Lot of (2) Friedberg 185k. 1880 Face & Back Proof $500 Legal Tender Note. PMG Gem Uncirculated 66 EPQ. Here is a remarkable face and back proof pair representing the $500 Legal Tender Notes of 1880. This variety displays the engraved signatures of Tillman and Morgan on the face. Blue printed A00000 serial numbers are found in panels at the bottom left and upper right. Major General Joseph K. Mansfield is portrayed at right. The allegorical female at left is Victory. A large ornate 500 counter is seen at center. The back is ornately detailed and printed in sharp green inks. At center the denomination is written out over a large Roman numeral D. The Legal Tender clause and anti-counterfeiting language is at left while the series date is found in an open field at right. This is a wonderful opportunity to secure a representation of the design type without spending half a million dollars or more. On the face of this $500 issue are two vignettes, Victory at left and a portrait of Major General Joseph King Mansfield to right, as inaugurated on the Series of 1874 notes. Mansfield, little remembered today, was promoted posthumously to the rank of major general after his death on September 17, 1862. During the War with Mexico in the late 1840s, he distinguished himself and was promoted to colonel. Circulating examples of this Friedberg number would have featured a red scalloped Treasury Seal to the lower left of center. <em>From Spink Americas sale of March 1995. </em>
