At $32,400 including buyer’s fee, an unlisted triple-signature Bahamas $50 note from 1965 more than doubled its $15,000 high estimate at the Stack’s Bowers Galleries world currency auction in New York on Jan. 18. 

The note is part of the first issue of dollar-denominated notes after the Currency Note Act of 1965 changed the currency from sterling to dollars. 

Only a $50 note with the two signatures of Sands and Higgs was previously known to have been issued. That note is considered scarce and sells in the thousands when offered. Notes with the three signatures of Francis, Higgs, and Butler were until now known only on specimens.

The catalog described the Paper Money Guaranty About Uncirculated 55 Exceptional Paper Quality note as nearly flawless with just some very minor circulation, and excellent centering. 

A Bank of Ottawa, Canada $5 note of 1900 in PMG Very Fine 25 EPQ surpassed its high estimate by $5,000 when it was knocked down for $30,000. The Charlton catalog of Canadian paper money says that, of three known, only two are in private hands. This example is considered the marginally better of the two because of its Exceptional Paper Quality designation. 

Its gold face has a vignette of one of the bank’s directors, Charles Magee, who was a prominent local businessman. The Parliament building is the center feature. The ornate green back has two allegorical figures.

A pair of 19th century Colombia notes far exceeded their expectations. One was an undated Colombia Banco de Panama. 10-peso note from around 1869 in PMG Choice Very Fine 35 that was estimated at $1,500 to $2,000 and ended up at $21,600. The American Bank Note Co. product has a bust of Antonio Planas, the governor of the province of Panama in 1852 when it was under Colombian rule. In the center is a transportation vignette with a globe showing the Western Hemisphere flanked by a steamship and a train. The other was one of only two graded 1881 1-peso notes of the Estado Soberano de Panama. In PMG Very Fine 30, it was modestly listed in the $500 to $1,000 range, but sold for $20,400. 

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