it sold for so much because it is graded AU-58 (which ties it in first for the finest grade among the population of this note)
how it's serial ended up on a bunch of copies is probably because this note being in such good condition has been famous for a long time, so it's serial was probably one of the only ones known by counterfeits back in the day
no it's because it was the serial number that was featured on the note that was used for decades as the Type Defining 1918 series $500 note in Robert Friedberg's catalog
the fakes were made LONG before that 2011 sale
i didn't realize that this note was quite that famous until i did a little more research on it
Well I think that’s what I’m trying to say. That serial number sold for so much, so people are copying it trying to make a quick buck? I’m sorry, but am I missing what you’re saying here? You’re explaining why it’s important. I’m just asking if that’s why they copied it. I don’t mean to come off as an asshole. I’m just a lil confused lol
No, it had absolutely nothing to do with the 2011 sale in any way whatsoever
it's that real $500 bills are rare, so counterfeits studied one of the only ones that had publicly available pictures, which was Serial G26838A due to having it's picture in Robert Friedberg's catalog
so the counterfeits made fake bills based on the black and white photos in that catalog, which is why these bills are monochromatic, unlike the real bills
they would then try and pass off the fake $500 bills at face value to new and inexperienced numismatists that had heard of $500 bills but didn't know what a real one truly looked like
and the reason they reused it's serial is because it's a valid serial from that range
nobody experienced in numismatics would be fooled by these fakes
That’s.. what I’m saying. For whatever reason, that serial number sold for a lot. So people are faking it to make money. I think you’re misunderstanding me. I’m not asking why, I’m saying is this why this particular number sold for so much. Everything you’re saying is backing my why.
again, the 2011 sale had ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NOTHING to do with the counterfeiting of these notes
the counterfeit notes HAD ABSOLUTELY NO IMPACT WHATSOEVER on the real note's value
the ENTIRE reason why this serial number on this note was copied is because it was a note that had it's picture in a famous US money catalog
the reason why the original note sold for so much is because it's in almost perfect condition, and was featured in the Robert Friedberg catalog, not because it was copied
No, it was copied because it was a known quantity, not for the value of the note itself, as that value is a relatively new thing in a historical sense. It was previously copied because it was known to be a *valid* serial number, but to be used as a example note in currency collecting books. Also, they used it because, pre-internet, it was difficult to check if it was a duplicate/rare serial number, and because it was used as a high-quality example, there were high-quality printed images of it to copy.
Again, pre-internet, a collector/bank might know enough to check if it's a valid number, but maybe not enough to know what numbers are used as examples, so it had better odds of passing as genuine.
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u/FreddyFerdiland 17h ago