so what do we got here we have notes from the republic and the government of texas
all right that is pretty cool that's pretty amazing most people in texas believe they live
in a separate country already and it'd be really cool to have their own money too absolutely i came
to the pawn shop today to sell a set of republic of texas and a government of texas note this is
the real currency that they used back in the 1830s and 40s the reason i'm trying to sell the notes
is the business that i own has invested in them it's time to refund the business so we have nine
republic of texas bills and this one that says government of texas we have sam houston right here
he was president most people don't know that he was indeed it just wasn't of the united
states it was uh the republic of texas absolutely texas was part of mexico there was a revolution
they declared their sovereignty it was his own country and then the united states government sort
of annexed texas saying you're part of the united states the people in texas really didn't dig that
texas has a wild history native groups like the comanches were fighting in that area for over a
thousand years and when european explorers showed up in the early 1500s the fighting just got worse
finally texas declared itself independent from mexico and was its own country for nine years
before the u.s government annexed texas in 1845 so tell me what you know about the bills the notes
were produced between 1838 and 1840 finest set of notes known to exist all the notes
have been authenticated and graded so there's no question as to their authenticity or the quality
not only are these bills old and rare they've already been authenticated and graded and they're
in great condition i can definitely sell these and make a profit if the guy will let them go at the
right price so what were you looking to do with the mall sell them okay and how much did you want
for them the nine notes of the republic of texas approximately 25 000 and then for the government
of texas note 650 000 650 1000. oh really um why would you think this bill was worth so much
that's the rarest of all of them it's the only known uncirculated specimen graded the next
highest note is au 58 which is about uncirculated okay ed do you know how much that one sold for
uh i still own it okay all right so um we have nothing to compare the price to not a thing
do you mind if i call someone and try and figure out this price here i think that would
be a good idea 650 grand is more than i've ever spent on anything coming in the shop
so there's no way i'm gonna shell out that kind of money until i have someone look at it who knows it
could be worth every penny hi guys jay how's it going man what's going on jay the guys call me
in when they have a piece of currency that they uh need more expertise the guy's got a lot of stuff
here from the republic of texas and one from the government of texas looks like a nice collection
these notes are part of a very colorful history they're fascinating they're scarce and they come
up at auction usually in lower grades early texas notes can can be very rare and like anything else
it depends strictly on condition this gentleman might have something real valuable here
what we asking for this group in the neighborhood of about 25 000.
uh with a 500 bill which you very rarely see so you're evaluating this at around 10 000 at least
yeah and these you're evaluating at about 700 to a thousand each how about that in my opinion
the retail value on these would be three to six hundred dollars each okay on the 500 i would say
a couple of thousand in an auction it could go for more but not 10 000.
not even close now this is quite a bill this government of texas ten dollar i believe this
is the highest grade they've ever issued for this this is this is very different from the
rest of these i think it's in fabulous condition what were you asking for this bill 650 000. yeah
actually
that's not even in the ballpark that's over the moon over the planets over the stars
has anyone offered you a quarter of that uh i've turned down that offer well have you saved their
phone number absolutely you better run and take it before they change their mind i would put a
much lower value on this okay in my opinion the ten dollar sam houston note would retail for
five to seven thousand dollars and on a great day at a great auction ten thousand
i paid more than that i've looked up the auction records to know where they trade
this note of course has never been seen before well unlike it but it's still a limited number of
collectors it's not like 20 gold pieces it's not like silver dollars that have millions of people
that are interested absolutely this is a small universe of collectors maybe a few thousand real
serious collectors so the fact that something is the finest known is great but that doesn't
necessarily mean it's worth a fortune of money most people don't have a clue what it's worth
um you're on your own i've given you my opinion okay it's a free country and people can ask
whatever they want i have to give my opinion based on what i consider the real world the real market
obviously we're really far apart you know my guy says 6 500 you're saying 650
000 so i appreciate you bringing in an expert but obviously this is so rare he just doesn't
normally deal with it and if i could buy notes at his prices retail i'd probably buy him out
jay's my guy i got to listen to him i've never had any deal that far apart before on prices but uh
just more research and more time is probably what we needed obviously a deal's not going to be made
here today just a difference of opinion happens all the time absolutely no hard feelings no hard
feelings all right certainly he doesn't know enough about the republic or the government of
texas to give an accurate number this man just doesn't have a clue what he's talking about
you