Friedberg 266. 1891 $5 Silver Certificate. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ. Serial Number 9. Ultra low serial number E9 is boldly displayed on this broadly margined Series of 1891 $5 Silver Certificate. These notes display an open back design as the BEP had moved on from the more ornate "Silver Dollar Back" design of the Series of 1886. It was thought that the open design would make spotting fake notes easier and deter counterfeiters. The serial numbers are executed in deep blue at the lower left and top right while a cherry red scalloped Treasury Seal is displayed near the bottom right corner of the note. The engraved signatures of Treasury officials Rosecrans and Nebeker are presented at the lower left and right of the portrait.This gem grade example comes on creamy white paper featuring a sharply inked and well centered plate impression. The overprints are sharply printed in bold color. Unlike their "Silver Dollar Back" Series of 1886 predecessors, this type is not plentiful in high grade. This is one of just two examples of the catalog number to achieve a Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ grade from PMG with none graded finer. The portrait of Ulysses S. Grant on the 1886 and 1891 $5 Silver Certificates was engraved by Lorenzo Hatch working from a fine photographic portrait taken during or perhaps just before Grants presidency. Hatch was something of a prodigy, having come to the attention of the BEP chief by way of a copperplate engraving he did of George Washington when Hatch was only 16 years old (according to Gene Hesslers <em>The Engravers Line</em>). He became the youngest apprentice at the Bureau shortly thereafter at the age of 18, and retired from there in December 1887 (while the Series of 1886 notes were still being released). <em>From Harry Bass Research Foundation; our (Bowers and Merenas) sale of May 1999; Jay Parrinos Fixed Price List of February 2000; Heritages sale of May 2001, lot 7159; Lyn Knights sale of February 2002, lot 2195; Lyn Knights sale of October 2004, lot 79.</em>
