El Centro National Bank, California
This specimen was lot 20352 in Heritage auction 3563 (Chicago, April 2018), where it sold for $15,600. The catalog description[1] noted,
"The Only Note Reported. El Centro, CA - $20 1902 Date Back Fr. 644 The El Centro NB Ch. # (P)9349, A great California rarity that is unique for this short-lived Imperial County bank. El Centro has always been one of the toughest California towns from which to obtain a note. It was the host to two national banks, both of which were chartered on the same day in February of 1909 and both of which enjoyed only a brief period of existence. The First National, which received charter 9350, liquidated in 1925 and currently has just four notes in the census while the El Centro National, which received charter 9349, lasted only until 1920. Until this note surfaced in 2003, the El Centro National charter was unreported and thus had eluded the grasp of all of the great California collectors from Richard Sara and Charley Colver to Phil Krakover and Lowell Horwedel. At that sale, this unique note fetched $17,825 on a $7,500-$12,500 estimate and, tonight, it is available for a new generation of collectors to enjoy. Most fortunately, it is just as nice as it is rare, displaying bright white paper, a bold blue overprint, and bold pen signatures. We have struggled to come up with an estimate here, as unique items are by definition impossible to compare, but our best surmise for this PMG Very Fine 25 specimen is that the hammer will fall well into the range of...."
Link to:
- return to National Bank Notes of Imperial County, California
- see National Bank Notes of California for a complete list by charter number