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***Auction Highlight*** 1882 Large Size $20 Gold Certificate Fr-1178 Lyons/Roberts Grades vf+ (fc)

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:25.00 USD Estimated At:900.00 - 1,800.00 USD
***Auction Highlight*** 1882 Large Size $20 Gold Certificate Fr-1178 Lyons/Roberts Grades vf+ (fc)
***Auction Highlight*** 1882 Large Size $20 Gold Certificate Fr-1178 Lyons/Roberts Grades vf+. This 1882 $20 Gold Certificate, an incredible condition rarity. This design ranks #95 in 100 Greatest American Currency Notes by Q. David Bowers and David M. Sundman. The face depicts the recently martyred (1881) President James Garfield, while the back shows an eagle clutching a lightning bolt, with two cable-laying ships in the distance, titled Ocean Telegraph, engraved by George D. Baldwin. A portrait of Garfield also appears on the $5 National Bank Notes of 1882; a close copy mirror-imaged. The inscription "GOLD COIN" is in the "shingle"-style lettering layout. Gold coins, absent from commerce since the waning days of December 1861, achieved parity with Legal Tender and other paper on December 17, 1878. The Atlantic telegraph, as it was best known, was completed in the summer of 1858 amidst great celebrations on both sides of the Atlantic. In New York City a grand display was held in the streets and within the Crystal Palace. Conceived by Cyrus W. Field, the connection made possible fast communications between Europe and America, with great implications for news and financial information. The transmission was not instantaneous, however. A message of 99 words from Queen Victoria to President Andrew Johnson took 67 minutes to transmit. This was deemed satisfactory, far eclipsing the sending of news by steamship. There was trouble, signals were often interrupted or incomplete, and the last clear message was received on September 1. Soon afterward, the project was abandoned. Not until after the Civil War was an effective connection made. In 1866 the S.S. Great Eastern laid new cable and repaired some cable laid in 1865, achieving the success that is honored on this note design. The print run of F-1178 (W-2220) was 16,344,000. PMG estimate that about 525 to 550 survive in All Grades