A full 100-note consecutively numbered pack of Series 1934A $500 Federal Reserve Notes is the first submission under a new banknote pack grading and encapsulation program that Professional Coin Grading Service (www.PCGS.com) will soon be debuting in the United States.
"This is not only one of the oldest-surviving intact packs of U.S. banknotes to surface, but also the only pack of $500 notes believed to exist. It could be one of the rarest and most valuable banknote packs," states PCGS President Stephanie Sabin.
It was submitted by U.S. Coins and Jewelry (https://uscoinsandjewelry.com/) in Houston, Texas, under a new PCGS service option that will provide for the encapsulation of full (100) and half (50) consecutive packs of small-size U.S. banknotes, which are graded as a whole unit and provided a single grade based on the condition of the entire pack.
"We are excited to offer banknote pack grading, an innovative option for those who wish to keep packs of banknotes intact rather than split them apart and have the notes graded individually," remarks Sabin. "The benefit of grading an entire pack of banknotes rather than individual notes has a lot to do with certain collectible characteristics that are unique to packs of banknotes, such as keeping together a run of notes with consecutive numbers, consecutive Star Notes, and the like. There are even cases where a pack of notes may be historical or collectible for other reasons, such as having an origin associated with a bank hoard, a notable collector, or other numismatically significant factors."
The historic pack of $500 banknotes will be on display at the PCGS Booth (#401) at the Long Beach Expo, February 17-19, 2022, to officially launch submissions of packs.
"It is astounding that an original pack of 100 $500 notes with a combined face value of $50,000 survived since the Great Depression era. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the average annual salary in the United States in 1934 was less than $1,400. In 2022 dollars, that $50,000 pack would have been worth the equivalent of about $1 million when the notes were printed," said Matthew Duncan, co-owner/general manager of U.S. Coins and Jewelry. "We are delighted that these are the first banknotes certified as a pack by PCGS."
The pack’s earlier pedigree includes the Taylor Family Collection, one of the world’s most valuable private collections of banknotes.
PCGS Banknote Manager Joseph Pielago explains, "Banknote pack grading opens up an entirely new world of opportunities for collectors who previously had to break up historic or numismatically significant banknote packs for the purpose of getting these pieces graded and encapsulated. Collectors can maximize the value and security of their banknote packs with our revolutionary holder and never again need to break apart valuable packs to do so."
Submitting banknotes for PCGS pack grading will be easy and available for all PCGS Authorized Dealers and PCGS Collectors Club members. These innovative hard pack holders, available only for small-size United States banknote full packs and half packs, provide for the encapsulation of 50 or 100 consecutive notes, including Replacement Star Notes. No minimum number of packs will be required, and encapsulation of each pack will be $60 beyond fees for the service level chosen, in addition to shipping and handling costs.
While all notes in the pack will be examined by graders, a single grade will be granted as a composite for the entire pack and does not guarantee that any single given note within will grade at that level if it were submitted individually. More information and guidelines for submitting packs will be coming soon at www.PCGS.com.
About Professional Coin Grading Service
Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS) is a third-party coin and banknote grading company that was launched in 1986. Over 35 years, PCGS has examined and certified more than 48 million U.S. and world coins, medals, and tokens with a combined value of over $47 billion. For more information about PCGS products and services, including how to submit your coins for authentication and grading, please visit www.PCGS.com or call PCGS Customer Service at (800) 447-8848.
1934A was printed on these all the way up to 1945, so mostly likely this came from around that time, I would guess shortly after these were no longer being printed someone picked it up at the bank. But was this a good investment back then? not so sure, you can get these individually for around $4k in same grade, that would make this worth about $400k, though of course being an entire bundle it is likely worth a bit more, but even if doubled in value, this almost certainly means it didn’t even keep up with inflation over that… Read more »
These Clowns would Grade their Mothers if they could turn a fast buck
And an occasional Cricket (PCGS-slabbed cricket brings nearly $6,000).
Amazing and don’t forget this best seller
It’s a gas!
It appears that the Award Committee has over looked your recent “First One Done” Achievement and sends our sincere apologies along with our congratulations for your consistent and timely dispatching of these daily opinions by the Publishing Wizards at Coin News – Bravo! Bravo!