Series 1953A $5 Silver Certificate Star Replacement Note (Priest / Anderson) – Fr. 1656* – Very Fine (VF 20–25)

Item Overview

• Denomination: $5.00 ("Five Dollars in Silver Payable to the Bearer on Demand")

• Currency Type: Small-Size Silver Certificate (Blue Treasury Seal & Blue Serials with Star Prefix)

• Series: Series 1953 A

• Catalog Reference: Friedberg # 1656* (Fr. 1656* / Star Replacement Note)

• Serial Number: * 24950591 A

• Signatures / Officials:

  • Ivy Baker Priest (Treasurer of the United States)

  • Robert B. Anderson (Secretary of the Treasury)

• Plate Position / Identifiers:

  • Check Letter: F (upper right quadrant)

  • Face Plate Number: F 73 (lower right)

  • Back Plate Number: 2409 (inscribed in the lower-left scroll border beneath the central Lincoln Memorial vignette)

• Design Features:

  • Obverse Portrait: Abraham Lincoln centered inside an oval frame with large blue numeral "5" overprint to the left.

  • Reverse Vignette: The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., without the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" (standard for Series 1953).

Scarcity & Variety Context

• The *...A Replacement Run: Small-size $5 Silver Certificates were printed in significantly smaller volumes than $1 Silver Certificates.

• Low Production: For Series 1953A, the BEP printed a total of only 3,440,000 star notes, making them substantially scarcer than the contemporary 1957/1935 $1 star notes and heavily hunted by blue-seal type collectors.

Condition & Visual Grade (Unsleeved Inspection)

• Estimated Technical Grade: Very Fine (VF 20 – VF 25)

• Preservation Highlights:

  • Raw paper shows solid structural integrity with natural, original paper body.

  • Exhibits standard honest commercial circulation: three primary vertical wallet folds and a mild horizontal center bend.

  • Clean, complete border margins all the way around with minor edge softening and light handling patina along the border perimeter.

  • Completely free of foreign ink, stamp marks, tears, pinholes, or chunk loss.

  • Deep, unfaded blue pigment across the Treasury seal, numeral 5, and serial numbers.

• Centering:

  • Obverse: Nicely framed margins on all four sides.

  • Reverse: Balanced side-to-side and top-to-bottom margins