Fr. 380a. Boston, Massachusetts. $1 Original Series. The Boston National Bank. Charter #408. PMG Gem

Fr. 380a. Boston, Massachusetts. $1 Original Series. The Boston National Bank. Charter #408. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ.，This is an outstanding early National with bright fresh paper and vivid ink tones throughout. The centering is quite good and there are complete margins all around both sides. This can be difficult to find on these early types as they were often cut by hand from their original sheets. The bottom border of this piece is tight near the center but the design border is not compromised. Fine penned signatures of the bank officers are in the typical brown ink of the day. <p><p>This note was printed early among the Original Series notes of the National Banking era, as evidenced by the serial number color and style. According to Q. David Bowers <em>Whitman Encyclopedia of U.S. Paper Money</em>, the first group of these notes printed bore red serial numbers with no prefix letter, ranging from 9 to 999413. They were printed between March 28, 1865 and October 4, 1865, fairly tightly dating this note. <p><p>The Boston National Bank was chartered in April 1864. It issued Original Series notes as well as Series of 1875 and 1882 Brown Backs before being liquidated in December 1898. As of the last accounting in 1910, just $19,416 was estimated to remain outstanding from an original issue in excess of $3.5 million in currency. Most of this amount is likely long lost. From the number of survivors that have been accounted for today, we can state that this is a relatively scarce Boston bank.<p><p>There are just 19 notes reported in the Census on this title, divided almost equally between Original Series and 1875 notes. This note is not yet represented, but it will become the seventh Original Series ace reported and is comfortably the finest note on the bank. Only one other is called Uncirculated, that given a grade of "63" though it is not third-party graded. <p><p>Though National Bank Notes are less frequently collected by Friedberg number than by bank title and series, it is certainly worth noting that the PMG records (which are arranged by Friedberg number) include just three examples of this variety in this grade and only a single note finer, <em>across all titles</em> that issued Original Series aces. The PCGS grading records for National Banks are arranged by Charter number and provide a valuable indicator of rarity for a bank. They have graded only three notes on this title, and none is Uncirculated. This is an important survivor of the type, for multiple reasons.<p><p>The offered note was one of a pair of exceptional Original Series National Bank Notes acquired in October 1967 from Morey Perlmutter, a currency dealer in Watertown, Massachusetts. It was accompanied by the exceptional Lazy Deuce in the next lot. What a good fortune it was for the collector of the Vanderbilt notes to have happened upon these two superb pieces so long ago at the same time. One additional purchase was made from Perlmutter two months later, the Carrollton, Illinois 1882 Value Back offered in this sale. Three great additions to this outstanding collection!<p>，From the A.J. Vanderbilt Collection. Earlier from Morey Perlmutter, October 1967, by direct sale.，