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Last Friday I closed on a house that I have had on the market for over two years, to celebrate I went downtown to the local coin shop.  I hoped to get a $3 gold piece, I have never owned one, and want a nice BU example, of course he didn't have one.  But he had just purchased from the executor of an estate of a banker from Grand Rapids Michigan, a collection of large sized notes ranging from the Legal Tender issues of 1862-1863 up to the last of the large sized gold certificates of 1922.  The story on the banker's acquiring them is that he purchased them from over the counter receipts from the 1930's up into the 1970's.  Yes, there were lots of common stuff like 1917 $1's, 2's etc, 1907 Woodchopper $5's, but the rare and unusual too.

To say the least, it was just one of those remarkably fortuitous times when I had the funds to invest in something, and it came along at the same time.

Some of the notes I acquired from this lot are webpaged here:

http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/banknotes/usa/usa2.html (http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/banknotes/usa/usa2.html)

Then keep following the links on the bottom of the page.

A couple of the notes are quite possibly unique, the $50 National from Lancaster, OH dated 1909, and the 1875 Series $20 National from Bellefontaine, Ohio which is unreported in any grade.  Several others like the 1880 Series $50 Legal Tender are quite scarce.

wow!!! ive been too both places i wouldnt mind getting one of those!!

That was some seriously good timing, scottish.  Congratulations on your find, and you definitely have my jealousies!

I love being able to see some of the older US currency.  It was so much more interesting back then! When did our government decide that plain and boring was better? 

Actually the trend to plain and boring began here:


Nice colourful note referred to as the Rainbow issue

But by the 1878-1880 series look what happened:


Headed down the road to BORING, not a lot of colour like on the 1869 issue.

I haven't yet paged the Bellefontaine Ohio note, and some of the other Grand Rapids notes yet:


The president of this bank, William Lawrence is the bottom right signature here.  He was also then a US Congressman representing Logan County, Ohio, was also instrumental in the creation of the American Red Cross with Clara Barton, and the US being a signatory to the Geneva Convention of 1882, governing treatment of prisoners of war etc.  This note is a discovery note, it never having been reported in a collection prior to this note, there are only three other notes known on this bank, one $1, and two $10's from this series.  Curiously this Bellefontaine National Bank was a highly respected institution that lasted in name for 106 years until bought out by Huntington Bank in 1977.

Those notes are beautiful!!! Congratulations on the great finds  ;D

Those are some great banknotes there! :)

As someone who only owns seven or eight older U.S. bank notes, I can certainly appreciate what you have, and wish I had something similar in my collection.

 :) :) :) :)

http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/banknotes/usa/index.html (http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/banknotes/usa/index.html)

Now everything is all together on my website.

Nice looking website !!! Those photos came out well.