Fr. 334 (W-2934). 1891 $50 Silver Certificate. PCGS Superb Gem New 67 PPQ.

Fr. 334 (W-2934). 1891 $50 Silver Certificate. PCGS Superb Gem New 67 PPQ.，A lovely example of this challenging variety featuring the scalloped red Treasury Seal. This note has broad margins and excellent registration. The paper has nice original freshness and the embossing from the printing plate is clearly evident when viewing the back of the note. The printed design elements are all boldly inked, including the dignified portrait of Edward Everett that appears at right. Everett was a career politician serving as United States Secretary of State briefly before becoming a United States Senator for his home state of Massachusetts in 1853. This is the single finest 1891 $50 Silver Certificate certified by PCGS, while PMGs pop report notes one Fr.334 in Superb Gem 67 EPQ grade. This example was last offered in our 2013 ANA auction where it realized $70,500.<p><p><p><strong>$50 Silver Certificates, Series of 1891</strong><p>The face of the Series of 1891 notes features the portrait of Edward Everett first used on Silver Certificates of Deposit in 1878, then later series, but with the typography and layout differently arranged. The back is of the "open" style with generous spaces to left and right of the center. These and other Silver Certificates of the era were backed by Morgan-design silver dollars stored at various mints and other Treasury facilities, plus, among emergency measures, at the Philadelphia Post Office.<p>Edward Everett is best remembered as an orator from Massachusetts, although he held a number of political offices. It was Everett who, at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Battlefield in 1863, gave a two-hour speech before Lincoln made his Gettysburg Address, which the president said would be little remembered. It became a classic, of course, while what Everett had to say is unknown except to the most dedicated student of Civil War trivia. It was Everett in the late 1850s who took the lead in the restoration of Mount Vernon and gave over 200 speeches in this regard. <p>F-334 (W-2934) notes were signed by Vernon and Treat, in office 1906 to 1909 at the end of the Theodore Roosevelt administration. We estimate a printing quantity of 200,000 and that fewer than 75 notes survive.，From the Joel R. Anderson Collection of United States Paper Money, Part I. Earlier from Heritage Auctions sale of May 2002, lot 2722; Lyn Knights sale of October 2005, lot 77; Stacks Bowers Galleries sale of August 2013, lot 3215.，