- Del Monte note
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Del Monte note or Banana note 
Del Monte Note up close
Country of production United States Location of production Fort Worth U.S. Treasury Department print facility Date of production 1996 Nature of rarity retained obstruction Estimated existence 1 Face value $20 Estimated value US$150,000+ The Del Monte Note is a misprinted U.S. twenty-dollar bill with a red, green, and yellow Del Monte banana sticker next to Andrew Jackson's portrait. The sticker became affixed to the note during the printing process. The error occurred after the face plate had been printed but prior to the printing of the treasury seal and serial numbers (these are two separate printing processes). The result is a note with part of the seal and serial numbers printed on top of the sticker - if the sticker were removed the corresponding area underneath would be blank. In the paper money hobby this "error note" is called a "retained obstruction". The vast majority of such errors do not retain the source of the obstruction and those notes that do sell for a substantial premium. The bill originated at the Fort Worth U.S. Treasury Department print facility. It was discovered by a college student in Ohio who received it from an ATM. The note has been preserved in near perfect condition and was auctioned off on eBay for US$10,100 in 2003.
The note is very famous among currency collectors and has appeared on the covers of magazines such as Bank Note Reporter and Numismatic News.
On January 6, 2006, the note was sold for US$25,300 by Heritage Auctions of Dallas [1] to Jackie and Bethany Gale Morales of Cleburne, Texas. More about the owners and the history of the "banana note", as it is commonly referred to, may be seen at Del Monte note homepage
References
External links
Categories:- Paper money of the United States
- Banknotes of the United States
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