i got this 1855 check made in Hartford Connecticut. I know it's not technically paper money but I only got it for $3 It was for $185.81
For what its worth I was born and raised in Hartford, CT...for me I just got $3 of satisfaction out seeing photos of it. Hartford is one of the oldest, most interesting and historic cesspools...ugh, I mean cities in the country.
They had other checks like this from around the same price like some from the civil war and such and even one from 1847. Do you think I should buy them they are in pretty nice shape and condition
Actually I have much better luck attaining checks on ebay in bulk lots. I usually type in the search "Vintage Bank Check Lots" and see what comes up. Buying them one at a time can get quite pricey. Often times I have found some real nice items at a very low price. If you go to the same place again for these checks I would also ask the dealer what he might take if you buy a "lot' of them. I once was able to purchase 500 postcards at a flea market for $20.00 when the dealer was asking $1.00 each. This works well especially when it comes time to tear down the display and pack everything back up.
Good source for check collectors, and their quarterly journal is great -- American Society of Check Collectors. http://ascheckcollectors.org
Great check! If you can get others at the same price you should definitely pick them up, especially any that are engraved. Then sell me your duplicates. There's another thread on this forum that features old checks. If you could post a larger shot there of the front of this check, I'd love to see a little more detail.
Another $3 check--good show. Ah the "good old days" of $1-$2 checks at Memphis. You've gotten another bargain. If you ever find "too many" let me know. (LOL)
If they have Civil War era checks, be on the look out for sutler scrip. They look kind of like checks and can be valuable. You'll know it's from a sutler if you see that word. If you do find some, post 'em up, and I have a reference for them.
Ah ha, knew it was somewhere. Nice little check from Connecticut, note says I paid $4.25 for it (inflation I guess)
Hmmm, as I wrote in the other thread "Another 1855 Check", what we have here is a promissory note that has been PAID (note the Paid seal in upper left corner). Check or promissory note it is still very collectible--especially for $3; and especially if it has local appeal. I'll not post the two notes from the other thread, how 'bout just one.
The dealer Grover Criswell, now passed on, stocked a HUGE number of this sort of thing, about 30 to 40 years ago. His pricelists from that period are still very much in demand, as one of the few sources of data on non-currency items. I attended his IRS-liquidation auction in Jacksonville about 15 years ago and bought several items to give back to him (the IRS didn't care), including duck stamps signed by his father in the 1940s and 1950s. I first met him in 1957, when he was thinking about running for Congress. He never recovered from the shock of that auction. I do not have an opinion whether he failed to report income or not. He is best-known, however, for his catalogs of, and insights into, Confederate currency, his favorite collectible by far.
Grover indeed WAS the character. I have a 1976 edition of Confederate and Southern States Currency (Volume 1, 2nd Revised Edition) inscribed thus: And from the 4th edition: He was a good friend and taught me a lot about currency and other paper document collecting (even though I didn't collect Confederate notes) Yes, to protect the maybe not so innocent I have "redacted" my name from the inscriptions.
