Fr. 252. 1899 $2 Silver Certificate. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ.，This Silver Certificate is bright and fresh, with good margins, excellent color, and nice embossing. There is little more that can be said about such a note other than it is likely to be satisfying to the most discerning collector, just like it was to the last two collectors who owned it. <p><p>This note was once in the well-known collection of Herman Halpern. As with the collector of the Vanderbilt notes, who first visited Stacks in 1936, Halpern was a multi-decade client and friend of Stacks. He first visited our firm in 1950 and worked closely with Morton and Joseph Stack, and later Harvey and Lawrence Stack, building not only a world-class paper money collection but also exceptional collections of gold, silver and copper coins. His collection of large cents in particular is legendary and his name is frequently among the provenance chains of coins in the finest collections of today. He was also a fine friend and client of Dave Bowers and Christine Karstedt in later years.<p><p>The face design recognizes the prosperity of America at the end of the Victorian era with vignettes of Mechanics and Agriculture. The portrait of George Washington appears at the center, a memorial to the first president, who died a century before this series was introduced.，From the A.J. Vanderbilt Collection. Earlier from Frank Nowaks Fixed Price List, March 1981; Herman Halpern, Stacks, May 1992, lot 1092.，
