Friedberg 63a. 1863 $5 Legal Tender Note. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ. Here is an incredibly well preserved and wholly original 1863 $5 Legal Tender that exhibits wide, evenly spaced margins and brilliant green and red inks. These early Legal Tender Notes are rarely found well centered. This example is an exception as the face is ideally centered on the creamy white paper. The engraved design elements are all vividly detailed in bold black ink. This is a wonderful representation of this always popular early federal $5 design type.<br style="box-sizing:border-box;color:#333333;font-family:Avenir, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;background-color:#ffffff;" /><em></em>As $5 Demand Notes are rarities, the earliest readily collectible $5 bills are the Legal Tender Notes of the Series of 1862 and, as here, 1863. These were produced in quantity and most in the marketplace today are well circulated.<br style="box-sizing:border-box;color:#333333;font-family:Avenir, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;background-color:#ffffff;" /><br style="box-sizing:border-box;color:#333333;font-family:Avenir, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;background-color:#ffffff;" />The face motifs are the same as used on the $5 Demand Notes. To the left is the statue <em>Freedom </em>created by Thomas Crawford and placed atop the Capitol in 1863, where it remains an icon today. To the right is a portrait of Alexander Hamilton by Archibald Robertson (which is quite unlike the "popular" portrait of Hamilton that is seen on many other notes).<br style="box-sizing:border-box;color:#333333;font-family:Avenir, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;background-color:#ffffff;" /><br style="box-sizing:border-box;color:#333333;font-family:Avenir, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;background-color:#ffffff;" />The face, back, and tint plates for the $5 Series of 1862 and 1863 Legal Tender Notes were engraved by the American Bank Note Company. Printing was shared by both the American and National Bank Note companies for the Second Obligation notes, as here. The Treasury signatures of Chittenden and Spinner were printed on the face by using a separate plate and a special ink. Spinners dramatic signature has been discussed in numismatic print many times and is more distinctive than any other.<br style="box-sizing:border-box;color:#333333;font-family:Avenir, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;background-color:#ffffff;" /><br style="box-sizing:border-box;color:#333333;font-family:Avenir, Roboto, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size:14px;background-color:#ffffff;" />Printed on the plate for F-63a is<em>: </em>Act of March 3d 1863 / March 10th 1863/ One serial number. Second Obligation back. New Series 65 to 75. 1,000,000 were printed. An estimated 200 or so exist today, mostly in lower grades. <em>From Herbert I. Melnick sale of November 1982, lot 846; Heritage/CAAs sale of November 2005, lot 16791; American Numismatic Rarities Fixed Price List of August 2006; Heritages sale of January 2009, lot 14760. </em>
