Smythe’s Memphis Sale Should Be Their Best Ever On July 5, 6 & 7, 2007, R. M. Smythe & Co., Official Auctioneers for the 31st Annual Memphis International Paper Money Show, will conduct an extraordinary auction of paper money, stocks, bonds, and re
Nation note with native text. The denomination appears near the center in English, and in Cherokee. Estimated at $5,000-$10,000, it is sure to attract serious bidders. This is followed by a rare, and probably unique sheet of Texas scrip notes from Thomas F. Hudson & Son of Rockdale.
Collectors of security printing will relish the opportunity to bid on two rare and early Fairman, Draper & Underwood Sample Sheets, both nicely framed.
Friday evening’s Session 2 begins with Colonial and Continental Currency. One of the first notes offered is a lovely $4 1778 Yorktown, described as AU, and estimated at $2,000-$3,000. A 1776 $4 “Sword in Hand” contemporary counterfeit in a PMG 64 holder is bound to attract attention. One of the highlights of the Colonial section is a 1746 New Jersey 30 Shilling in a PMG 8 holder. Over a dozen high grade $1 1777 South Carolina notes are offered, followed by two dozen mostly different Georgia notes, the best offering we have had in many years.
The Confederate lots being offered on Friday evening begin with a $100 Montgomery note, two very pleasing Cr.5 $100 Richmond notes, and a $50 Richmond Cr.6. Also included are a $100 T-7 PF-4 in VF, a rare Indian Princess, VG or so, and a Fine T-38. An extremely rare 1862 $5 T-69 PF-2 with mismatched “G-C” plate letters is also included. The highlight of this offering may well be the $50 1864 PF-11 with an inverted back, unknown in any collection until now. CSA bond collectors will be given the opportunity to bid on some very rare items on Friday evening including a $50 B-10 Cr.3, $100 B-12 Cr.2, B-13 Cr.2A, B-14 Cr.3, B-16 Cr.4, B18J Cr.9J, B-21 Cr.11, and B-268 Cr.134. One extraordinary piece in this offering is an 1864 Produce Loan Certificate. It is exceedingly rare; neither John Ford nor Frederick Mayer had one. Another great CSA item is a letter written by Judah P. Benjamin to Governor Lubbock of Texas regarding arms purchases to be paid for in U. S. bonds!
Session 3 continues on Friday night, July 6th, and features one of the greatest Confederate bond collections of all time, The Frederick R. Mayer Collection. If you ever wondered what became of all of the great unique bonds that Dr. Douglas B. Ball featured in his Comprehensive Catalog and History of Confederate Bonds published in 1998, be sure to see this historic auction session. A complete set of Montgomery bonds, more rare than their paper money counterparts, starts this portion of the auction. These include B-10 through B-17, and are followed by an impressive run of Ben Franklin B-18, and rare Confederate B-19 bonds. The Mayer Collection has those mysterious and intriguing handwritten bonds featured in Dr. Ball’s bond book, the B-20, B-29, B-141, B-280, and B-281 bonds. A nice run of B-21 bonds is present. We find three B-28 bonds including the Criswell plate example. Ball plate B-142, the extremely rare Flagenhiemer bond, is featured as well.
