$10,000 bill sells for nearly half a million dollars at Texas auction — and 1899 coin sells for almost as much

A $10,000 bill from 1934 sold for a record $480,000 at an auction in Texas auction — while a $20 coin minted in 1899 also set a record when it sold for nearly the same amount as the banknote, according to the auction.

Headquartered in Dallas, Heritage Auctions sells a wide range of collectibles, including coins, currency, art, sports memorabilia, wine and historical items. The massive bids taken last week happened during a multi-day auction with multiple bidding events that took place throughout the second and third weeks of September in Texas' capital city.

Interest in the 1934 $10,000 banknote did not come as a "huge surprise" to Heritage Auctions, the company . Dustin Johnston, the vice president of currency at Heritage Auctions, said in another statement that "large-denomination notes always have drawn the interst of collectors of all levels." 

Johnston added that, in terms of value and rank by the Paper Money Guaranty (PMG), the $10,000 banknote "trails only the $100,000 gold certificate issued in 1934, and of the 18 examples graded by PMG, this example is tied for the highest-graded."

Meanwhile, the $20 coin also garnered a huge amount of interest. The 1899 "double eagle" coin sold for $468,000, shattering the previous record set in 2008, when a similar coin sold for $218,000, Heritage Auctions said. In total, the auctioned coins at last week's Long Beach Expo broke multiple records and brought in more than $8.2 million, while the currency bid's overall profits climbed past $7.3 million.

"It takes an extraordinary coin to rise to the top of an auction with such consistent high quality, and this 1899 double eagle is that kind of coin," said Todd Imhof, the executive vice president at Heritage Auctions, in a statement.  

"It is such an exceptional rarity — the recorded original mintage was just 84 proofs— and over time, that total is dwindled, to somewhere around 30," the statement continued. "Of the survivors, this example carries the highest grade, and that includes the one that is in the Smithsonian Institution. The winning bidder acquired an exceptional trophy-level coin that immediately becomes a collection centerpiece."

In:
• Texas
• Federal Reserve