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Fr. 1232 5c Second Issue Treasury Rectangle About

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:2,000.00 - 3,000.00 USD
Fr. 1232 5c Second Issue Treasury Rectangle About
<B>Fr. 1232 5c Second Issue Treasury Rectangle About New.</B></I> A spectacular Treasury Rectangle note with the entire rectangle and every letter of "Tres Dpt." clear and bold. It's one of the nicest examples of the Treasury Rectangle notes that we have seen. There are two different accounts of the original of these Treasury Rectangles. Milt Friedberg has located a document from the Third Session of the Fortieth Congress, where in testimony a Mr. William Coleman testified that he and a Mr. Drummer counted the blank banknote paper before it was printed, and stamped it with a little stamp consisting of a rectangle with "Treas Dpt." inscribed on it. This rectangle was stamped on the corner of the sheet to indicate that it had been counted. A second version relies on the research of Martin Gengerke. That version is that Congress, having become concerned with counterfeiting, ordered the Treasury department to print notes on distinctive paper. The Treasury Department circumvented Congress's orders by stamping each sheet "Treas Dpt.," thereby making the regular banknote paper distinctive, instead of having to go back to the drawing board and print Experimental notes on various forms of paper, a process which had already been done, and during which Treasury Department officials never found a satisfactory substitute for the regular banknote paper. Several different sizes and shapes of Treasury Department rectangles are known, and it's possible, perhaps even likely, that both of these accounts are correct. In either case, the rectangle was at the very edge sheet, and it was intended to be trimmed off, accounting for their extreme rarity. We've handled most all of the known Treasury Rectangle pieces and this one is in the top three for clarity and completeness of the rectangle. An extremely important piece.