the same little room...

 

:thumb:

 

Someone has to post a nickname thread some time with photos! I have never heard of a watermelon note.

 

very interesting

 

Getting back to the OP, I've always been partial to the National Gold Bank Notes. If unobtainable means "worth more than my house" then this one qualifies.

 

Now that is cool looking! Love the coins on the back.

I know this is sort of like hijacking my own thread ...
but someone should start of thread of "Paper Money containing Coin Pictures"

 

Anyway ... back to the original post of favorite unobtainable currency notes ...

This note in high grades is way out of most budgets ...
And I think might be one of the most beautiful and interesting U.S. Currency notes ever made.




Here were some notes I found on this piece of American history ...

The 1896 Five Dollar Silver Certificate named "Electricity Presenting Light To The World" is an extraordinary work. A winged female Electricity holds an electric lamp aloft high over America. At left, Jupiter holds the lightning in his right hand which powers the lamp; in his left hand reins of lightning yoke his horses. Fame sits at Electricity's left, trumpeting her achievement to the world. To Electricity's right is a bald eagle, standing guard over the Western Hemisphere. Behind the eagle, with the U.S. Capitol in the background, is Peace, her left hand upraised beside a dove. This remarkable blend of legend, patriotism and beauty came together to create a note widely regarded to be the most beautiful currency in U.S. history.

 

I have to agree on that last post. The $5 educational is one of the most beautiful notes ever produced and is the one I will not be able to afford in a condition I want. I might be willing to buy as low as a VG just to have one though.

 

Should've held out for the 50/1.2L.

On the other hand, while it's hard to make lenses any faster than they already are, the low-light performance of cameras has been advancing by leaps and bounds. The newest gear from Nikon in particular, but also Canon, can make shots at ISO 12800 that are significantly better than my 20D at ISO 800. That's the equivalent of moving from f/1.4 to f/0.35 -- or, sticking to the physically realizable, it means I could shoot the same exposure length at f/5.6, gaining back that depth of field you mentioned (and some sharpness, even with the 1.4L).

 

But just because the note is unobtainable, doesn't mean you can't get close. Which is why I collect souvenir cards... http://www.cointalk.com/t94663/

 

WingedLiberty you might enjoy some of the engravings in this thread:
http://www.cointalk.com/showthread.php?t=160644&p=1120281&viewfull=1#post1120281

 

WOW! Time to start looking at some new DSLR! My 20D has served it's purpose for many years, and it's about time to step up to full frame to take advantage of that 24mm! I'm going to miss my 70-200mm w/1.4x X 1.6 crop (448mm effective) reach though!
Some of those old coins are so dished that f/4.0+ would of been nice at the time.

--------------AS YOU WERE---------

 

Souvenir cards are a great idea!
I own some high resolution digital scans of these notes to scratch my itch.

I LOVE THOSE! The cherubs & coins image I saw on an obsolete bank note from the mid 1800's.

I liked it so much I incorporated that into a sectional banner image highlighting Obsolete Bank Notes on my Currency web site ...

https://mindstar.com/currency/



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My LORD! I just had a chance to look at your site/collection "WingedLiberty" and are you sure you have something on your wish list? By the looks of it, you pretty much have every cool bill ever made!!!!!

...and I get all gitty when I score a '95 $5 dollar bill in CU!!! I've got a lot to learn for sure