Friedberg 1216b. 1882 $500 Gold Certificate. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ. Large size high denomination notes are always popular with collectors and this $500 Gold Certificate type has long been a favorite. In addition, this Gem note is the single finest known example of the type as well as the only known Uncirculated large size $500 Gold Certificate. Just over 50 examples of this Teehee-Burke signed 1882 $500 Gold Certificate are known. Fewer than five are confirmed in third-party grades of Extremely Fine or better. The Pogue specimen is truly exceptional, displaying vividly detailed engraved design elements along with vibrant gold tints and blue and red overprints. The paper is broadly margined and creamy white in color. The golden-orange back design is truly brilliant, radiating color and dramatically portraying a majestic eagle grasping the American flag on the right two-thirds with a large D counter at left. PMG has added a comment for "Great Color" in addition to their EPQ qualifier. The Joel R. Anderson example was graded Choice About New 55 by PCGS Currency and sold for $93,000 in our March 2018 Baltimore auction. The Pogue example offered here is far superior, in fact it is the best of the best, and should easily surpass the price realized by the Anderson note.The Series of 1882 $500 Gold Certificate features the portrait of Abraham Lincoln, engraved by Charles Burt from a photograph taken by Mathew A. Brady. The back has a particularly dynamic motif, Eagle with Flag, engraved by George D. Baldwin, who at an earlier time created some of the most elegant artwork seen on notes of state-chartered banks. His <em>Ocean Telegraph</em> vignette appears on the back of the $20 Gold Certificate, Series of 1882, as offered earlier. As with all Gold Certificates the back is printed in orange-gold.
