Hello all, I dropped by a currency/coin dealer today to pick up some archival sleeves. Turns out the ones I was using are PVC based, and I've read that they don't bode well for long term storage. I asked him for his opinion on why my 1907 $10 gold cert has such faded colors. He believes it was washed and possibly pressed, although I don't see indications of that. The serial number, the gold X, and the seal have lost a good deal of their original color. What makes me think that this note was not washed, is because the reverse of the note is still dark orange. I have heard that the orange inks used in the past do not age particularly well. What are some ways that the note could have lost it's color? Here are some pics: http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu286/twidgetfitch/Money/9aa597c4.jpg http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu286/twidgetfitch/Money/c8101b83.jpg P.S. The colors from the front of the note are actually lighter in real life than in the photo. Thanks!
it does to appear that it has been cleaned at some point. the front is a lot lighter than it should be along with the fact the note looks crisp. that leads me to believe it was cleaned at sometime to make an old soiled note look cleaner and crisper than it was was prior to being washed.
Why would the BEP wash their own notes, Steve? The note's condition is pretty high grade. Despite any laundering , I can still see all faults at magnification. The most prominent is a fold that starts from the left side of the note and stops around the middle. A slight vertical fold on the left and a slight soiling on the 10 on the top right of the reverse, and a small stain near Teehee's signature on the front. The margins are excellent. Considering all this I would grade it an EF40 to 45. Unfortunately the reality of having been cleaned is very possible, and would probably knock the grade down some. What led me to believe it could be natural aging due to the note's container is due to orange inks fading on other high grade notes, such as the national gold bank notes. The remainder of the front does not look washed, although the darker inks may make it harder to tell.
I agree with the other assessments and possibilities so far posited. I will add that yellow (and often orange as well) is a very finicky color especially in any intaglio printing process. If it's just the yellow that looks faded, both it's delicate nature (were it washed and re-pressed) and the possibility that it was simply under inked when originally printed is entirely plausible. The later may account for why the note is as crisp as it is despite the weak color of the yellow features. I would suggest posting the note on Collectors Society Ask PMG, and wait for one of the PMG experts to give you an opinion on whether you might want to send it in for review to more conclusively find out what's up with the note.
