Friedberg 378. 1891 $100 Treasury Note. PMG Very Fine 30. The "Open Back" $100 Treasury Notes of the Series of 1891 are nearly three times more rare than their predecessor "Watermelon" notes of 1890. Just 13 examples are recorded in the census for the type and five among those are kept in institutional collections, unavailable to collectors. The type has the portrait of Admiral David Farragut at right and a large 100 counter just to the left of center. A red scalloped Treasury Seal is to the right of center while red serial numbers are to the lower left and upper right. The "Open Back" design features 100 counters at bottom left and top right with Roman numeral Cs at top left and bottom right. ONE HUNDRED is in an ornamental design feature at center. The Treasury Department felt that the "open" design would be more carefully examined by bank tellers than would be the heavily ornamented backs of the Series of 1890 notes.The moderately circulated paper is bright and the engraved design elements remain boldly inked and sharply detailed. There are no distracting characteristics despite the "Minor Restoration" comment added by the grading service. PMG has certified no example of the type above the Very Fine 30 grade level. A very comparable PCGS Currency Very Fine 35 example from the Joel R. Anderson Collection realized $288,000 in our August 2018 ANA auction. There are certainly more collectors needing an example of this type than notes that are available. <em>From Spink Americas sale of May 1995, lot 381; Kagins Fixed Price List of January 1998; Jay Parrinos Fixed Price List of May 1999; Lyn Knights sale of March 2001, lot 645; Heritage/Currency Auctions of Americas sale of May 2005, lot 16734; our sale of August 2012, lot 7668.</em>
