Art collector pays $2.3M for $1,000 bill from 1890

[Xstatic1]

DALLAS (AP) ? An art collector has paid about $2.3 million for a $1,000 bill printed in 1890, according to the auction house that brokered the transaction between two anonymous private collectors.

"This $1,000 bill is one of only two known of its type; the other surviving example is in the museum at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco," Greg Rohan, president of Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries, said Friday.

Rohan said that type of bank note is known to collectors as a "Grand Watermelon" because the green-striped zeros in the denomination "1,000" printed on the back of the bill look like the fruit.

"Only two Grand Watermelon examples are known with red-color Treasury Department seals printed on the front; the half-dozen other surviving Grand Watermelon notes have brown seals," he said in a news release.

The $2,255,000 price is more than double the previous record for an 1890 Grand Watermelon note. The previous record for any bank note was $2.1 million, according to the Heritage Auction Galleries.

Rohan said the buyer was "a very advanced and sophisticated East Coast collector of art and rare currency."

PIC: http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2006-12-18-1000-bill_x.htm

 

[kranky]

The Grand Watermelon note is pretty much the most famous piece of US currency there is. Since the most expensive US coin (that's not a one-of-a-kind) has sold for more than that, the $2.3 million isn't that crazy. Although it's a lot of money.

I would bet it gets sold again in about two years and the guy makes a ton.

 

[mercanucaribe]

What a dumbass. It will only be worth $750 in a few years due to inflation.

 

[RaistlinZ]

I must say, it is a pretty sweet looking bill. Actually, most bills from way back in the day look cooler than today's paper money.

 

[KLin]

Originally posted by: mercanucaribe
What a dumbass. It will only be worth $750 in a few years due to inflation.

That'd be some inflation rate.

 

[waggy]

ok that looks pretty cool