The far superior of the two Friedberg 1218g Series 1882 $1,000 gold certificates available to collectors will be the star at the Heritage Currency Signature Auction in Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 7.

Only four examples of the note are known, with one at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and another at the Smithsonian Institution. The one in the auction is from the fabled Joel Anderson Collection, graded Extremely Fine 40 by PCGS Currency. It last sold in March 2018 for $576,000. Prior to that it exchanged hands for $264,000 in 2000 and $264,500 in 2005. The auction catalog gives it an estimate in excess of $500,000 with an opening bid of $250,000.

The finest of only eight known examples of an F-150a $50 Series 1863 legal tender note is projected to surpass $200,000 in Paper Money Guaranty Choice About Uncirculated 58 Exceptional Paper Quality. No other of these is graded higher than Very Fine. The description says that there are only about 50 1862 and 1863 $50 legal tender notes in total and this is the finest of all of them. When this last sold in March 2020, it brought $174,000.

Estimated at $60,000 or more is a vivid F-127 $20 Series 1869 United States note (the “Rainbow note”) in a grade of Gem Uncirculated 66 by PCGS Banknote. Heritage says it has been almost six years since another piece in the same grade sold at auction, and that the closest recent example is a PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 note that was sold in its 2020 Orlando auction for $52,800. This particular note, with serial number A2329518★, has not been seen on the market since July 2008 when Track & Price indicates it was sold on eBay for $22,500 in PCGS Currency Gem New 66. (The star after the serial number does not indicate a replacement note. It is one of numerous devices used at the time to indicate the end of the serial number.)

A large-size high-denomination rarity — a Kansas City District F-1132-J $500 Series 1918 Federal Reserve note — is also estimated at $60,000 and has an opening bid of more than half that. It grades PMG Choice About Uncirculated 58 and is the highest graded of about dozen known.

The small-size section features a newly reported Boston Series 1934 $10,000 Federal Reserve note (F-2231-A). Most $10,0000 notes are from the New York district. The estimate for this much rarer issue is $200,000 or more in PMG Choice Uncirculated 63.

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