The Most Expensive Banknote: The 1890 Grand Watermelon Bill

As a self proclaimed Numismatist, I have an ample amount of great Coins in my Collection. It took me more than 20 years searching. researching and eventually collecting those precious Coins yet still, there are so much more to collect. There are few, actually less than 10 pieces of Banknotes in my Collection and honestly, I am having some problems handling them. Paper money became more sensitive as it age. It's condition lasts only around 7 to 8 years then its raw materials starts to deteriorate.

However, if you are into collecting Banknotes, one very interesting find is the 1890 Grand Watermelon Bill.

Series 1890 $1,000 Treasury Note, nicknamed "The Grand Watermelon" due to the shape and color of the zeros on the reverse.

There are only seven known "Grand Watermelon" notes today, which makes it one of the rarest and most sought-after pieces in American paper currency. Imagine this, one of these Banknote was sold in an auction at a whooping 2.04 million American Dollars.

It was sold by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions as part of the company's Florida United Numismatics (FUN) Convention Rare Currency Auction in Orlando, FL, part of a series of auctions the firm conducted that have grossed more than $105 million total, the largest numismatic auction in history.

This sale became the World Record, the single most valuable piece of currency in existence.

Stack’s Bowers is the auction house that sold the item at the currency and coin show. Its director of currency, Peter Treglia, says the bill is “the one key item that every collector dreams of owning.”

Who bought this Banknote? Of course he declares himself as Anonymous.

Only three of 18,000 printed notes remain in private collections. The other four unaccounted was of course either in hiding or the owners simply don't want it to be seen by public. One note sold in Dallas on 2014 for $3.29 million.

The bill bears the face of Gen. George Meade, who commanded Union forces at Gettysburg. Treglia says it’s about 50 percent larger than current bills, and is still legal tender.

Cheerio!

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