‘Mules’ in auction of Doug Murray large-size notes collection

heritage auctions mules doug murray collection of rare banknotes from researcher

United States paper money from the Doug Murray Collection will be offered in a special monthly internet auction by Heritage Auctions on May 26. The 174 lots of large-size currency include many of the items Murray, a noted researcher in the field, specialized in and sometimes even discovered.


The Doug Murray Collection, to be offered in an online auction by Heritage on May 26, will include 16 different Series 1899 “Black Eagle” $1 silver certificate mules. The mules have differently positioned face and back plate numbers. 
Images courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

Included are varieties of the $1, $2, $5, and $10 1862 and 1863 legal tender notes. The auction also offers nearly three dozen large-size mules, including 16 of the Series 1899 “Black Eagle” $1 silver certificate. Mules are more common on small-size currency, when the plate numbers are of different sizes on the face and back. They are somewhat different on large-size notes. They only occur after Frank White became treasurer in 1921, when new back plates were made, upon which the location of the plate numbers was changed. Mules occur on notes with the Elliott-Burke, Elliott-White, and Speelman-White signature combinations when the old and new back plates were intermingled with the face plates. Elliott-Burke mules have the new back plates while mules for the other two signature combinations have the old plates. 

Doug Murray’s Comprehensive Catalog of Large Size Star Notes was responsible for opening up another field of collecting that previously was mainly the province of collectors of small-size currency. The auction offers 31 large-size star notes, consisting of legal tender or United States notes and silver and gold certificates.

Scroll to Top