1875年蒙大拿州5元 PMG AU 53
Fort Benton, Montana Territory. $5 1875. Fr. 404. The First NB. Charter #2476. PMG About Uncirculated 53.We are very fortunate tonight to be able to offer to the collecting a community a significant and highly desirable Montana Territory first charter five dollar banknote. At some point in time a diligent collector must have seen this note in passing, because the serial number and plate position are recorded in the census. There are in fact four territorials known from The First National Bank of Fort Benton. Two are sheet mates to the specimen offered here. The earliest of the four is just ten serial numbers away; it is a repaired but attractive VF. None of the three notes listed as AU from sheet 2928 have ever been offered at auction before. A student of Montana nationals will quickly notice the signature of C.E. Conrad. Charles Edward Conrad was born in Virginia but called Montana home from the age of 18 until his death at 52. He came to Fort Benton in 1868 with his brother. He appeared to enjoy working with family. The signing cashier on this note is Joseph Amos Baker, C.E. Conrads brother-in-law. After making millions in Fort Benton by the age of 40, Conrad was able to explore the region more and ended up founding the town of Kalispell. He was also the first president of his privately named Conrad National Bank of Kalispell, for which a cut sheet of serial #1 brown backs is known to exist. We can tell based on the serial numbers that these first charters were issued towards the end of the territorial era in Montana. Based on the excellent state of preservation and the fact that the #1 Kalispell notes exist, it would not surprise your cataloger if this Fort Benton note and the Kalispell notes were personally saved by CE Conrad. This PMG 53 officially makes this the nicest third party graded Montana territorial. A group of three Butte Montana first charters are listed as uncirculated in the census, although it appears that none of that group has ever been certified. It is tough to assign a value to a banknote with both historical and numismatic importance. However, we do feel our estimate will likely be conservative as this rarity will be appealing to several cross sections of collectors.
