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Note Details

Set Details
Note Description: Federal Reserve Note Minneapolis
$5 1928A Small Size
Grade: VF 20
Block Letter: IA
Country: US
Note Number: 1951-I
Seal Type: Green
Signatures/
Vignettes:		 Woods
Mellon
Certification #: 5014141-036  
Owner: Sheik Sheck
Sets Competing: Sheik $5 Small FRN District Set  Score: 990
Date Added: 1/9/2020
Research: See PMG's Census Report for this Note

Owner's Description

The Cash
The approximately $16,000 in face value cash presented here this evening is central to a timeline of 20th century criminal activity that changed the United States forever from firearms control to the repealing of prohibition. Our timeline of the bank box being locked up in late 1933 or early 1934 is supported by the notes themselves. Not a single note in the group was from series or banknote deliveries that could have fallen after 1934. Most cash hoards are nothing exciting, providing quantities of notes, rather than quality or rarity. That is not the case here.

More description: A great Piece of History for both Currency and History buffs. Untouched since the Great Depression, sat Hyman S. Lehman’s bank box containing a cash hoard waiting to be discovered by his grandson. Lehman’s Western Store was recognized for being an accomplished gunsmith and leather worker in the 1930s. Acquiring small arms and customizing pistols for his customers, Lehman often converted them into fully automatic weapons. Lehman sold his machine pistols and other modified automatics to big time gangsters and their associates across the country. His most famous customer was the FBI’s Public Enemy Number One, Baby Face Nelson, an American bank robber and partner of John Dillinger. Lehman’s relationship with Nelson was so strong, he invited Nelson and his wife, Helen, to Thanksgiving dinner in 1933. The day after Dillinger was ambushed and killed, the Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, announced Nelson as the new "Public Enemy No. 1" on July 23, 1934 as he and his wife fled to California. Four months later on November 27, Nelson and Helen were spotted by FBI agents driving a stolen car near Barrington, IL. After a car chase, Nelson pulled over and a gun battle ensued. Nelson killed two FBI agents and was hit by 17 bullets before he escaped. The damage from his injuries were too severe, and the next day, Nelson succumbed to his injuries at 25-years-old.

The first ever offering of Fr. 2100-K* 1928 Dallas $50 is featured in our Platinum Night Session tomorrow night. The first small size National Bank Note from Moore, Texas was also buried in this safety deposit box for the last eighty-five years. Scarce $100s are reported from Texas, a Type II from Dallas, and a Type I from Vermont. More notes are classified as scarce, and some are common in comparison to normal notes absent the pedigree. Each of the notes traced to Nelson will be offered without estimate, while the Hyman S. Lebman Cash Hoard is being offered with estimates aligned with unpedigreed notes. The premium for the story here is unknown, left to the market to price this historic offering. Additional Lebman notes are included in our Internet Session of this auction to conclude on Monday, January 13th.

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