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
The king of them all, the B-149 $500 Battle of Shiloh bond that brought a world record price in 1997, is available to collectors once again after a decade-long hiatus. The rare Cotton bonds, B-151, B-152 and B-155, are offered next. A B-188 bond, printed on paper watermarked “J Green & Son 1862” will make a great addition to any bond or paper money collection – the Confederate $10 T-59 PF-32 is the complementary note. The rare B-271 and B-273 bonds are also here. Most of the other rarities, many Trans-Mississippi issues, and many more common bonds with great provenance, are available as well.
In addition to his fabulous bond collection, Frederick Mayer had the foresight to acquire thirteen Confederate Montgomery notes, including two complete sets. One of the highlights of this unprecedented offering is a Type 1 1861 $1,000 note from Dr. Ball’s own personal collection, off the market for over two decades. Mr. Mayer had two nice mid-grade T-2s in his collection, and the T-3s and T-4s offer something for everyone – from the discriminating collector adding to a high end collection to the budget minded collector looking for a respectable Montgomery at an affordable price.
Friday evening’s auction then continues with Session 4, Southern and Western obsolete notes from the Herb and Martha Schingoethe Collection. There are over eighty different lots of scarce to rare Arkansas notes, including a sutler note from Brentsville, a Fort Smith 1862 $2 redeemable at Boggy Depot, Choctaw nation, numerous Rothert plate notes, and high denomination Proofs from the Bank of the State of Arkansas. Tennessee includes over 60 lots of very elusive scrip and banknotes, many from the legendary Sedman collection. Here you will find a $1,000 1864 Farmers’ & Merchants’ Bank of Memphis, a rare set of Graham, Debow & Co. merchant’s scrip, two extraordinary City of Memphis color Proofs, a very sharp $10 River Bank of Memphis color Proof, a $50 Polar Bear Proof on the Union Bank of Tennessee, and many more scarce and attractive Tennessee Proofs and scrip notes. The Virginia offering commences with an 1861 $100 Criswell 1 Virginia Treasury Note, and an 1861 $50 Criswell 2 Virginia Treasury Note, and includes another incredibly rare offering, an 1861 Stephen Mason 37 Cent note from Richmond. The Western states are also well represented. A $5 1878 Hackberry Mill & Mining note, payable in “United States Gold Coin” is probably unique. Three of the colorful Colorado Territory scrip notes from the Denver Banking House of C. A. Cook & Company feature U. S. coin vignettes. A rare Woolworth & Moffat 5 Cent Denver note is redeemable in Colorado Territory, Missouri, Nebraska and New York. Indian Territory offerings include four Choctaw Treasury Warrants (some of these were re-issued in 1865 after the collapse of the Confederacy), two Choctaw Nation Auditor’s notes, and a Cherokee Nation Executive Department Warrant signed by Principal Chief John Ross. Two outstanding Mormon rarities are the 75 Cent and $1.50 notes issued by the Provo
