I was hoping to get at least one of these but it wasn't meant to be. There were 3 great looking Specimen Fractionals that just ended. I knew I was not going to get near the third one shown, as the price was at $194 with a day to go. In the last 2 seconds it jumped from $238 to $494. The 1st two sold at more reasonable prices and the same person got both (beating my last second bids). Not the 1st time this buyer has beaten me as they have also out bid me on some intaglio pieces. They have a good eye and a little deeper pockets. As I am saving up for something else I did not go really big which I would normally do when I want something. Anyways, I thought I would share what I missed out on... Best Regards ~ Darryl
That really bites! Those are beautiful notes. When I ago after a pair of notes in separate auctions, or a set (in separate auctions), I total the amount I want to spend for sets and hopefully get them for my price. I paid $30 for one note and $100 for the second (identical note) but the average was less that I was willing to go. Do you do the same?
Those are really hard to find and on the rarer side! sometime you have to dig a little Bit deeper in to your pocket!
They might be rare but I had to stay within my budget. That said it worked out because I found the two dollar obsolete note to go with the fractionals I picked up around Christmas. In all of knuckles searching I did not find an example of this denomination anywhere. I knew the two was made but could find no auction history or examples for sale. I have a line on the one and five which I should be able to get within the next three months.
I set a max I am willing to spend and try really hard to stay within it. It's funny how multiple pieces change in price. With these the last example stood on its own and the other two where bought by the same guy. I have a feeling he was going big to get the second after getting the first. Sometimes it just the opposit where if a buyer did not win the first they do not bid up the second. To me the first item usually sets the tone for the rest. I hate when the best piece goes last because then I have to decide how much of my budget I am willing to put towards the earlier pieces.
Darryl, those notes look amazing! Very sorry to hear they slipped away but I can see why others wanted them badly enough to pay those prices. The signatures are especially interesting as are the VERY modern Sans Serif watermark in the paper. I see a large "S" and "A" so I wonder if there was also a "U" for USA patterns worked into the paper mould (screen). It seems very interesting for notes of that era to use such modern styled font face when serifed fonts proliferated and such san serif fonts were several decades away from common use. Anyone have any ideas about the styling of the watermarks on these notes?
Kris - It appears that the watermark complete is "CSA". I have not found reference to it yet but there are a number of certified examples on ebay currently. Here are a couple examples from the notes currently listed.
Would CSA possibly be some of the Confederate paper stocks that were captured and used to print the fractional notes?
"Most had bronze lettering on the unprinted side with the word "specimen". Many of the second and third issue specimens were printed on CSA watermarked paper. This paper was seized from the Confederacy and was used by the Union government. With the example shown to the right, you can clearly see part of the CSA watermark." http://uns0uled.com/specimens.html
