A Rarity Among Gold Certificates

Among the rarities slated for the Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction is an 1882 $100 Gold Certificate, Fr. 1205, that can trace its history at auction back to the 1940s. First issued in the 1890s shortly before the Panic of 1893 severely limited the demand for Gold Certificates, this note is from the Series of 1882 and features the Rosecrans – Huston signature combination. Notably, this was the last signature combination used for that series until the early 1900s when notes with the Lyons – Robert combination entered circulation.

Perhaps the most perceptible difference between this note and subsequent signature combination is the prominent, large brownish-red Treasury seal at center. This feature was dropped in favor of a small red seal that would be used on $100 Gold Certificates through the late 1920s before that was completely discarded when the first small size pieces were introduced with the Series of 1928.

Only a handful of Series of 1882 $100 Gold Certificates with this signature combination and seal format are known to survive, with Track & Price recording only eight examples with three notes from the recorded population held by institutional collections.

This specimen is the first of the five privately held notes to be offered since 2013. Its pedigree can be traced back to the collection of Albert A. Grinnell, when it sold for $175 in 1947. Offered intermittently in the decades that followed, we have previously handled this note on two separate occasions in 1990 and 1993. Its most recent auction was in 2007 where it realized an impressive $132,250.

This note will be offered in our upcoming Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction along with an exceptional assortment of rarities including many other selections from the Shores Collection Part II.  For more information about our auctions or to consign your numismatic items, please call 800-458-4646 or email [email protected].