An icon among icons that needs no introduction. The Series of 1896 $5 Silver Certificates although unappreciated in its own time accounts for a stunning sight even amidst a time when excess and partisanship was the norm within the realm of engraving. The Series of 1896 owes its brief existence to a political appointment made by President Grover Cleveland during his second non-consecutive term namely Secretary of the Treasury John G. Carlisle of Kentucky. The process that Carlisle initiated took years, but his vision was finally given life through the creative efforts of engravers and artisans such as Walter Shirlaw, Thomas F. Morris, and G. F. C. Smillie who labored intensively to fulfill that vision. One such reflection of their work was the vignette depicted on the $5 entitled <em>Electricity Presenting Light to the World. </em>Cutting an outsized presence that almost runs the horizontal length of the note, a collection of allegorical figures offer symbolic testament to the ascendent position of the United States in scientific affairs. From left to right a quartet of figures can be observed. At left, <em>Jupiter</em> can be seen controlling a celestial chariot holding a lightning bolt aloft in his right hand. To his right <em>Fame</em> can be observed heralding the triumph of <em>Electricity</em> whose winged semi-nude body accounts for an outsized presence while holding a bulb aloft with her right hand to signal the coming dominion of electricity in daily life. Further to her right, <em>Peace</em> can be observed with her symbolic dove with the United States Capitol Building partially in the background. Their presence is only magnified and enhanced by the exceptional grade bestowed upon this note by PMG. The very being of this note is nothing short of a reflection of the day this note was cut from its constituent sheet roughly 125 years ago and has rightly earned it a grade of Gem Uncirculated 66 EPQ. From the excess of detail that frames both the primary vignette and back design centered around the likes of Grant and Sheridan to crisp knife-like margins complemented by impeccable registration one would be remiss not to consider this specimen an exceptional representative of an already exceptional grade seen only sparingly at best. Even the most jaded of collectors and dealers would rapidly concede that this is without a doubt a most remarkable example burdened only with the most exceptional of qualities that should rightly see this note to a realization reflective of that distinction. PMG Pop 7/1 Finer.From the Shores Collection Part I.
