Uncut Sheet of (2). Fr. 1160-1166 (W-2834, 3526). 1870 $50 & $100 National Gold Banknotes. Kidder National Gold Bank. Charter #1699. PCGS Currency Gem New 65 PPQ. Face Specimens.National Gold Bank Notes of the $50 and $100 denominations are incredibly rare in any form with only 16 pieces recorded for both denominations in the National Bank Note Census from which the majority represents the First National Gold Bank of San Francisco (Charter# 1741). That institution, despite having the lowest charter number of those to organize in California, was not the first as the first National Gold Bank ever organized was over 3,000 miles away in Boston. Known as the Kidder National Bank (Charter# 1699), that institution was organized in 1870 and liquidated in 1872. Headed by Cashier Oliver White Peabody and President Henry P. Kidder, the Kidder National Gold Bank can trace its history long before it even took a national charter in 1870 through its parent company Kidder, Peabody & Company which opened in 1865 as part of a spinoff of Thayer & Brother per Huntoon which can be traced back to 1824.
Now Thayer & Brother operated the leading currency exchange in Boston dealing in the mess of Obsolete issues from the period and foreign exchange concerns. Kidder, Peabody & Company like Thayer & Brother dealt in foreign exchange concerns and gold markets and had a number of overseas partners in places such as London. It is important to remember that even with Greenback-based economy of the 1870s on the East Coast, Boston remained a significant port city with extensive foreign trade where specie played a significant role in foreign transactions and the organization of a National Gold Bank seemed to be a logical choice, but one that proved cumbersome in operation leading to the dissolution of the Kidder National Gold Bank less than two years after it was organized. <p>The Kidder National Gold Bank nonetheless went through the process of having notes printed as evidenced by documentation held by the National Archives. A total of $150,000 in bonds ($50,000 in gold bonds) were deposited with the Treasurer to secure the banks circulation and by March 1871, the first sheets had reached Boston. Of those a total of 50, Original Series $50 - $100 format sheets and 75, Original Series $500 - $1000 format sheets were delivered.
Those sheets never circulated and were promptly returned in December 1871 while the banks bonds were sold in quick succession. A number of proofs are known to survive, but those pieces are rarely seen, let alone offered outside of sporadic offerings often only seen years or even decades apart at auction. These proofs nonetheless offer an enthralling look at what may have been as we simply do not know what these notes looked like in their issued form.<p>A rich golden tint accounts for the most compelling sight drawing in the viewers attention at the expense of the vignettes endemic to these denominations. The word "GOLD" may be observed at center with other elements partially overlaid such as the title block and the engraved Allison - Spinner signature combination. These pieces are further stamped "SPECIMEN" four separate times in red in similar positions roughly above or to the left and right of the vignettes encountered along the margins. A series of POCs may be observed in the signature panels of each specimen while the banner seen along the top margin reads "National Gold Note" as opposed to "REDEEMABLE IN GOLD COIN" seen on those that circulated in California. That distinction lends a possible explanation that is often cited as the surviving proofs represent proposed designs that got passed around for comment and never returned.
Yet that explanation is contradicted in-part by an auction appearance dating back to 2004 from the John J. ford (Jr.) Collection (Lot 502). That lot was for a presentation album produced by the American Bank Note Company during the 1870s. The description specifically mentions a pair of impressions of the $50 and $100 denominations on the Kidder National Bank, but those impressions feature "0000," something the specimen offered here lacks. The two-note format on cardstock is similar and suggests a similar origin for our specimen which has only been offered twice before in a public setting once in 2018 and before that in 2011. Another set is referenced by Hessler, but the whereabouts of that set are currently unknown and likely entombed in the depths of a long-term collection. Even discounting the whereabouts or dispositions of the other two sets, this piece is undisputedly one of the greatest proofs that a collector could hope to ever add to their own collection and something fit for a truly world-class collection. PCGS Currency comments "Hole Punch Cancelled, Mounted on Cardstock, Hessler Plate Notes."Provenance: From Heritage Auctions sale of April 27-May 2, 2011, lot 15747; the Stacks Bowers Galleries sale of the Caine Collection (Session 5) October 2018, lot 4104.
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