Only Known Serial Number 1 Blue Seal FRN

Fr. 871a $5 1914 Federal Reserve Note PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ. The last appearance of this note resulted in one of the most fevered bouts of bidding we've ever seen. When all was said and done, this note, which was first offered as part of the Malcolm Trask Collection, realized $115,000. The description in the Trask sale catalog described its status as one of the most prized large size Federal Reserve Notes available to collectors, "This previously unknown Serial Number 1 Five Dollar Blue Seal is not only the sole known number-one Blue Seal Five, but it is in fact the only low-number Blue Seal Five known. There are four Red Seal Five serial #1's known, three of which reside in their respective district Federal Reserve Banks. Each of the twelve districts began their Red Seal printings with a serial-number one note. When the switch was made from Red Seals to Blue Seals, the serial number run, which in all cases had been part of the 'A' block was continued, as no district printed anywhere near 100,000,000 notes for Red Seals. No '1A' Blue Seal notes ever existed. To our best knowledge, only the Chicago and New York districts reached the 100,000,000 mark and continued on into the 'B' block. Thus, only two number-one Blue Seal Fed Fives ever existed. Until this point, neither had been known, although within the hobby, there had always been conjecture that this Chicago District number-one note was out there somewhere. The basis for that conjecture was the fact that G100000000A ('G one hundred million A') had been known. It had been presumed, quite logically, that if the final note from the A block had been preserved and was in private hands, the first note from the 'B' block would also have been saved. Its whereabouts, until now, remained unknown. Although we do not know when and from whom Malcolm Trask acquired this note, it has been in his collection for over half a century. Mr. Trask's collecting years overlapped with William Philpott's dealing years, and it is certainly possible, if not probable, that Philpott was the source. In any event, the appearance on the market of this note opens up the possibility for a single collector to represent the Five Dollar Blue Seal Fed type as a serial number one note in his collection."
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