$50 1937 Osborne Choice Uncirculated

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i am saying that it will probably sell for 20,000 plus CA if it is an unc it would be like finding a pink elephant it doesnot happen every decade to find one of these and chances are you will not see this one again in this decade

If it sells for $20,000 or more. Would the book value go to 20k? Or would it stay around 15k?

this price sets the book price imo

A truly uncirculated** and original $50 1937 Osborne has never before appeared at a public auction --- at least I've never come across one in my 35 years of subscribing to Canadian and International numismatic auction catalogues. This sale should therefore logically set the catalogue price. However, if more uncirculated examples should appear in the future, which is always a possibility, then the catalogue price would presumably have to be amended in accordance with subsequent sale realizations.

** i.e., "uncirculated" on the strict Canadian/Charlton grading scale!

I would beg to differ on the scarcity of the 1937 $50 Osbourne-Towers note in original UNC.

I have been looking for this note to fill a whole in several high end collections for at least 5 years.  I have had lengthy discussions
with Chuck Moore about this note and he is only aware of one or two original UNC notes in private collections.

My client is willing to pay well over CDN $20K if this is a true original UNC note.  Do not be surprised if this eBay auction tops that
amount.

...Arthur

I am aware of two original UNCs, one I saw in Vancouver about a year ago. It was in a collection that was sold to a collector. We won't see that one for years or likely decades.

The other I sold about 5-8 years ago ( bad memory ! ) for $3800.oo which was over book at the time.

It is definitely a note in great demand and I get asked for high grade Osborne $50's at EVERY show.

OleDon

I still can't get over the fact that someone would want to pay that much money for a variety of a note type that is not scarce at all.  With $20,000 to blow, I would much rather buy an Unc Gordon-Towers (or three) and use the leftover money to buy, oh, perhaps a 1935 $50 in Unc.

Rachelsprivates is talking about the fact that this is a signature variety, and, at the end of the day, that's all it really is (albeit the first signature of the series). It's not a distinct design or "type" note like the 1935 $50. However, the 1937 Osbornes have always had a bit of a "cult" status in Canada (particularly on the Prairies I seem to recall), even back in the early 1970's when I started collecting paper. The $100 1937 Osborne is pretty scarce too in Unc and that may be the real "sleeper" of the series at current catalogue values ($4250 in Unc)....

The $50 1937 Osborne has a great following in Canada but, being a signature variety, it does not have such great appeal internationally. However, a type note like the $50 1935 will always have a strong international appeal.

Like many other rare notes, the $50 1937 Osborne in Unc is likely to become commoner in the future as more and more old safety deposit boxes around the continent are opened up (the completely unexpected appearance of the present Unc $50 1937 Osborne on eBay is a perfect example of this). The $1000 1954 Devil's Face note is another good example of this "getting commoner with time" phenomenon. That was a note you virtually never saw 20 years ago but now they seem to be turning up all over the place!

There's always a big risk paying a huge amount of money for the "first known example" to show up at public auction. However, some people are willing to take that risk in order to own, at least temporarily, something that no one else has ---- and who are we to argue with what another collector or investor should buy or should not buy?!

I agree with Rachelprivates.. I just don't get it....

Jeez... even the dullest collector I know .. knows that high denominations are frequently stashed away in safety deposit boxes.  With that kind of money to blow... I can point to at least 50 better options to invest in.  Or should I say 50 more rare notes to consider. But there seems to be no end to speculation these days.  There's just seems to be no end to the "wheeler-dealer" phenomenon that has juiced up this hobby as of late.  I guess the so-called "winner" of that note hasn't read the Graham Esler report on the asterisk DF's.  Man if I had that kind of coin to blow... it sure as h*&% wouldn't end up there!

The catalog on those Osborne-Towers 1937 $50 UNCs has gone from $8000 in the 2003 to $15000 in the 2007 catalog. Maybe the 2011 catalog will price them close to $30000?? :-/

Then again with one more known, maybe the price will go down

The catalog value would continue to climb whether this note was in the marketplace or not. This note in UNC is scarcer than devil asterisks, possibly one of only three. A good indication of it's scarcity is that dealers are willing to paypal full catalog. The problem with the catalog continuing to rise (whether it's worth it or not) is fewer collectors can afford it. <br>We've seen this with other kilo-buck items, it floats around amongst dealers till one of them finds an investor or tucks it away themselves.

The catalog on those Osborne-Towers 1937 $50 UNCs has gone from $8000 in the 2003 to $15000 in the 2007 catalog. Maybe the 2011 catalog will price them close to $30000?? :-/ Then again with one more known, maybe the price will go down

The catalog value would continue to climb whether this note was in the marketplace or not. This note in UNC is scarcer than devil asterisks, possibly one of only three. A good indication of it's scarcity is that dealers are willing to pay full catalog.....

The more I think about it, the difficulty that I personally have in coming to grips with the current catalogue value (i.e., $15,000 in Unc) is that it's not obvious from the information available in the catalogue what the exact basis for the determination of that value is. There were certainly no public auction (i.e., transparent) sales at that level prior to publication of the catalogue. However, the highly-respected Charlton Pricing Panel presumably dealt with this sensitive issue in some detail when assigning the current catalogue value and I'm sure that it's pretty reliable. What is less clear is whether the high current eBay bid price on this note is merely a direct response to the high catalogue value or whether the Pricing Panel was able to price this note "dead on" even in the absence of a prior transparent public sale.

Another question that we don't address very often is "What is the value of a counting crease, or rather the lack of a counting crease?!"  It seems to me that we are moving rapidly towards that dangerous precipice that coin collectors have already reached, and which some have fallen from. Why would anyone want to pay a premium of $5000-$10000 for the mere lack of a single minor counting flick? Personally speaking, I would rather have a superb original AU (i.e., original UNC with one trivial counting flick) at a heavily discounted price over the full UNC grade, especially if the AU note was better centered than the full UNC note. However, each unto his own ...  Any takers??

By the way, that Unc $50 1937 Osborne on eBay is only graded as "Choice" Unc (not "Gem" Unc) by its American seller and I would wager money that I could locate some sort of handling mark on it!  

Agreed, an UNC with a counting flick is still UNC, IMO. If the seller calls it AU that's great for the buyer, as it's still better than the UNC that is actually pressed AU.

I would think so. I would not be surprised if it went up 5,000-10,000$ Canadian in the next well under 20 mins.

Arthur

I would think a great price

20,144.34 Canadian
 
Arthur

I'd be curious to hear what the Jersey lady thinks about this.   I wonder if she had *any* idea at all the potential of her inheritance?! edit- and, of course, that's just *one* piece so far.

The high bidder was undoubtedly comfortable with the seller's assigned grade of this note (Choice Unc) as the seller and the high bidder have done business before (check the buyer's very first feedback in 2004).

I wonder what the same seller's $50 1935 Gem Unc notes will go for? --- only about 90 minutes to go on those!

Rare and high grade Bank of Canada material is obviously on a roll. I think we're going to see significant price increases on all original top-grade 1937 notes in the near future, even the "commoner" ones.