Fr. 281. 1899 $5 Silver Certificate. PCGS Currency Gem New 65 PPQ.This striking $5 "Chief" series note completes the trio of denomination issued in 1899. The focal point of the note is the detailed central portrait of an Indian chief, commonly referred to as "Running Antelope." At left and right center are brilliant blue overprinted details comprising a numeral V counter with arched "FIVE," superimposed. Below is the serial number and to the right another serial number atop a small scalloped Treasury seal. The quality borders on perfection throughout each aspect of this A plate position Silver Certificate and reinforces the Gem New grade from PCGS Currency. The following lot is consecutive to this note. <p><p>This "Indian Chief" note has earned a high ranking in The 100 Greatest American Currency Notes, coming in at #10. Such bills were made over a long period of time with Friedberg numbers 271 to 281 inclusive. Chief Running Antelope, a Sioux, is depicted in a natural style, quite unlike the Indian Head cent of the time that showed a female wearing a war bonnet, a male type of headdress. Still it is not quite right. Gene Hessler in his Comprehensive Catalog of U.S. Paper Money observes that there was a mismatch: the headdress is a Pawnee war bonnet, not one of Sioux origin. This caused quite a bit of ill will among Native Americans who saw the bills and realized the error, faulting the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for creating an offensive depiction. Such little footnotes in the history of American paper money, often omitted in popular descriptions, add a lot to the interest of owning such things.These bills circulated in an era when the Wild West was a prevailing theme in entertainment. Throughout America many traveling shows featured cowboys, Indians, horses, cattle, bison hides and other trappings. Perhaps the most successful was the 101 Ranch, headquartered in Bliss, Oklahoma, with a large traveling entourage that played in many towns and cities.
