A 10,000-yuan note from China, part of the Ruth W. Hill Collection, sold for $199,750 in an April 24 Heritage Auctions sale.

The note had an estimate of $8,000 to $10,000.

A portion of the Ruth W. Hill Collection of World Notes was sold in Heritage Auctions’ Central States Numismatic Society convention auction, April 24, 2014, in Schaumburg, Ill.

The 1951 10,000-yuan note (lot 21302) was issued in Mongolia by the People’s Republic of China and is described in the catalog as “quite simply the rarest note” in the first series of the People’s Republic of China.

The note was graded Very Fine 20 by PCGS Currency.

All prices include the 17.5 percent buyer’s fee.

A rare 1928 10-rupee note of Zanzibar (lot 21722) sold for $64,625. It was described in the catalog as “exhilarating” for its preservation. PCGS Currency graded the note Apparent Very Fine 25, rust stains and small holes. It was estimated to realize $5,000 to $7,000.

In addition to the notes offered at the CSNS convention auction, Heritage will also offer notes from the Hill Collection in Tuesday Internet Auctions and at Heritage’s World Currency Signature Auction in Long Beach, Calif., Sept. 3 to 8.

The Grand Old Lady

Hill, lovingly referred to by collectors as the “Grand Old Lady of Paper Money Collecting in North America,” died in St. Louis on Jan. 14, 1995, at the age of 96. 

She became interested in collecting paper money in the 1950s, shortly after the death of her husband, Adolph. 

Her husband had sold ink made to customer specifications, and it was through his dealings with the Banco de Mexico that she caught the collector “virus.” She collected notes from every country except the United States.

She actively served in both the Society of Paper Money Collectors and the International Bank Note Society, and was a fellow of the American Numismatic Society.

For more information about the auction, visit Heritage Auctions at www.ha.com or telephone the firm at 800-872-6467.