An extremely rare Danish West Indies note from the 18th century that has been certified by Paper Money Guaranty (PMG) and is pedigreed to the L. E. Bruun Collection is turning heads in an ongoing Stack’s Bowers Galleries auction. It is just one of more than 200 PMG-certified Scandinavian notes being offered in Stack’s Bowers’ L. E. Bruun Collection, a Corpus of Scandinavian Numismatics Part III – Paper Money auction, which is set to end on October 28, 2025.
The Danish West Indies 1799 5 Rigsdaler Vestindisk Courant graded PMG 12 Fine NET (lot 10189) has an estimate of €30,000 to €50,000 (about $35,000 to $59,000).
Notes of the Danish West Indies from this time period are very scarce; of all the notes between 1788 and 1842, only three other examples are known to exist. Of these, this note is likely in the best condition, and it may be the sole example in private hands. Denmark sold the Danish West Indies (located just east of Puerto Rico) to the United States in 1917, and they were renamed the US Virgin Islands.
Bruun, a Danish entrepreneur who made his fortune in butter and real estate, amassed a collection of thousands of numismatic pieces from Denmark and other Scandinavian countries. He ordered his amazing collection to be set aside for a century after his death to serve as a replacement for the one owned by the Danish government, in case it was lost or destroyed.
Now that 100 years have passed, the collection is being offered, with the proceeds benefitting his heirs. A Denmark 1496 Noble from the collection that is certified by Numismatic Guaranty Company (PMG’s coin grading affiliate) realized $1.33 million at auction in September 2024.
The current auction represents the entirety of the paper money portion of the L. E. Bruun Collection, which includes notes from Denmark, Norway, Greenland, Iceland, the Danish West Indies and northern Germany (under Danish influence), covering the late 17th century to the early 20th century. Bruun acquired his rare paper money collectibles from the Count of Brahesminde Collection, which was assembled starting around 1800.
Other PMG-certified banknotes in this L. E. Bruun Collection auction include:
- a Denmark, National Bank 1875-87 100 Kroner graded PMG 53 About Uncirculated (lot 10080) that has an estimate of €30,000 to €40,000 (about $35,000 to $47,000)
- a Denmark, National Bank 1875-81 50 Kroner graded PMG 30 Very Fine (lot 10079) that has an estimate of €20,000 to €30,000 (about $24,000 to $35,000)
- a Denmark, Exchange & Mortgage Bank 1737-1740 10 Rigsdaler Courant graded PMG 25 Very Fine (lot 10008) that has an estimate of €15,000 to €20,000 (about $18,000 to $24,000)
- a Denmark, National Bank 1819 100 Rigsbankdaler graded PMG 53 About Uncirculated (lot 10070) that has an estimate of €10,000 to €15,000 (about $12,000 to $18,000)
- an Iceland / Danish Administration 1800-01 5 Rigsdaler graded PMG 10 Very Good (lot 10155) that has an estimate of €10,000 to €15,000 (about $12,000 to $18,000)
All estimates are provided by the auction house. The $ symbol refers to US Dollars.
About Paper Money Guaranty® (PMG®)
Founded in 2005, PMG is the world’s largest and most trusted third-party paper money grading service, with more than 10 million notes certified. These include an 1891 $1,000 Silver Certificate that sold for $2.6 million. Every note that PMG certifies is backed by the comprehensive PMG Guarantee of authenticity and grade, which gives collectors greater confidence. This results in higher prices realized and greater liquidity for PMG-certified notes. To learn more, visit PMGnotes.com.
PMG is part of the Certified Collectibles Group® (CCG®), whose mission is to empower collectors with services that ignite passion, create value and build community. With more than 100 million collectibles certified across a wide range of categories, CCG’s brands — Numismatic Guaranty Company® (NGC®), PMG, Certified Guaranty Company® (CGC®), James Spence Authentication (JSA) and Authenticated Stamp Guaranty® (ASG®) — are synonymous with trust and expertise in their hobbies.
That is certainly an unfortunate lesson to learn, both in marriage and numismatics Personal. Too bad that the internet still had a ways to go, before becoming mainstream. Today, short of not having gotten much of a chance or choosing not to get acquainted with computers(85-95 y/o), anyone needing to liquidate, numismatic holdings should, at least do some research/due diligence, before attempting to sell or trusting a “dealer” to do the right thing IMO. Some would say, only deal with a PNG member, however with them lowering the standards to gain entry, I’m not so sure I’d even trust that… Read more »
All I’ll say is the business and coin world is full of sharks. I wouldn’t ‘trust’ anyone.
I did buy one each of the Morgan and Peace dollars as their mintage is going to be low for 2025, and I like both designs. Who knows how long these pieces will be pressed anyway. Cheers