Fort Lauderdale, Florida. $5 1902. Fr. 608. The First NB. Charter #12020. PMG Very Fine 25 Net. Splits, Stained.；This new Florida discovery will likely catch the serious and casual collector by surprise. The serious Florida specialists will know that this is just the forth note reported for this one bank town. The casual collectors will be shocked that a city like Fort Lauderdale could only have one issuing charter. One has to remember that in 1921, when the bank opened, most of South Florida was still very much just a swamp with a few small communities dotted in between. In fact, Fort Lauderdales population was less than 3,000 in 1920. Today it is one the most densely populated cities in South Florida, and home to many serious numismatists. Of the four notes known just two have ever sold in public auction. A fine sold in 1997 for $4,950 and we sold the finest example a PMG 30 in our ANA sale in 2016 for $25,850. The overall body of the note is strong having three hard vertical and one horizontal fold. PMG comments "Splits, Stained" which the staining is fairly even and not tremendously distracting. The splits are more along the margin folds which are typical of circulated notes with hard folds. The cashiers signature has faded a bit, but the presidents signature remains extremely sharp.
