Stack’s Bowers Galleries Announces Inaugural U.S. Paper Money Rarities Night Auction

Stack’s Bowers Galleries is pleased to present its inaugural U.S. Paper Money Rarities Night, set for Thursday, August 28, as part of their Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction. The impressive rarities in the sale range from the remarkable holdings of the McLaughlin Collection of Napier–Thompson Notes to the curated selection of Gold Certificates and other large-size type notes from the Shores Collection Part II.

In the offerings from the McLaughlin Collection of Napier – Thompson Notes collectors will have numerous generational opportunities including six Serial Number 1s (Fr. 86, 231, 254, 276, 1170, & 1184) and a Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ Fr. 1211 Series of 1882 $100 Gold Certificate, which represents the finest in the PMG Population Report by many grade levels (lot 23172). Additional condition rarities for the Napier–Thompson signature combination will cross the auction block, along with a remarkable selection of fancy serial numbers featuring a wide range of single-digit pieces.

The most exciting offering from the McLauglin Collection is the cut sheet of four Fr. 231 Series of 1899 $1 Silver Certificates (S/N 1, 2, 3, & 4). Long recognized as a rarity, with fewer than 250 known survivors, these notes were saved shortly after their printing through the personal intervention of Treasurer Carmi A. Thompson, who gifted them to his daughter, Gladys, on Christmas Day 1912. With a pedigree that features just a few names on its way back to Thompson (including numismatist Harley L. Freeman), these notes have never been offered publicly at auction and have only traded hands a handful of times since Freeman acquired them from Gladys Thompson in 1934 (lot 23074).

By comparison, The Shores Collection Part II offers an impressive assortment of large-size type notes with a heavy emphasis on Gold Certificates, including what is perhaps among the greatest paper rarities known to survive. Issued during the 1860s, this note is one of six known $20 Gold Certificates authorized under the Act of March 3, 1863, and one of only four available to collectors. It is the finest survivor, graded About Uncirculated 50 by PCGS Banknote with a “Details” designation (lot 23144). However, this note is just one of several outstanding highlights from the Shores Collection Part II. Bidders will have the opportunity to vie for a Fr. 1205 Series of 1882 $100 Gold Certificate, which can trace its pedigree back to the Grinnell Collection sold by Barney Bluestone in the 1940s, when Gold Certificates were still illegal to own under the provisions of Executive Order 6102 (lot 23171). Also being offered is one of only two Fr. 1218g Series of 1882 $1000 Gold Certificates available to collectors, as the other two known survivors are held by different institutional collections (lot 23180).

Stack’s Bowers Galleries’ Summer 2025 U.S. Currency Rarities Night sale will begin at 2:00 PM PT on Thursday, August 28. It will be hosted at Griffin Studios, the firm’s Costa Mesa headquarters, as well as online at StacksBowers.com. For information regarding consigning to the firm’s upcoming auctions, call 800-458-4646 or email [email protected].