Kansas
Jewell City, Kansas. $5 1882 Brown Back. Fr. 469. The First NB. Charter #3591. PMG Very Fine 30.
The known count of circus poster brown backs is increasing by one note tonight. This lovely Jewell City piece is a new addition to the census. In terms of condition, this is what an original brown back should look like. The margins are full but not too perfect. The paper is original, but lightly circulated. The brown inks are sharp and dark. And of course the all important pen signatures are neat and delicate. It has the type of originality you would expect to see from offerings in a 1979 Hickman Oakes catalog, when notes like this were still being found in old cash hoards. Of course the selling point here is the circus poster layout. Seven different Kansas towns issued $5 brown backs with the circus poster design. Those are Jewell City, Medicine Lodge, Alma, Scandia (later Belleville), Pratt, Clay Center and Frankfort. Perhaps not surprisingly, only three of seven charters have survivors. Those are two other examples from Jewell City, two high grade serial number ones from Belleville, and a low grade note from Frankfort that sold for $27,600 in 2006. The Jewell City we are offering tonight is a perfect compromise for a type collector. You get plenty of fresh eye appeal without paying a bank rarity or serial number one premium. PMG comments "Minor Rust."
Estimate: $12500 - $17500