Fr. 374. 1890 $20 Treasury Note. PMG Superb Gem Uncirculated 67 EPQ. Here is a wonderful Superb Gem $20 Ornate Back $20 Treasury Note. This variety features the engraved signatures of Treasury officials Rosecrans and Nebeker to the lower left and right of center respectively. While every other denomination in the Treasury Note series featured an instrumental Union military or political figure from the Civil War era, the $20 displays the portrait of Chief Justice John Marshall at left. Marshall served briefly as U.S. secretary of state to President John Adams before becoming the 4th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, a position he held for 34 years until his death in 1835. The red scalloped Treasury Seal is boldly featured at the right end of the note while sharply printed red serial numbers that begin with A and end with a solid red star are found to the lower left and upper right. The plate impression is sharply detailed and boldly inked. While the beautifully designed green printed "Ornate Backs" of the 1890 Treasury Notes are popular with collectors, they were not well received when they were in circulation. They were thought to be easy to counterfeit and the entire series was replaced by Series of 1891 notes with a more open back design, adopted to deter counterfeiting. Just two examples of this catalog number have been graded at this level by PMG, with none finer. Any collector looking to upgrade to this lofty Superb Gem should jump at this opportunity, as it may be some time before this treasure is offered at public auction again. This is one of the nicest examples of this catalog number we have had the pleasure of offering our bidders in our lengthy auction history. We sold a Gem Uncirculated 66 EPQ note from the D. Brent Pogue Collection in our March 2020 Auction, which realized 72,000. This presently offered piece should far eclipse that number given the condition and appeal. PMG Pop 2/None Finer.
