$50 1937 Osborne Choice Uncirculated

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

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

And will the winner of that buy the second one or will the set be broken up  

Arthur

Well it sold for 21,745.50 Canadian for the one note so 43,491.00 Canadian for the set of 2 thats a lot of money for 2 VERY nice notes.

Arthur

As I just mentioned in another thread where buys/sells can be posted(seems extreme resistance to that!),before I saw your post,I was outbid by a measly $100 bucks! I bid $18,900usd

Hit the 4 instead of the $...it's the sun,thats what I'll blame it on

AI was outbid by a measly $100 bucks! I bid 418,900usd

If you bid 418,900 i think it would be yours lol the bid was $18,900 us  

Arthur

The high bidders on those $50 1935 and $50 1937 uncirculated rarities should be congratulated for expressing such strong confidence in the Canadian paper money market via their impressive bids.

The high bidders on the Gem Unc $50 1935 and the Choice Unc $50 1937 Osborne could provide further valuable service to Forum members by submitting a "condition report" after they have received their notes. Was the Gem Unc $50 1935 note really 100% flawless? Did the Choice Unc $50 1937 note have a few traces of handling?? -- presumably it did otherwise it too would have been graded as Gem rather than as Choice??

Wow, I just can't wait to receive the 20th (2008) edition of the Charlton catalogue next summer!

Graham,

I will be inspecting the $50 Osbourne thoroughy as soon as it arrives.  It was purchased under an eBay alias for an
associate of mine who has been searching for 7 years for an UNC example of this note to complete his 1937 collection.

He now has every denomination and every prefix for the 1937s in UNC including all specimens and proofs.  Quite an
impressive collection.  I will take better images of the note when it arrives and post them on the forum.

I am a very skeptical of US grading but this seller has sold quite a bit of Canadian Paper in the past and has a very
good understanding of our grading standards.  She has assured us that this note is Choice UNC by Canadian standards.

...Arthur

Ottawa wrote

The high bidders on those $50 1935 and $50 1937 uncirculated rarities should be congratulated for expressing such strong confidence in the Canadian paper money market via their impressive bids

.

I for one have a very high level of confidence in the canadian Paper Money market.(I'm still miffed I lost the 1935 $50 by a lousy $100 bucks!!)
I try to embrace all aspects of paper collecting,dealers,profiteers,collectors,brick counters,ect.
The sum of the parts make a great whole!

One area I do have trouble with is  TPG,although I accept its march forward,someone like Louis starting a grading service with members of the CPMS,would aleave some concerns-notes leaving the country,duties,Canadian vs. 'other' standards.

But I think we have a bigger problem-the end of paper and coin currency! We need to get busy,but that's another thread.

....... It was purchased under an eBay alias for an associate of mine who has been searching for 7 years for an UNC example of this note to complete his 1937 collection. He now has every denomination and every prefix for the 1937s in UNC including all specimens and proofs. Quite an impressive collection.

Wow, that is indeed a totally awesome achievement (after all, there are some things that money cannot buy, or so it often seems)!! The Unc Gordon-Towers $10 Z/D must have been difficult to track down too although just a few years ago that note could probably have been picked up by a knowledgeable collector for the price of the common prefixes.

I salute you and your associate!

Arthur,

Are you aware of who won the 1935$50,if so will they take both? darn,$18,900 didnt cut it!

Regards,Robert

Hi Robert,

I recognize the eBay ID but I don't know who the collector/dealer is by name.  I have done a little analysis of his past eBay
purchases and he appears to be a serious 1935 collector. About a month ago he purchased a 1935 $20 French specimen note on
eBay as a Submit Best Offer.

I would suggest you contact Marianne Ahern (ma*s_attic) and inquire as to whether the 2nd note is available.

mas_attic@comcast.net

With regards to your eBay bid, keep in mind that you have no idea what the bid proxy was of the winning bidder.  You may have
bid another $1000 and still not won if his proxy was high.  At least you were responsible for him paying as much as he did, as the
winning bid would have been a lot lower if you hadn't bid.

I'll let you know how accurate her grading of the $50 Osbourne is once I get it in my hands.  I'll email you high resolution scans
of the note for your viewing pleasure.

If you are talking to Steve Oei, apologize for my tardiness in getting back to him.  I have been heavily involved in a homicide
investigation which is monopolizing my time.

Regards,

...Arthur


Steve, if you are reading this post, I will try calling you shortly re: your emails and the FUN show in Orlando....sorry  

Thanks Arthur,

I will look forward to the scans,I'm salivating as I type
You can send them to my Canadian address if you please,back in Vancouver next week.

Regards Steve,will do.

Hope you have a good outcome with the "investigation".

Fact

An original UNC 1937 $50 Osbourne-Towers note has proven to be a very illusive banknote worthy of the high catalogue and market price it demands.

I was recently involved in the purchase of the 1937 $50 Osbourne-Towers (A/H0032857) that was listed on eBay as Choice Uncirculated by a well known US seller.  I purchased this note off eBay and negotiated the private purchase of 3 additional 1937 $50 Osbourne-Towers notes from the same seller.  The 3 additional notes were described as Choice UNC, Choice AU and AU.

Upon receipt, the notes were examined thoroughly for accuracy of the stated grade.  All notes proved to be pressed.  The AU notes were pressed EF at best.  The UNC notes would grade pressed AU by Charlton or CPMS grading standards.  None of the notes were original and all showed signs of processing.

The seller offered an unconditional money back guarantee and all 4 notes have been returned and a full refund received.

This has reinforced several lessons I have learned over 20+ years of collecting paper money:

1) US collectors / dealers are overly liberal in their grading and do not adhere to Canadian grading standards
2) As a collector it is invaluable to spend the time to learn to grade paper money and learn the nuances of detecting pressed or doctored banknotes
3) If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is !!!

I have attached an image of the 3 additional notes I was sent as part of this transaction for future reference:



{http://www.davgro.com/images/eBay/Osborne%20$50%203%20notes.jpg}

thanks for the info. Did you happen to scan the backs of the notes? If so, could you post those, too?

Image of the backs of the 3 x $50 1937 Osborne-Towers notes:



{http://www.davgro.com/images/eBay/Osborne%20$50%203%20notes%20back.jpg}

The high bidders on the Gem Unc $50 1935 and the Choice Unc $50 1937 Osborne could provide further valuable service to Forum members by submitting a "condition report" after they have received their notes. Was the Gem Unc $50 1935 note really 100% flawless? Did the Choice Unc $50 1937 note have a few traces of handling?? -- presumably it did otherwise it too would have been graded as Gem rather than as Choice??

At the risk of sounding smug (really smug) I was pretty darn sure that the $50 1937 Osborne would show handling marks as it was only graded Choice Unc (not Gem Unc) by US standards. However, I certainly didn't expect the note to have been pressed as the auction description (the proverbial "old safe" discovery) suggested to me that it had been sitting in a safe for several decades, untouched since it was first issued.

The very sad ending of this story provides further confirmation, as if we needed any, that US grading standards are woefully different (i.e., much less strict) than Canadian and International grading standards. It's fine to send your Canadian notes to PMG and PCGS to have them graded according to accepted US grading standards but it's just not kosher to then use the Charlton catalogue for the same nominal grade to price those notes. The Charlton catalogue prices are based on CANADIAN grading standards and not on American (PMG/PCGS) standards! CAVEAT EMPTOR IN SPADES!!

I just wonder what the grade of those two $50 1935 "Gem Unc" notes turned out to be according to Canadian grading standards. Were they pressed too?