By Bradley Charles Trotter – Currency Specialist and Lead Currency Cataloger, Stack’s Bowers Galleries ……
With the Stack’s Bowers Galleries March 2025 Showcase Auction shaping up to be a cornerstone of the year’s auction schedule, one of the standout consignments for that auction is something that is offered every few years at best: a rare Fr. 284 “Triple Signature” Series of 1878 $10 Silver Certificate of Deposit.
Only four examples of this Friedberg number are recorded by Track & Price, with a handful of auction appearances going back to the 1990s. This particular example realized $312,000 when it last crossed the auction block in 2023. It offers a strong degree of eye appeal bolstered by uncommon rarity.
Featuring the penned countersignature of Assistant Treasurer J.C. Hopper, this note was issued under the short-lived Series of 1878, defined by the bright pinkish-red floral overprint and printed on security paper furnished by the Wilcox Company under its 1866 patent.
The penned countersignatures were quickly discarded in favor of engraved countersignatures as the task of hand-signing each note proved to be difficult and the signatures of Hopper and his counterparts Anthony, Hillhouse, and Wyman were engraved into the printing plates for convenience.
Subsequent printings of the Series of 1878 would feature the engraved signature of the Assistant Treasurer, but by the early 1880s, this feature would be discarded.
The “Triple Signature” Series 1878 $10 Silver Certificate featured in the Stack’s Bowers March 2025 Showcase Auction has an estimate of approximately $200,000 to $300,000. For more information about our auctions or to consign your numismatic items, please call 800-458-4646 or email [email protected].
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