Treasury Note (1890–1891)

This flexibility allowed the Treasury some control over releasing gold or silver when the relative value of the two metals fluctuated.

[2] Treasury Notes are large-size (average dimension is 7.375 by 3.125 inches [187.3 by 79.4 millimetres]) banknotes.

[5][6] The 100 Greatest American Currency Notes, a 2006 book by Q. David Bowers and David Sundman, put the $1,000 Treasury Note (Fr#379b), nicknamed the "Grand Watermelon", at the top of its list.

[7] Of the seven "Grand Watermelon" notes known to exist today, only three are available to collectors: two of the Large Brown Treasury Seal variety (Fr#379a), pictured above; and only one example of the Small Red Treasury Seal variety (Fr#379b).

Consequently, the reverse designs were simplified on the Series 1891 Treasury Notes issued the following year.

On January 10, 2014, at the annual Florida United Numismatist convention, in Orlando, Florida, Heritage Auctions sold a Series 1890 $1,000 Treasury Note (Fr#379b) for $3,290,000, setting a new world record price for paper currency.