Recently a PMG 64 Choice UNC $10,000 gold certificate came across our table. It was the 1900 series with the holes going through it stating it had been redeemed/canceled. Many people ask if it’s still legal tender or why are so many of them priced BELOW $10,000. Well they are not legal tender but there is a pretty interesting story behind them. The 1900 series 10,000 gold certificates with Abraham Lincoln printed on the front were only intended for inter-bank use. Many were stored at a storage facility at a post office in Washington D.C.

In 1935 there was a large fire at this storage location and many workers/firefighters started throwing these notes out the windows so the fire wouldn’t grow out of control. These notes had no redeemable face value at the time because they were already redeemed by banks and not for personal use. Many of these notes where picked up by on lookers of the fire. Many of these notes have smoke or water damage. These notes are not only a great piece of history but also in the affordable range in comparison to the other $10,000 notes. Please check out the beautiful example we have listed on our site.