The “Del Monte note”, a rare $ 20 note with a banana sticker, is currently on sale at Heritage Auctions, a Dallas-based auction house. Coin collectors are paying close attention and breaking previous bidding records with their offers, according to Heritage Auctions.
“The note was seen on our website more than 4,300 times,” Dustin Johnston told CNN. He is the vice president and managing director of the currency department at Heritage Auctions.
The 1996 series banknote is distinguished by the sticker, which appeared between the stages of the printing process, and has part of the Treasury seal and the banknote serial number printed on it.
The current bid for the banknote is $ 57,500, for a total cost of $ 69,000 after applying the buyer’s premium.
The auction will end on January 22. On that day, the note will be offered among other items during a live event that starts at 6 pm, central time, and will be broadcast on the Heritage Auctions website.
An unusual obstruction
This type of currency misprint is known as an “obstruction”.
“Most ‘clogged’ banknotes result from a loose piece of paper, tape, band-aid or other debris that attaches to the coin stock during the printing process and then falls off. therefore, it displays a blank area somewhere in the note, “said Leonard Augsburger, project coordinator for the Newman Numismatic Portal at the University of Washington in St. Louis.
He said most banknotes with obstructions will sell for $ 100 to $ 1000.
“The Del Monte note is more spectacular,” added Augsburger.
According to Heritage Auctions, the note, printed at the Fort Worth Western Currency Facility, first appeared in 2003, when a college student in Ohio put it up for sale on eBay. He got it at an ATM.
“Many errors that come and go from the ATM are very difficult to notice,” Johnston told CNN.
“This is one of those really incredible mistakes that are immediately obvious. It’s tactile, so if you’re pulling [money] out and you’re just counting, you’ll probably feel the adhesive height increase. And then, of course, the color just jumps out at you, “added Johnston.
In 2003, the note was sold on eBay for about $ 10,000. It was sold again in 2006, at a Heritage Auctions auction, and at the time it cost over $ 25,000.
Johnston told CNN that the note is so important that, for both auctions, he flew to pick it up in person and bring it back to the auction house.
A practical joke?
It is mysterious how the sticker appeared on the note, but it is possible that the action was deliberate.
The printing of the federal currency occurs in three stages: first the back, then the front, and then a third stage when the serial number and the federal seal are added.
“When examining the sticker and the overprint, it is clear that the sticker was applied after the front was printed and before the serial number and seal were applied,” said Augsburger.
“The placement of the adhesive is intriguing – if it were placed in most areas of the note, it would not be possible to prove that it was applied between the second and third stages. This suggests a deliberate placement, ”he added.
Johnston told CNN that the sticker could have been affixed to the bill for testing purposes.
“In the past 20 to 30 years, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing has started using optical recognition to review annotations as they leave the printer. Before, people did that, ”explained Johnston.
“It is very possible that sometimes they do things like this on purpose, to test their procedures, and perhaps that has still been leaked.”
With the increasing use of digital tools to eliminate errors, obstructions retained in notes are rarely found. Johnston’s says it’s a one in a million chance.
“This is perhaps one of the last really big obstructions that we will see,” he said.
Johnston also thinks it is possible that the sticker was put on the note as a joke.
“For a sticker to go to the printing floor and get stuck in something else, and make it so clear on the note … you would almost suspect it was done on purpose, you know, a practical joke or joke, whatever it is . “
The item has attracted the attention of so many collectors, who follow the current auction on the website. What makes it so special?
“We are always attracted to things that go wrong. This is one of those things that – not only did it go wrong, but it’s visually fantastic. And it’s fun on top of that,” said Johnston.