Friedberg 785. 1918 $5 Federal Reserve Bank Note. Cleveland. PMG Gem Uncirculated 66 EPQ. Courtesy Autograph. The courtesy autographs of Cleveland Federal Reserve officials Baxter and Fancher are neatly penned above their engraved signatures on the face of this well preserved low serial number Five. The Cleveland district has provided collectors with a number of well preserved, often low serial numbered FRBNs. This example is vividly inked and well framed by ample margins.Series of 1918 notes have "SERIES OF 1918," the date "MAY 18, 1914," and in two curved lines vertically at the right border, "AUTHORIZED BY THE ACTS OF / DECEMBER 23, 1913, AND APRIL 23, 1918." An exception is a San Francisco variety dated May 20, 1914. At the top center of the Series of 1918 notes is the security provision: "SECURED BY UNITED STATES BONDS OR UNITED STATES CERTIFICATES OF INDEBTEDNESS / OR UNITED STATES ONE-YEAR GOLD NOTES, DEPOSITED WITH THE TREASURER OF / THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA." The back shows two scenes of explorers aboard ships off the coast, Columbus to the left and the Pilgrims to the right, both in wonderful detail.The print run of Fr. 785 is estimated as 1,376,000 with 275 to 350 estimated to exist today. These were not in the mainstream of numismatic interest until the 1940s and 1950s, by which time the opportunity to acquire high grade notes, as here, was infrequent. However, the famous Albert Grinnell sales of the 1940s, conducted by Barney Bluestone, provided a vast trove of wonderfully preserved currency for collectors to enjoy in the decades that have passed since. <em>From Hickman & Oakes sale of June 1988, lot 662; Hickman & Oakes sale of November 1988, lot 244; Dean Oakes Fixed Price List of June 1991; Currency Auctions of Americas sale of January 2000, lot 2069. </em>
