Fire Consumes, But Sometimes it Saves!

Pictured above is a genuinely rare note, a 1900 $10,000 Gold Certificate! At its birth, it was redeemable for $10,000 in Face Value of United States Gold Coins. This piece of paper would equal 500 $20 Saint-Gaudens Gold Double Eagles! But these certificates were used by the Federal Reserve to move large sums of money between the Fed and  its member banks. Once they were "redeemed" these notes would be destroyed - usually by fire!

The story of this note begins with a tragedy - a major fire at the then "new" Washington, D.C. Post Office that occurred on December 13, 1935. During the fire, many government records were tossed out of the windows of the building and into the street below to keep them from being destroyed. Among these records were several hundred cancelled $10,000 Gold certificates in a box. When it hit the street, the box broke open and many onlookers saw these $10,000 notes and picked up a few and took them home. Ironically, these notes were destined to be destroyed by fire once they were cancelled. But this fire is actually responsible for a few hundred of them to have survived! 

In the 1960's and 1970's when these notes came to auction, they were often confiscated or they were rejected by the auction houses. But by the 1980's the Treasury Department decided not to pursue these any longer and currency buying public, dealers and collectors started buying them. Once they became popular, the grading services started to grade them. After being illegal to own for many years, collectors began to embrace these notes as great pieces of significant historical value. And a great story to re-tell!

Infact with "regular" $10,000 Federal Reserve Notes routinely selling for over $100,000, these are the only notes of that lofty denomination that are affordable. 

So sometimes a fire is meant to consume all it reaches. And other times, a fire can create something unexpected.