First National Bank of San Bernardino, California
This specimen was lot 20366 in Heritage auction 3574 (Long Beach, CA, September 2019), where it sold for $13,200. The catalog description[1] noted,
"Serial Number 2 San Bernardino Brown Back - First Offering Since 1999, San Bernardino, CA - $5 1882 Brown Back Fr. 469 The First NB Ch. # 3527 PMG Very Fine 30. An excessively rare note from the earliest of San Bernardino's four issuing banks, it is one of just two survivors reported, neither of which has made a public appearance in twenty years. The two reported notes are both $5 Brown Backs, one a serial number 1, which we sold as part of the Charley Colver collection in May of 1999 and which has been off the market since that time, and a serial number 2 specimen which we are offering this evening. Once part of the Philip Krakover collection that John Hickman sold in March of 1990, it is now making its first public appearance in almost 30 years and is finally available for today's generation of collectors. It is a bright, well margined, pen signed piece with just a small, inconsequential stain. As a bonus, the lot also includes a check from the bank dated July 19, 1890. Considering that it may be decades for another opportunity arises to acquire a note from this rare charter, we expect the many Golden State collectors to engage in a spirited contest to determine who gets to return home with this prize. From the Norris Turner Collection (Total: 2 notes)."
Link to:
- return to National Bank Notes of San Bernardino County, California
- see National Bank Notes of California for a complete list by charter number