Values Of Series Of 1902 National Notes & Other Price Guide

I see you changed your pictures to two nationals (from one common national and one common FRN) and dropped the auction links. So.....that changes my above answer a bit.

The Herkimer natl is fairly common and is still worth 30 to 50 bucks in a bidding war in spite of it's poor condition (in my opinion).

The West Palm Beach note is tough and might bring some serious money (1k to 2k$) at auction depending on it's condition. It looks better than the Herkimer note.

You can search for notes like them, and see auction results, at HA.com (Heritage Auctions). You'll have to register for a free account to see auction archive results, but if it's information you are looking for its one place to look.

My Kelly book is old and only shows 2 large known on the WPB note. I'm sure others have surfaced in the last 15 years.

So, bottom line is one note is crappy and the other one might be a diamond in the rough.

Hope that helps and good luck!

I looked at the West Palm Beach note in the Heritage archive man that sold for some serious $$$.

Yup this is the kind of note that would benefit from a recognized auction house if and when you decide to sell, they can reach a wider collector base.

Let us know what you do with this one.

-MV

Yeah, I did change bills :) Thank you all for the replies, and thank you for the tip on HA. I knew the WPB one was worth a good bit; that became clear when I posted it on ebay a couple of days ago. I took it down, because I thought that probably wasn't the best place for a valuable bill. I live in a major city and there are some big auction houses here ... are there any that you guys would recommend working with? Christies, Sotherby's, Freeman's?

If I take it to an auction house, should I still get it graded?

I have it in an envelope that used to have stamps in it (from a stamp shop). It's slightly opaque and waxy. Is that a good place to store it? Should it be kept in a book, a safe, a lockbox ... ?

I put your note at VG6 with perhaps a net grade due to some damage. Of course, at VG6 some damage is to be expected, so that could be subjective.

As for auction houses, it wouldn't be in your best interest for me to answer that as I know very little about how each auction house runs. (I only know how to buy ) I do know if I was buying a note of that caliber, I'd much prefer it to be graded.

The glassine envelop that stamps are stored in would be fine for temporary storage till you can get a high quality non-PVC currency holder. You need a Mylar-D archival quality holder for long term storage. The currency grading companies use similar holders.

If it were mine, it would be under lock and key in a bank safety deposit box.

Cool. I just ordered some PVC free archival grade currency sleeves. Just so have something to keep it in until I get it into the hands of an grader / auction house. I assume that brand doesn't matter too much ... I ordered then of a guy with good reviews (drcrarecoins2009)on ebay selling them loose.

And you're right about the Buy It Now offers and such, tons of emails and calls. Lots people telling me not to trust the other people that were contacting me. It was a very disorienting. I'm glad I wasn't rash about it ... all of a sudden I was hearing numbers being thrown around that are so big. I wonder what would have happened if I knew how much this bill was worth five or ten years ago (I say my chances of selling for the first big number I heard would have been 50/50).

In the collecting field of National Bank Notes all it takes is for two bidders to want the same item. At auction, they go crazy sometimes.

Whenever you decide to sell yours just do your homework. You just gotta get in front of the right bidders. I agree that the FUN Show in Florida is probably the best venue for that particular note.

Just curious:

After all the sleepless nights you experienced and information overload you received, what avenue did you decide to persue to auction your WPB note?

You received some real good advice from here on the CCF Pages along with some interesting perspectives from some probable bidders on the PCGS Currency forum (that saw the note on ebay). I think the most enlightening is that the note would have reached its true value on ebay in a 10-day auction starting at 99 cents. The comment noted also that if you weren't happy with the results you could have just refunded the money and ate the negative feedback.

With your note now being at least the 3rd or 4th known, I would imagine that the low five figure (15K to 40k$) gustimate is now wishful thinking. I now think it'll now be somewhere in the 7K$ to 12K$ range no matter what venue you choose to go with.

Good luck with whatever you decide and I hope the note does well for you.