La Banque Nationale Specimen Notes (1922 issue)

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The Charlton catalogue (page 309) states that Specimen notes of the 1922 issue of La Banque Nationale are "readily available .... particularly the $10 denomination". This statement is confirmed by the frequent appearance of these Specimen notes on eBay. I recently purchased one of the $10 Specimen notes on eBay for the Buy-it-Now price of $179.00 plus taxes and shipping. I particularly like the Jacques Cartier vignette on the $10 denomination, which, incidentally, was also employed on the Canadian 3 Cent postage stamp issued in 1934.

These Banque Nationale Specimen notes seem to trade in the $200-$400 range (depending on the denomination) and they strike me as being good value for money, especially since the issued notes are essentially unobtainable or even extinct. Does anyone know roughly how many Specimen notes of the different denominations of the 1922 issue were in the hoard that appeared a few years ago?

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I was hopping to see someone come forward with this info myself!

I recall hearing rumors that the $10 denomination exists in quantities of around 400. I know the other denominations are quite scarcer. A good estimate might be close to 100 of each denom. One I find particularly hard to find is the $20. Since they do note have serial numbers they become quite hard to track. Again these are simply estimates and recollection

Regards

Jason

I found the following post from Bob Graham re: La Banque Nationale Specimen Notes (1922 issue):

darrelj asks, "What is going on with these notes ??"
Briefly put, the Banque Nationale sold its head office collection to an individual in New York a number of years ago.  Over the past few years, notes from this collection have entered the market using a variety of conduits.  The collection included very many specimens of the 1922 issue, with a particularly large pile of the $10's.  As has been observed, a lot of specimens, particularly the $10's, have been making their way onto the market.  The latest $10's on eBay have mainly been selling in the $150 US ball park, and the spigot seems to have been turned off in hopes that the next bunch will sell a little higher.

Many thanks for your cumulative input. I missed, or possibly forgot about, Bob's comments from April 2007 dealing with this same matter. It appears that the spigot is open once again as there are currently in eBay Stores no fewer than two $10 Specimens, three $20 Specimens and one full set ($5, $10, $20, $50 & $100). There isn't much about Canadian paper money that isn't picked up by Bob's famous "radar" system!