DALLAS, TX.- It has been said that the most passionate collectors are those who collect what they loved when they were younger. To those, it often is less about acquiring items of specific financial value, and more about chasing those items that captured fascination in years past.

Consider the case of Charlton Buckley. At the age of 12, the former San Francisco-area businessman began collecting coins; shortly thereafter, his numismatic interests spread to paper money as he developed an appetite for National Bank notes, large and small, large size U.S. notes and fractional currency. By the mid-1970s, he had built an extraordinary trove of California Nationals and notes, including California Gold Bank Notes. The collection reached into Federal Reserve Notes, both large and small, and was easily one of the foremost collections ever assembled.

The result of the lifelong passion is a trove now known as The Charlton Buckley Collection, of which 393 lots will be offered January 14-17 in Heritage’s FUN US Currency Signature® Auction.

Included in the collection is America’s Inaugural Federal Reserve Note Proof Archive that offers a singular opportunity for the most serious collectors and once belonged to Albert Grinnell, whose collection was believed to be one of the finest and most complete ever assembled; he considered this set the “Crowning Masterpiece” of his collection.

The offering comprises both face and back Proofs of Series 1914 and 1918 Federal Reserve notes of each denomination. Heritage has sold framed presentation sets of Federal Reserve notes before, selections that included $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 denominations. What makes this an extraordinary numismatic treasure is the fact that it also includes the $500, $1000, $5000 and $10,000 denominations.

President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law December 23, 1913, a bill that transformed the American monetary system and paved the way for a new banknote design. Several design prototypes were considered before a final selection was made the following fall, the Proofs printed from the actual currency plates onto cardstock, and the Treasury seal and solid zero serial numbers glued on by hand. The 1916 Annual Report of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing described two sets of the $5 to $100 denominations, but additional sets of Series 1914 Proofs are known to have been presented by Secretary of the Treasury William G. McAdoo to select officials in the latter part of the year. To provide a secure transfer of large amounts of cash between banks, the 1918 Federal Reserve Notes were printed only in $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 denominations — elusive trophies that are included in the set offered in this auction. It is the last two notes in this set that catapult Buckley’s Federal Reserve Note Collection into the annals of legendary numismatic collections.

“Within a few years, by 1926, rules for handling Proofs required that they were destroyed after use to prevent any Proofs from being distributed outside the Bureau of Engraving and Printing,” says Dustin Johnston, Vice President of Numismatics at Heritage Auctions. “Specimens were still printed and distributed, but the Proofs in this set very well might be the last Proofs that made it out of the Bureau, since none of the Series 1923 notes in Proof form are known to exist.”

Grinnell most likely acquired this set, with its 18 uniface Proofs, from one of his many contacts within the Treasury Department. His appearance in the set’s provenance automatically boosts value and interest, given the track record of other items once held in his collection that have generated seven-figure results, including a Grand Watermelon, which currently tops the list of most expensive banknotes ever sold at auction after realizing $3,290,000 in Heritage’s 2014 FUN US Currency Signature Auction in 2014.

“The 1918 $5,000 and $10,000 Proofs are unique in any form in private hands,” Johnston says. “In other words, collectors have exactly one opportunity to acquire either one, and that opportunity is this incredible set.”

Other offerings from the Buckley Collection include, but are not limited to:

• A beautiful Fr. 2221-H $5,000 1934 Federal Reserve Note. PMG Choice Uncirculated 64 EPQ — for this Friedberg number, PMG has graded just two equal and only one higher … and that by a single grade point. The total population for Fr. 2221-H graded by PMG is only 11, from a total of 110 $5,000 notes for the entire Series 1934, just eight of which are equal in grade to the example offered in this auction, and with just five, each of which earned a grade of 65 EPQ, graded higher.

• A Santa Barbara $100 National Gold Bank Note that is unique for the bank. This California rarity is one of the few National Gold Bank Notes that can be traced back to the Grinnell holdings. It is one of just nine $100s known from all National Gold Banks combined, and the sole representative from Santa Barbara.

• A rare and original 1882 $50 Gold Certificate — this Fr. 1192 $50 1882 Gold Certificate PCGS Extremely Fine 45PPQ features Silas Wright, who served in the House of Representatives (1827-29), United States Senate (1833-44) and as Governor of New York (1844-46). It is one of just 22 examples currently recorded in the Track & Price census, of which four are in institutional collections — the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond, San Francisco (2) and the Smithsonian Institution — and thus unavailable to the collector market.

The auction also features 99 lots from the Ronald R. Gustafson Collection, an assemblage that enjoyed exceptional results in Heritage’sLong Beach Expo US Currency Signature® Auction in September. Among the prizes from the collection available in this auction are:

• A nicely preserved Fr. 2220-G $5,000 1928 Federal Reserve Note. PMG Choice Uncirculated 64. A rare denomination — even more so in such a high state of preservation — it is the sole finest Fr. 2220-G graded by PMG. More importantly, PMG has graded 22 Series 1928 $5,000 notes with only one earning a higher or equal grade, a PMG 65 EPQ Fr. 2220-E that sold at Heritage Auctions in September 2024 for $780,000.

• A Fr. 2230-F $10,000 1928 Federal Reserve Note. PMG Choice Very Fine 35 that is a new serial number for the census: serial F00000100A was the very first Series 1928 $10,000 that Currency Auctions of America ever offered. PMG has graded from among all districts only seven Series 1928 $10,000 notes: Richmond (2), Atlanta (4) and Kansas City, compared to 113 Series 1934 $10,000s. Combining the Stephen M. Sullivan census found in Small Sized High Denomination Notes, 2nd Edition with Track & Price population figures produced just 10 Series 1928 representatives from all districts combined...and even that small number is deceiving, as the lone New York and San Francisco examples are both locked away in the collection of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, leaving just eight from all districts combined in the possession of collectors.

• A unique Fr. 2220-K $5,000 1928 Federal Reserve Note. PMG Very Fine 25 that is one of only 20 1928 $5,000 notes listed in Track & Price. Dallas had by far the lowest 1928 printing for the $5,000 FRN denomination with a total of only 360 notes printed by the BEP.

Among the treasures in the second installment of the Dwane Johansen Collection is a pristine $10 Legal Tender Bison PCGS Banknote 67 PPQthat appeared first at auction in 1984, and again in 2009. Since then, it has been graded by PCGS Banknote as a 67 PPQ and is tied with one other example as the finest Fr. 114 ever at PCGS Banknote, which has graded five equal and two higher (the latter two higher graded examples earning PMG 67 EPQ* grades).

Other top offerings in the collection include, but are not limited to:

• A gorgeous Fr. 264 $5 1886 Silver Certificate PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ that earned PMG’s second-highest grade on this better Silver Dollar Back Friedberg number, trailing only a PMG 66 EPQ note with serial B32490814 that sold at Heritage in May 2024. Those notes are just 12 serial numbers apart and are plate letter B pieces, and they are the only Fr. 264 examples above PMG 45 EPQ that have earned the highly coveted EPQ grade modifier.

• A Fr. 270 $5 1896 Silver Certificate PCGS Banknote Gem Unc 66 PPQ that is among the most beautiful notes in the auction and one of the most consistently popular currency designs issued in the United States. Gems such as this are often placed into tightly held collections, causing the collecting community to take note when one is finally offered at public auction.

The Highland Park Collection of Small Size US Currency Part 3 boasts 74 lots, including a Fr. 1502* $2 1928A Legal Tender Star Note. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ that is the finest Fr. 1502* examined at PMG and previously resided in the elite collections of Jim Thompson and Tom Flynn before landing in the Highland Park Collection. PMG has inspected 41 Fr. 1502* notes, of which 83% are in the 8-25 grade range.

Other top offerings from the Highland Park Collection include:

• A gorgeous Fr. 1500* $1 1928 Legal Tender Star Note. PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ that is the sole replacement note graded at the 65 level by PMG...which has graded one other star a single point finer, but that replacement note has never appeared at public sale, according to Track & Price. This example traces its provenance to The D. Brent Pogue Collection.

• A Fr. 1528* $5 1928C Mule Legal Tender Star Note. PMG Gem Uncirculated 66 EPQ that is the highest-graded example by either of the major services, with no equals.

For all of the treasures that can be found in the featured collections — and they are numerous — it would be inaccurate to suggest that all of the auction’s prizes come from private collections. Some top offerings include:

• A Fr. 2 $5 1861 Demand Note PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQthat is one of 64 Fr. 2 notes examined by PMG and stands alone as the highest PMG-graded example by 25 grade points, while the highest-graded example by PCGS Banknote is an XF 45. Track & Price has listed two PCGS 66 EPQ notes, but one is a Proof and the other has a serial number that can not be a Fr. 2, making this offering the finest Fr. 2 known.

• A very rare type and denomination from a small upstate New York bank, an Amsterdam, NY - $100 Original Fr. 454a The First National Bank Ch. # 1307 PCGS Banknote Choice VF 35 that is one of just 43 Original Series $100s enumerated by the National Currency Foundation census, and of those, seven come from California National Gold Banks, while three others are ensconced in institutional holdings.

• A Fr. 174 in PMG Choice Uncirculated 64 that is among a relatively small number of notes was issued during the 23-month window between 1885 and 1887 during which William Rosecrans and Conrad Jordan were in office together. Silver Certificates and other metal-backed notes were used heavily, leaving the rest subject to heavy attrition. Just 18 survivors of the Fr. 174 1880 $100 Legal Tender are known, six of which are in institutions, including the Smithsonian, the ANA and multiple Federal Reserve Collections. The example offered here is the finest graded by a large margin. It is the lowest serial number in the census and has the longest pedigree. No other survivors are known above the Extremely Fine grade.

• With serial number D82926, the offered Fr. 1219e $1,000 1907 Gold Certificate PMG Very Fine 30 is one of the few of this Friedberg number to have a five-digit serial number. Track & Price has recorded 49 serial numbers for Fr. 1219e, nearly one-third of which are permanently impounded in collections of the Federal Reserve Banks, the Smithsonian Institution and the ANA, or never have appeared at public auction.