Question about 'cracking out' paper money and special labels

Think again. Scotch tape is not natural to paper money. It will lower the value!!! Removing any note from it's graded holder lowers the value of that note and it's near impossible to prove what it was after removal. Humans are too skeptical. Whatever you buy, leave it as is. It will be worth more.

Ask yourself this question, you have a very old $3.00 note. It's seen a lot of wear, tear and handling. Why didn't any of the other previous owners tape the bill? You clearly state that you have 1 of 2 known and it's in poor condition. Compared to the 2nd know note, yours grade a lot higher. As a collector of CSA notes let me put this in simple terms, LEAVE IT ALONE!!!

 

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I appreciate the advice and response. I don't collect paper money at all unless it says or has something to do with New Bern NC so I don't have the proper knowledge or education to handle these things. That's why I turn here.

My mind just has a hard time understanding why an easily identifiable note such as that $50 or that Counterfeit couldn't be removed and then again proven where it came from by auction archives and keeping the label after it was removed. My little brain says there was a LLOOOOONNNNGG time between the 1800s when these were printed and generations before us had very little difficulty in proving these types things. It also is telling me that if marketed correctly the new buyer probably wouldn't care that much about the provenance, I didn't really.
ANY $50 note in that condition I would've bid the same just to own it, as I'm sure anyone interested in New Bern notes would have done due to emotional attachment.

I also don't understand the tape thing either. My mind says it's already damaged and can't get worse. It'll never grade clean no matter what, and I would like to stop a full on tear at this point to PREVENT it from becoming like the only other known specimen. I also don't put much stock in what folks did in the past. You saying 'collectors before you left it alone' doesn't really say much because no one knows where it came from or who had it and where. Maybe they just didn't care? Maybe they didn't know the relevance? Not all previous owners are savvy collectors, and also remember not that long ago it was standard procedure to take your coins and such home and clean them vigorously.

By no means am I disregarding your advice, my logical path just needs correcting and so far the reasons, (not outcome), haven't been thoroughly satisfied. Meaning I trust your advice to leave these things alone, but the why just hasn't sunk in, at least with the responses I've been given.

 

Suggestion: contact your North Carolina Archives Department and ask them about paper restoration/conservation.
http://archives.ncdcr.gov/
scroll down the "For The Public" and you'll find Preservation. Good Luck.

 

Easily identifiable to an expert for the purpose of grading and identifying is a falsehood. It really doesn't exist. You MUST be able to prove your claim as such. If it's removed the original holder, it no longer exists as per the holder. Your claim that it came from that holder MUST be proven again. Presenting the holder and saying "I removed this bill from this holder" is not proof of your claim. You must have all supporting documentation to have it identified as to what it is.

Unless you have every piece of paper, every auction document to show it's history, you'll never be able to prove it. To the person you would be asking to sign their name to as to what your claim is, even though you are telling the truth, is unacceptable to them. I for one, would not accept nor sign my name based on that claim. You MUST prove your claim.

You also state, "if marketed correctly the new buyer probably wouldn't care that much about the provenance, I didn't really." You MUST market it correctly which is a difficult thing to do if you want to make money when you sell it. You didn't care and MAYBE the new buyer won't care but the last owner could have cared, as well as the next owner. No one knows what future owners care about but if I was interested in this bill, I want it professionally graded and labeled. In other words, I care.

"My mind says it's already damaged and can't get worse." As for this quote of yours, it can get worse. Taping the bill makes it worse. Over time, what happens to the tape. It gets old, cracks and turns yellow. It may even crack and fall off. That leaves a sticky residue on the bill that turns darker. Years from now, the bill is in worse condition that it was when you bought it. Maybe for you, maybe for another owner but the bill has been damaged more than it already is and you made it that way by trying to fix or repair it. It would be better to have 2 halves than tape on the bill to prevent it from tearing in two pieces.

Of course it won't grade clean but it will grade. Again, your $3.00 note is in much better condition than the only other $3.00 note known. To do anything to it would be a shame and cause more damage to the note in the future. Personally, I would never purchase a note with tape on it.

You are correct that not all collectors are savvy. Maybe the previous owners knew enough not to alter the bill by taping it. Check with your local preservation or historical society. Yes, coin cleaning was once a thing but it is not any longer so apply that to bills as well.

As the new owner, you responsibility to future collectors, is to preserve this bill, not repair it. Best wishes but as a collector of expensive notes, I'd leave it as you purchased it.

 

How many bills have the same serials?

 

The bill is so old the serial number will not make any difference. It has a hand written serial number and is hand signed by 2 people and it's not recorded in any computer. The bill is in poor condition. It's graded and sealed. It should be left as is to protect and preserve the bill and it's history.

 

Leave your paper "goodies" in the holders,they are fragile and not like a coin that can be buried for thousands of years w/ out rotting away....