DALLAS, TX.- An exceptionally rare Palestine Currency Board 50 Pounds note from 1929 sold for a record $170,800 to lead Heritage Auctions’ World Paper Money Signature� Auction to $3,268,298 Oct. 14–15, the most ever achieved in a U.S.-based world paper money auction.

The results underscored the significance of the Fady Nassif Collection, which brought together rare issued Egyptian and Middle Eastern banknotes alongside material documenting the design and production of currency. The collection was among the auction’s central attractions, with several of its offerings achieving record prices.

The Palestine Currency Board 50 Pounds 30.9.1929 Pick 10b PMG Very Fine 30, from the celebrated Fady Nassif Collection, established an auction record for the type and a Heritage record for any banknote from Palestine. It was one of numerous record-setting results in an event that featured extraordinary rarities from the Middle East, Europe, the Pacific and beyond. The Palestine �50 that topped the auction is among the most desirable banknotes issued during the British Mandate of Palestine. The �50 and �100 denominations carried enormous spending power, and their limited print totals meant that few examples escaped redemption. The �50 was issued sparingly between 1927 and the end of the Mandate in 1948, with just three dates known: 1927, 1929 and 1939. Based on known serial numbers, perhaps 16,000 to 20,000 notes were printed for the 1929 date. PMG has graded just eight examples of that date, including the example offered at Heritage. Its $170,800 result established a new benchmark for Palestinian paper currency at Heritage.

“The numerous records that were set in this auction shone a spotlight on the passion and knowledge of the collectors who identified the important offerings that were available,” says Craig Eustace, Heritage’s Director of World Currency Auctions. “Many of the lots in this auction, including all of the gems found in the Fady Nassif Collection, were fresh to the auction block and generated extraordinary bidding activity, which bodes very well for Heritage’s upcoming HKINF World Paper Money Signature� Auction, the Dec. 4 event in which the highlights will include an exceptional selection from The Peh Family Collection.”

Another treasure from the Fady Nassif Collection, a Qatar & Dubai Currency Board 25 Riyals ND (ca. 1960) Pick 4a PMG Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ, brought $115,900, setting an auction record for the type and for any Qatar & Dubai banknote. Qatar & Dubai Currency Board notes circulated from 1966 to 1973, before separate national currencies followed. The 25 Riyals is the key denomination of the series and is especially elusive in the highest collector grades. PMG has graded only 44 examples of the type, with just one graded higher than the Gem Uncirculated 65 EPQ example offered in this auction, which was the highest-graded among just three ever offered at Heritage, the world’s leading numismatic auctioneer.

Another major result came from the Pacific, where a Republic of Hawaii, Department of Finance 10 Dollars 1895 (ND 1899) Pick 7s Specimen PMG Gem Uncirculated 66 EPQ reached $70,150. The result set an auction record for the type and a Heritage record for any Hawaiian Republic banknote. Republic of Hawaii paper money ranks among the rarest national currency issues, with only a few issued examples surviving from the short-lived Republic’s three banknote series. The $10 denomination was backed by gold, and the issued notes circulated beginning in 1899 before being withdrawn in 1905. The Specimen offered in this auction was the only example of its kind recorded in the PMG Population Report.

Egyptian banknotes, a particular strength of the Fady Nassif Collection, also delivered impressive results. A National Bank of Egypt 100 Pounds 7.10.1919 Pick 16 PMG Very Fine 25 sold for $61,000, establishing a record for the type. One of the most elusive National Bank of Egypt issues, the note features the Muhammad Ali Mosque within Cairo’s walled Citadel. The design was issued only between 1913 and 1919, with small print totals and few surviving examples. PMG has graded just five issued examples, and the auction marked the first time Heritage had offered the type.

Another record-setting rarity came from Spain, where a Banco de Espa�a 50 Pesetas 1.7.1874 Pick 2 PMG Very Fine 30 reached $53,680, setting an auction record for the type and for any Spanish banknote. The note is the only known example of its variety and appears as the plate note in both the Standard Catalogue of World Paper Money and the Banknote Book. It belongs to the first Spanish banknote series denominated in Pesetas, introduced after the establishment of the First Spanish Republic in 1873 as the country moved away from the Escudo denomination.

The auction also included a fully issued Republic of Hawaii 10 Dollars 1895 (ND 1899) Pick 7a PMG Very Fine 30 that realized $46,360 — also a record for the type. It was the only uncancelled example graded in the PMG Population Report at the time of cataloging. The offering marked the first time Heritage had presented the type, in both issued and Specimen format.

The Fady Nassif Collection produced another important result when a Government of Iraq 10 Dinars 1931 (ND 1938) Pick 11b PMG About Uncirculated 53 sold for $46,360, establishing an auction record for the type and a Heritage record for any Iraqi banknote. The King Ghazi 10 Dinars features the scarce Kennet / Amin signature combination, the second signature variety of the issue. Only seven examples had been graded by PMG, only one of which carries a higher grade than that on the example offered in this auction, the first of this variety ever offered at Heritage.

The auction’s remarkable geographic reach was evident in additional records from Asia, Africa and South America. A Grand Treasury Siam 1/4 Tical ND (1851–68) Pick A8 PMG About Uncirculated 55 brought $18,300, setting a record for the type. Issued during the reign of King Rama IV, the note was the only example of its denomination recorded in the PMG Population Report at the time of cataloging.

A Banco Central de Chile 500 Pesos = 50 Condores 1925 Pick 76 PMG Choice Very Fine 35 reached $10,980, setting records for the type and for Chilean banknotes at Heritage. The note, the sole recorded example in the PMG Population Report at the time of cataloging, features allegorical imagery representing Chile and Music.

Other records included $7,930 for an African Banking Corporation Ltd. Lagos 5 Pounds 1891 Specimen, a record for the type and banknotes from the region, as well as a Heritage record for Lagos. A Republica del Peru 1000 Soles 1881 Pick UNL PMG Very Fine 30 Net also realized $7,930, establishing an auction record for the type and a Heritage record for Peruvian banknotes.