1880 United States RARE NEBEKER SIGNATURE MULE Fr 55 FANCY BINARY SERIAL PMG

Description

Up for sale is the extremely scarce 1880 Legal Tender / United States Note Fr 55 Mule with the Rosecrans-Nebeker signature combo on the front and an older Huston back plate.
This is the very rare issue with the
BLUE
serial numbers.
These 1880 notes just aren't out there, you always see the 1917 instead. If you look at the printings, they made about 3.7 million blue serial 1880 notes, of which only 700,000 have the Nebeker signature. They printed 327.4 million 1917 notes. By the numbers the 1880 is about 100x rarer than its 1917 counterpart, with the Nebeker signature far rarer than even that. Currently there are only 46 known survivors in the PMG population report.
On top of that, this is a mule type not yet recognized with a Friedberg number. Beginning with the Nebeker signature, the BEP stopped using 4 digit plate numbers and reverted back to starting at #1 for the face, and got rid of plate numbers on the reverse. This note has single digit faceplate #2 but the reverse was printed with a 4 digit plate left over from the Huston signature. Would not be surprised to see this given an Fr 55m in the future. And if that's not enough, this has a fancy binary serial 2222200. Probably the only fancy serial Fr 55 surviving and definitely the most eye appealing with all the 2's grouped together.
It is also extremely rare to find these HIGH grade. This denomination was a true workhorse of the American economy in the 1880s and they just weren't set aside.This note is professionally graded PMG AU-53. Fantastic paper quality loaded with crispness! Vibrant, pack-fresh color jumps off the note. It has clean margin edges, sharp corners, and no damage or distracting marks. It has NO vertical or horizontal folds. It got a couple corner bends and a counting mark, otherwise this would have been a Gem-65 for sure with the great centering. This is a mega sleeper. With only 700,000 printed, it is actually far rarer than any series of the later Napier-Thompson signed notes which command far more premium. One day this note will truly be appreciated for what it is and its value will skyrocket. Thanks for looking and have a great day.