Can someone tell me if this 1902 $20 plain back is a rare note?

Hi All,

Some of you may have seen my previous post about the collection I acquired. This note stuck out to me as it wasn't cut perfectly (not sure if that adds value), but I also cant locate previous sales of this bank (district of Colombia, Washington 6716).

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated, it is currently off at pmg and I am just very curious.

 

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There are six notes reported for the plain back $20 denomination, they range in grade from good to F-VF with the two F-VF notes being the highest graded reported. The grade on your note would make it the highest graded note, but unfortunately the awkward cutting job will hold a little bit off of the overall value.

There are two records of sales on HA.com, they were in 2003 and 2004 and the better note sold in 2003 for $195, the lesser graded note sold in 2004 for $379.50

 

Thanks for the reply! I did not realize that the off cutting would actually subtract fro the value! Currency is a completely different world for me from coins so thank you in advance for your insight. As to value, do you have any idea on what they command? I am not planning on selling it but I would be curious as this and the bison are some of my favorite notes in the collection.

Thank you again

 

Nationals are a special breed unto themselves. Charter 6716 is one of the smaller charter issuers for DC so demand could be high, particularly when it is the nicest known. There are some of us collectors that just have to own every known example on a particular bank in a particular town(not me, I'd never do that so demand drives price more than anything.

 

scottishmoney is right on the money with his answer . Beautiful note , I just wish it was cut correctly .

 

The notes were shipped from the BEP to the banks where the bank was responsible for signatures and cutting the notes. Notes like yours have rubber stamp signatures, others are handsigned and some of the big city banks had theirs printed on the notes.

Cutting methods varied from using cutting boards, to scissors, to literally tearing the notes against a sharp surface. I have some that are torn, handsigned, and others with rubber stamp signatures that quickly faded off if they got into water etc.

When the small sized notes came out in 1929 the BEP shipped to the notes cut, printed signatures etc so everything changed.

 

Amazing how times have changed. Thanks for that information, it is very interesting and something I did not know! Now I am very curious to what PMG is going to grade this. I am also very excited it is the finest known it is a beautiful note, and even though it is cut oddly, I must admit I kind of like the uniqueness of it. On the other hand if i had the other note that was missing that large chunk i would be upset! haha

 

I hope you'll post a photo when you get the note back.

Steve

 

Not sure if my last message went through. Thank you for that information I must have missed these when searching heritage's site for previous sales. I would guesstimate this one is worth around 1000 then? Amazing how something so scarce can be so cheap as say compared to a 1909 s vdb, but thats supply and demand for ya.

 

Rarity for these notes also means rarity of collectors. You need a reason to want the note to begin with. The catalogs that list Nationals are very thick. Many of the banks listed have low surviving totals. Therefore rarity has a different meaning. Rarity in coin collecting usually means overall or for the entire world. For Nationals it's just one bank, and overall, there are too many banks with the same rarity. In reality, you will have a lot to choose from.

 

I have read somewhere, the number of banks that issued notes is well over 12 thousand, probably the toughest series to collect.

 

Want a real Nationals challenge: try collecting just ONE note from each bank that issued notes, regardless of denomination.

 

Correct about the signatures, but even the small-size 1929 Nationals were sent to the banks in sheet form. So small-size Nationals can also be found with irregular edges, sometimes even being torn rather than cut from the sheet.

 

Hi Sam, Thanks for the words of wisdom. That makes a lot of sense, I was scrolling through www.nationalcurrencyvalues.com and couldn't believe the amount of variety amongst the banks. Coin collecting is simple compared to this stuff haha! This has been quite a learning experience for me and can not wait to get them back and add them to the collection. Regardless of it not having a high dollar value, the fact that it's a scarce note and very beautiful (at least in my book) makes me enjoy it none the less.

 

Unfortunately a lot of Nationals were issued by "wildcat" type banks in the 1st Charter period -until 1875 that quickly went belly up - redemption rates were high because people wanted their money. The next round of "wildcat" type nationals were the red seal Series 1902 notes that were smaller charters like mom and pop type banks - but they didn't have near the failure rate that the 1st charters do.

And bank failures are a real reason that many of the early notes were redeemed - bank failed but the bonds with the Treasury insured the note issue and people turned them in.

One of the charters I collect was granted in 1889 and soldiered on until 2013, the others I collect went under during the Great Depression.