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Fenntucky Mike

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Posts posted by Fenntucky Mike

  1. On 3/27/2024 at 12:23 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    Wait a second....at one time this bill had the PPQ or EPQ designation and LOST it ?

    That is what is in the HA description. It stated that the note had been in a PCGS 64PPQ holder when sold in 2009. 

    On 3/27/2024 at 12:23 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    And you think it was the same person buying this note over the last 24 years ?

    No, I doubt it. I was not reading the HA description correctly, didn't realize they were quoting their own lot description from 2009. I thought they were talking about the consigner to the 2024 auction having acquired the note in 2000 and consigning in 2008. doh!

  2. On 3/27/2024 at 10:29 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    Here's the one that sold for $1,100 back in 2000 and $805 in 2009 yet with bp last night only reached $660.  Pretty cool SN of 00000400.

    https://currency.ha.com/itm/small-size/federal-reserve-bank-notes/fancy-serial-number-fr-1880-g-50-1929-federal-reserve-bank-note-pcgs-very-choice-new-64/a/142413-84458.s?ic4=ListView-Thumbnail-071515

    "Fancy Serial Number Fr. 1880-G $50 1929 Federal Reserve Bank Note. PCGS Very Choice New 64.
    "The only low or fancy numbers listed by Oakes for the Chicago district $50 are numbers 200, 300 and 400, all of which were discovered as part of the Davenport, Iowa Bank & Trust Co. cash hoard. Our consignor obtained this in a 2000 sale, when it realized $1100. Expect it to bring more, perhaps considerably more, in this offering." This was our description when we sold this same note for $805 in our 2009 FUN sale from the Robert Moon Collection. At that time, it was housed in a PCGS Very Choice New 64PPQ holder."

    I wonder how much that the note didn't "Q" affected the price? Looks like it used to be in a "Q" holder but then it was dropped after another round of grading. How could the consignor have obtained the note in a 2000 sale if the note was sold again in 2009. How many times has this person bought this note? xD Boy, they must be really underwater on this note if the bought it for $1,100, sold it for $800, bought it back (at a higher amount than the $800 maybe), and sold it again for $600. :o

  3. Looks like the NNP is going to host several presentations to coincide with the Central States show and there are actually a few on paper money. Finally!  Currently there are four presentations scheduled that will cover different types of paper money, I'm definitely going to try and catch the Higgins Museum of National Bank Notes talk and hopefully one or two of the others. Below is the current list of scheduled presentations. 

    https://nnpsymposium.org/schedule 

    image.thumb.png.c48567c23d9224adf17aa84167f360e0.png

  4. Tough to describe how to know other than you need to see several examples as an authentic ink smear from the BEP has a certain look and feel to it. For example, a smear of the first or second printing wouldn't cover or be on top of the overprint, because of how notes are printed smears will always look like they are wiped top to bottom, etc.. 

    Neither of the notes posted appear to have ink smear from the BEP. 

    The other thing to note about ink smear errors is that minor smears bring no premium, and where the smear is located and how it looks can effect the price.

  5. On 3/27/2024 at 3:23 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    I have to study the auction results in detail and go over them more in-depth...but after watching a few dozen auctions last night besides stuff I considered bidding on, the following observations:

    • Lower-priced stuff is attracting lots of bidders and stuff is going ABOVE the HA estimates.  This stuff is affordable to folks with $50 - $500 or so.
    • Higher-end stuff sells, but lots of stuff wasn't reaching the HA estimate.  I saw some stuff like Gold Certificates and other special bills sell for under the HA estimates and in a few cases 30% or more BELOW what they sold for 15-20 years ago in some family auction of bills.  Very surprised to see stuff not at least matching a sale from that long ago....there wasn't a bubble in currency that I know of, so you would think unless a bidding war broke out that today's sales should match/exceed prices from that long ago. 
    • Older GCs and SC's continue to get strong bidding in medium-to-low grades.  Not my cup of tea but folks like these and other larger bills.
    • $500 and $1,000 bills in medium and lower grades selling for 3-4x FV.....high-50's and mid-60's you have to pay up 5-7x.

    I generally agree with your points, especially the lower priced notes blowing away estimates, but I'm not sure I'm seeing the high end stuff missing estimates as much as you're describing. I don't really pay much attention to the market for U.S. notes but most of the high end world notes that I do keep any eye on are still beating estimates for the most part, often by multiples. I'll add that U.S. obsoletes have been bringing in strong money for the last year plus, most of these fall into your lower priced stuff range <$500 and seem to be growing in popularity. The seaming shift or split your describing between high end notes selling for less and low end notes for more is interesting. I've been feeling the pinch in the lower priced stuff as that is my typical price range, but if the higher priced notes are seeing a decline in interest it may be time for me to swim to the surface to spear one. I have my eye on a NBN going to auction next month, the note has a good sales history for which to track price and it'll be interesting to see how much it goes for. 

  6. On 3/26/2024 at 4:52 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    I recall it wasn't like $50 or so for a 69 or 70 but closer to $200 I believe.

    PMG 66 notes seem to regularly sell for close to $150 on ebay, a 70 note might sell for over $500, maybe close to 1k. (shrug)

    Surprisingly there still seems to be demand for these things, I'm still holding out until the price drops. It's been several years now. :whistle:

  7. On 3/26/2024 at 12:23 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    Surprisingly, those Trillion Dollar Zimbabwe notes aren't that cheap in Mint Condition !!  :)

    The problem is that they should be as there seems to be lots of straps and bricks of them for sale on the internet. Most at ridiculous asking prices. This is probably one of the top five notes graded by PMG, if I had to guess. 

    I will give sellers a pat on the back for keeping the supply artificially low and demand up for these though. That's what it seems like to me at any rate.

  8. On 3/26/2024 at 10:19 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    I haven't seen -- and I don't think HA and others have cited them -- combinations of rare bills (GC, SN, Large Denomination) in GREAT condition (>65) and also super-low SN (< 10).

    Pretty low percentage of these in 65+ based on my observations. Granted I'm on the outside looking in as I don't specialize or collect NBN's really, only a few notes I'm interested in from specific banks/areas.

    On 3/26/2024 at 10:19 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    I think this probably shows that 100 years ago the super-low SN's for what are today special/rare bills were NOT saved or preserved.

    I'd don't know about that, the number of serial #1's I've seen would seem to contradict that conclusion, but as I said there were thousands of Banks issuing NBN's so percentage wise the number of saved notes with fancy number could be very low I suppose. I wonder if or how many were saved as they were pulled from circulation?

    I think someone, an organization, may actually track the serial numbers, The Society of Paper Money Collectors, Track & Price, Greensheet? (shrug)

  9. On 3/26/2024 at 12:46 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    That's a big price drop, 30-40%.  This is an obscure bill....could be illiquid with infrequent sales.

    First charter NBN's are not that obscure, from this specific bank yes, which is normal,  but overall no. There were thousands of banks issuing these notes, normally there are a handful of known survivors for each denomination for each bank. This note would be an easy sale. 

    On 3/26/2024 at 12:46 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    Any reason for the price drop that you might know ?  Not sure where bill prices in general or this type were from 2010-20 but I know they generally ROSE from 2020-23 as people had Covid checks.

    Not sure, two buyers fighting over one note possibly. The price is sold for last year seemed in line with most of the other lots, serial #1, rarity, condition, etc., $5,500 is about right from what I've seen.

  10. On 3/25/2024 at 12:01 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    $35,000 (asking) for a 50's graded bill with SN #1.  Not sure where it might actually be sold...I would think maybe $20,000 or so ?

    Seems way high to me, even 20k, but I don't pay much attention to these.

    Below is a Serial #1 NBN I was bidding on over at HA last year, it sold for $5,400, the same note sold for a little over 8k in 2016. I would much rather have a serial #1 NBN than a series 1935E serial #1 SC. 

    image.thumb.jpeg.6b3434a82c6c9ff3d1131d3f2201d464.jpeg

  11. On 3/23/2024 at 1:25 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    Who's they -- HA ?  SB ?  GC ?

    https://www.worldbanknoteauctions.com/ 

    They, WBA, typically have a good selection of notes, including U.S banknotes. They sold off a few large collections from some prominent collectors but it's unusual for them to have no current or upcoming actions listed. I've picked up many a note from them and the prices are not outrageous normally, you could usually score a good deal once and awhile. 

    Here is a link to their past auctions. https://bid.worldbanknoteauctions.com/auctions/past 

  12. They haven't had any auctions running for at least the last two weeks, wonder if they just ran out of material or if something else happened. They don't have any upcoming auctions listed currently, website says they are working on their next catalog, I guess we'll see when the next auction is, they were running one every two weeks or so with then next one ready to go. (shrug)

    I've bought several notes from them over the last few years, they usually have some decent notes for sale. 

  13. On 3/23/2024 at 12:30 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    I assume Mike's quotes were for ungraded bills

    Yep. Sorry if that wasn't clear OP. 

    Quote

    Ascertain if those are creases or folds -- I think they make a difference.

    The notes definitely look like they have lots of creases in them, maybe the OP can side light the note and post a pic. For a note like this I'd consider a note that was trifolded over one with creases running though the whole note, the trifolds would miss the portrait and probably miss the seal and "1 Dollar" overprint. 

    On 3/23/2024 at 12:30 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    If it turns out the bills are each worth less than $100 and you spend $30 each to grade them, it's not a disaster.  Just be prepared.

    More if the OP is sending them in themselves and these are the only two notes on the submission. If they can find a dealer to send these in with a bulk submission then cost might not be too bad, depending on what the dealer charges to send notes in for you, even going that route the cost would still be close to $30. 

  14. Hard to tell if there are any folds from those images. For the sake of argument let's say there are no folds in the notes, the problem is that I see discoloration/soling, rounded corners, lots of handling creases or wrinkles, and average centering. I would not send these notes to PMG for authentication and grading as they will not receive a lofty enough grade to offset the grading costs. 

    A sequential pair of these sold a Heritage Auctions in December for $198, another consecutive pair with different signatures sold with a third note for $360 this month. Your notes look to be in worse condition compared to the notes sold at HA so I'd put them in the $50 - $75 range as far as value goes. 

    On 3/23/2024 at 12:08 PM, powersport said:

    I saw 2 on Ebay with a score of 30 go for $455. Do you think it would be graded with a score in the 30s? 

    Can you provide a link to the listing? 

  15. On 3/19/2024 at 1:01 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    I paid over $200 for this one.  Hopefully it's held its value since I got it about 5 years ago :):

    1935A $1 SC FR #2306 N. Africa WWII front.jpg

    1935A $1 SC FR #2306 N. Africa WWII back.jpg

    Another note with really good ink, the margins are a bit off on the face but I like that the cut lines are visible in the lower and right margins. Cool. 

    I would assume that it's held it's value. NA and HI notes are always popular, hard to imaging that they've gone down in value but you never know.

  16. On 3/19/2024 at 10:04 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    Just curious, how would that change their value ?

    GF (GoldFinger). lol

    On 3/19/2024 at 10:04 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    I never understood the whole block thing unless it corresponds to Federal Reserve Bank ?  Like which of the 3 U.S. Mints for coins ?

    Some people collect notes by block letters, and certain combinations in some years had very short print runs making them much more difficult to find and desirable to the right person. Also some people collect notes with block letters L & A (Los Angeles), by state initials like A & L (Alabama), or G & F (Gold Finger). Maybe. :baiting:

    I believe the first block letter on current U.S. currency, $5, $10, $20, $50 & $100 notes, does correspond to the FRB. All of these notes will have two block letters at the beginning of the serial number and I think the first letter matches the FRB letter code. Modern $1 & $2 bills don't have two block letters at the start of the serial number. 

  17. On 3/18/2024 at 10:04 AM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    My Hawaii note (I think it's my only one, have to check) is grade 67 and very low SN so that drove up the price.  I think Hawaii notes aren't quite like SC's but in low-60's or lower grades with any SN they are pretty common so maybe only worth $10-$30 so not worth it to grade/holder as you said.

    Do you have any North Africa SCs or just the Hawaii?

  18. On 3/18/2024 at 10:28 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    Sequential low-SN 1957 SC's.  Not sure how rare they are, I don't think sequentials are nor low-SN's...but both in a bill ups the rarity factor.  Ditto for the 66 grade.

    I think I paid about $150 each.  I'm not sure what caused that jump in price...I think the fact that they are sequential as a 66 isn't super-rare.  Then the low SN caused a bump, too.  Not sure if G-A block matters a whiff.

    1957A $1 SC FR #1620 front #26 & #27.jpg

    1957A $1 SC FR #1620 back #26 & #27.jpg

    The premium is all in the serial numbers. To bad they weren't from the GF block. xD

  19. On 3/18/2024 at 4:22 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    Why is that, Mike ?  I would think with all the bills printed -- billions each year -- you'd get some70's there.

    Notes are more easily damaged by handling. There are other factors that I have not quantified like the number of coin collectors vs note collectors, the amount of NCLT coins and mint sets graded vs presentation notes, total number of each  and the percent that graded 70, etc. but my gut feeling is that notes graded 70 far less than coins. In the end I feel it comes down to that notes are more fragile. 

  20. On 3/17/2024 at 8:59 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    Mike, what's the break-even for someone to submit through a dealer (who doesn't look to mark it up or make any $$$) on a note like this ?

    To me it depends on if you can recoup the grading fees and be money ahead when it comes time to sell, I don't use an arbitrary minimum dollar amount as a determining factor. Of course some people just want to have a note graded so it can be added to a registry set, regardless. (thumbsu

    On 3/17/2024 at 8:59 PM, GoldFinger1969 said:

    This note wasn't in worn condition, not sure what generic Hawaii notes in the 50's go for but I figured the cost to grade/holder was maybe $25 (like a coin) so it would be worth it.

    The grading fee alone for this note would be $37, add shipping there and back, handling fee, insurance, etc., and your looking at a sizable sum. Tough to recoup that money on a note like this.