By Paper Money Grading and Certified Collectibles Group
An extremely rare Danish West Indies note from the 18th century that has been certified by Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®) and is pedigreed to the L. E. Bruun Collection is turning heads in an ongoing Stack’s Bowers Galleries auction. It is just one of more than 200 PMG-certified Scandinavian notes being offered in Stack’s Bowers’ L. E. Bruun Collection, a Corpus of Scandinavian Numismatics Part III – Paper Money auction, which is set to end on October 28, 2025.
The Danish West Indies 1799 5 Rigsdaler Vestindisk Courant graded PMG 12 Fine NET (lot 10189) has an estimate of €30,000 to €50,000 (about $35,000 to $59,000). Notes of the Danish West Indies from this time period are very scarce; of all the notes between 1788 and 1842, only three other examples are known to exist. Of these, this note is likely in the best condition, and it may be the sole example in private hands. Denmark sold the Danish West Indies (located just east of Puerto Rico) to the United States in 1917, and they were renamed the US Virgin Islands.
Bruun, a Danish entrepreneur who made his fortune in butter and real estate, amassed a collection of thousands of numismatic pieces from Denmark and other Scandinavian countries. He ordered his amazing collection to be set aside for a century after his death to serve as a replacement for the one owned by the Danish government, in case it was lost or destroyed. Now that 100 years have passed, the collection is being offered, with the proceeds benefitting his heirs. A Denmark 1496 Noble from the collection that is certified by Numismatic Guaranty Company (PMG’s coin grading affiliate) realized $1.33 million. The entire September 2024 Part One Auction realized an impressive $16.5 Million. In March 14-15, 2025 Part II of the Stack’s Bruun Collection Auction took place, setting records, with total prices realized of $10.3 Million.
The current auction represents the entirety of the paper money portion of the L. E. Bruun Collection, which includes notes from Denmark, Norway, Greenland, Iceland, the Danish West Indies and northern Germany (under Danish influence), covering the late 17th century to the early 20th century. Bruun acquired his rare paper money collectibles from the Count of Brahesminde Collection, which was assembled starting around 1800.
Other PMG-certified banknotes in this L. E. Bruun Collection auction include:
• a Denmark, National Bank 1875-87 100 Kroner graded PMG 53 About Uncirculated (lot 10080) that has an estimate of €30,000 to €40,000 (about $35,000 to $47,000)
• a Denmark, National Bank 1875-81 50 Kroner graded PMG 30 Very Fine (lot 10079) that has an estimate of €20,000 to €30,000 (about $24,000 to $35,000)
• a Denmark, Exchange & Mortgage Bank 1737-1740 10 Rigsdaler Courant graded PMG 25 Very Fine (lot 10008) that has an estimate of €15,000 to €20,000 (about $18,000 to $24,000)
• a Denmark, National Bank 1819 100 Rigsbankdaler graded PMG 53 About Uncirculated (lot 10070) that has an estimate of €10,000 to €15,000 (about $12,000 to $18,000)
• an Iceland / Danish Administration 1800-01 5 Rigsdaler graded PMG 10 Very Good (lot 10155) that has an estimate of €10,000 to €15,000 (about $12,000 to $18,000)
All estimates are provided by the auction house. The $ symbol refers to US Dollars.
