Nearly 20 items from the collection of long-time Canadian numismatist Harry M. Eisenhauer brought nearly $125,000 US during a paper money auction hosted at California’s Long Beach Expo this September.
A trio of New Brunswick chartered banknotes were among the top-earning lots of this latest offering of the Harry Eisenhauer Collection. The first, described by auctioneers as an “excessively rare” 1904 Bank of New Brunswick $5 note, was certified by Paper Money Guaranty (PMG) as Extremely Fine-40 and brought $18,000 US, including buyer’s premium. It’s currently the only example in the PMG Population Report.
“Harry helped shape Canadian banknote collecting, and we owe him a great debt of gratitude,” reads a statement issued by Heritage Auctions following the Sept. 5-9 sale. “This offering is the first time that many collectors will have a chance to compete for these chartered banknote rarities, and the conditions of the representative survivors are in many cases, unequalled.”
COLLECTING HISTORY
A collector since the age of nine – in 1947 – Eisenhauer first found an interest in the engravings on stamps, which later coaxed him into exploring Canadian banknotes. For more than half a century, Eisenhauer specialized in Canadian chartered notes – with a particular focus on Canada’s eastern provinces – and acquired many rarities from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Québec and Prince Edward Island.
Other highlights include a 1903 Bank of New Brunswick $10 note “combining both rarity and grade,” according to auctioneers.
In PMG Choice Very Fine-35, it brought $18,000 US, including premium.
Lastly, an 1886 St. Stephens Bank $1 note in PMG Choice Uncirculated-63 brought $16,800 US, including premium. It’s the highest-graded note of the 10 examples of this Charlton number (#75-20-04-06) listed in the Canadian Paper Money Society (CPMS) Note Registry.
One of those 10 notes is held in Ottawa at the Bank of Canada’s National Currency Collection.
NUMISMATIC LEGACY
Eisenhauer is a life member and former president of the CPMS and was also a founding member and president of the Atlantic Provinces Numismatic Association and Fredericton Numismatic Society.
He’s earned honorary life memberships in the Halifax Regional Coin Club, Ingersoll Coin Club and Prince Edward Island Numismatic Association and was also a founding patron of the J. Douglas Ferguson Historical Research Foundation and Farmers’ Bank of Rustico Museum.
Lastly, he was a contributor to the CPMS Note Registry for more than 30 years and offered research and market pricing services for the Charlton catalogues.