World Banknote Auctions of Sacramento, California, will auction the Isabella Chang Fong & Ian Marshall Collection of Jamaican Bank Notes in an online sale Nov. 3, with live bidding beginning at 10 a.m. PST. The collection may be the most extensive and specialized assortment of Jamaican bank notes of the sterling era ever put together.

WBNA says the breadth and scope of the collection is “truly astonishing.”

The earliest note in the collection is a rare proof from the 1820s and is in fact the earliest paper money specifically printed for the British West Indies. The auction also offers numerous extremely rare 19th century issues, most of which are unique or nearly so. The government issues of the sterling era, starting in 1918, are complete by Alfred Pick number and include nonissued varieties.

One of these early bank notes, a 1918 10-shilling note with the signature of C.C. Anderson, is only the second one known and comes with an $8,000 to $12,000 estimate in a grade of Fine 12 from Paper Money Guaranty.

Besides issued notes, the collection includes not just one of each example but often multiples of them, distinguished by unique annotations and characteristics. There is also a collection of trials, that WBNA describes as some of the most spectacular ever seen in the market.

Among private bank issues, in the Barclays Bank section, the auction offers a trio of serial number 1 notes, which are the very first notes printed for the Jamaican branch of this bank, the successor to the famous Colonial Bank.

The 380-lot sale is open for bidding on the WBNA website, www.worldbanknoteauctions.com. A copy of the printed catalog is available on the firm’s website. The buyer’s fee is 20%. Convenient payment methods and flat-rate shipping are offered.

World Banknote Auctions’ president, Dennis Hengeveld, said: “While other collections of Jamaican banknotes have formed over the years, none have come close to the breadth and scope of the Isabella Chang Fong & Ian Marshall Collection, giving today’s generation of collectors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It stands as the result of the passion, dedication, and expertise of these collectors, who have poured countless hours into building this advanced and comprehensive collection. Their decision to offer this extraordinary assemblage to the collecting community is a testament to their profound love for the world of Jamaican banknotes. It showcases what many years of dedicated collecting in world paper money can result in.”

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