Sheik,  Nice notes (of course). You have about 50 charters to choose from with Pittsburgh, PA (so far I've only seen 252 and 6301 :-).  For Charter 6301, I have a nice Ty 1 $5 in PCGS 63 and then Fines for a 1902 DB and a PB (also $5s and in PCGS holders).  That is one of the most crooked treasury serial numbers I've seen on your $10 Red Seal.  Did you see PMG's email on replacement notes?  In 1903 BEP introduced new machinery to apply the serial numbers more efficiently and the fonts changed compared to the old machinery.  The new ones were hard to set up so any replacement notes would use the old machinery (I'm not describing it nearly as well as you might find over on SPMC's web site).  Both red seals shown have the old style fonts which are correct based on their relatively low serial numbers.  But you can tell based on the serial number and the font that these were produced prior to the changeover in 1903.  Compare the 2 on the $10 Red Seal with the 2 on your Plain Back.  So that's really an old crooked treasury serial number.  Charter 6301 is fun because you get an autograph from a Mellon; maybe not Carnegie, but still a Mellon.

D. Dr. You're eye is far superior to mine. I would have never noticed the serial number type set you discovered. However, I did read the completely new news for me, from the article that before star notes, the replacement notes could be detected in the serial number. However, the article was not clear on exactly how to identify a replacement note before stars. Are you saying my $10 red seal is a replacement note because of the crooked treasury serial number? I recently sent this in for grading and just sent it back because I am sure 40 EPQ is not correct. This note was clearly uncirculated. Any help from your fountain of knowledge would be much appreciated. Yes, I am hooked on 6301, 252 and 2941. Common charters but easy to find notes to complete collections (or should I say...easier). Thanks, Sheik

PS I added the reverse of the $20 PB because it was given the "good embossing" comment. Purchased ungraded for $336 

Your red seals are not replacement notes.  The crooked serial number was just interesting.  I wonder if the old machinery was more likely to print a crooked SN.  Red seals are tricky (as are Brown Backs) as far as replacements.  You have to have a serial number that was issued in 1903, or later, after the introduction of the new machinery.  The serial numbers on your notes are too low, so were issued in 1902 or early in 1903.  They pre-date the introduction of the new machinery.  So they correctly show the old font on the numbers and are not replacement notes (more correctly, there's no way to tell if they were replaced).  

You can find replacement notes on red seals, most commonly on SN 1s.  On $5s look for Treasury SNs greater than or equal to A530328.  On $10, it's a bit trickier.  If the note was from a bank that ordered sheets as $10 $10 $10 $20, then the SN must be greater than or equal to B241777.  If the bank ordered sheets of $10 $10 $10 $10 only, then all serial numbers are in play to check--if it has the old font, it's a replacement.  I would also assume the serial number on those 10s would be >B241777 as well.  The Mellon NB ordered sheets as $10 $10 $10 $20 for red seals. For 50s and 100s, the SN has to be greater than or equal to A92661 and the Mellon NB issued those as well.

I made up a jpeg with all the info I need to quickly refer to when scanning auctions for replacement notes.  So far, no success :-(   They aren't very common. Happy to share it with you--send me an email.

So, Ch. 2941 is the First NB of Pierre, SD--that's another of your favorites??  My only note from SD is from Mitchell as a plain back.  By the way, I use ddr for double die reverse and 70 because of a perfect grade and my favorite date, 1870.  

On 11/17/2018 at 5:21 AM, ddr70 said:

Sheik,  Nice notes (of course). You have about 50 charters to choose from with Pittsburgh, PA (so far I've only seen 252 and 6301 :-).  For Charter 6301, I have a nice Ty 1 $5 in PCGS 63 and then Fines for a 1902 DB and a PB (also $5s and in PCGS holders).  That is one of the most crooked treasury serial numbers I've seen on your $10 Red Seal.  Did you see PMG's email on replacement notes?  In 1903 BEP introduced new machinery to apply the serial numbers more efficiently and the fonts changed compared to the old machinery.  The new ones were hard to set up so any replacement notes would use the old machinery (I'm not describing it nearly as well as you might find over on SPMC's web site).  Both red seals shown have the old style fonts which are correct based on their relatively low serial numbers.  But you can tell based on the serial number and the font that these were produced prior to the changeover in 1903.  Compare the 2 on the $10 Red Seal with the 2 on your Plain Back.  So that's really an old crooked treasury serial number.  Charter 6301 is fun because you get an autograph from a Mellon; maybe not Carnegie, but still a Mellon.

I have no connection to Pittsburgh. Can't stand the Steelers. Just like Ch 252 because I thought I could build a complete set. But found out that might be more doable with Ch 2491. And Ch 6301 I started collecting  only because of the Mellon signature. You looking for these?

On 12/24/2018 at 1:58 PM, Sheik Sheck said:

I have no connection to Pittsburgh. Can't stand the Steelers. Just like Ch 252 because I thought I could build a complete set. But found out that might be more doable with Ch 2491. And Ch 6301 I started collecting  only because of the Mellon signature. You looking for these?

I'm not a strong buyer of small size nationals.  The Warren NB was a prolific issuer.  However, I will go after large size on this charter.  I think I may have bid on those notes when they came up at auction.  I just have the one small Type 1 $5 that's in my Warren signature set.  We should do some trades!

Do you have a list of the 132 Charters that printed on the Napier-Thompson plates? Is there a count of the number of notes with this combo? Do they command a premium? I would be interested as I only have one. Thanks!

I never compiled that list of charters that issued notes during the brief period napier | thompson.  Personally, I place a premium on the signature combination (as does Friedburg), but I think the population of the bank really drives the prices.  Since the Warren NB was a prolific issuer, you can find Ch. 4879 notes at what I consider a bargain.  In Kelly's reference he talks about collectors prior to census data collecting by Fr. # and not by town names and bank names.  PA was the state with the largest number of charters, so it has a low premium factor.  The $10 Plain Back, Warren, PA Ch 4879, SN 52983/X778493 pp B/139 in PMG 25 in my signature set cost me $248 after certification fees.  My note has the treasury SN, so it was printed before Aug. 22, 1925.  Your note has the EPQ designation and better eye appear for sure.  I got mine from eBay and I thought I paid a good price, not a great price, but I wanted the $10 to go with my $5s.