Wednesday, October 3, 2012

A $5 bill presented to a turn-of-the-century vice president is expected to fetch up to $300,000 at a Texas auction this month.

The bill from the First National Bank of Fairbanks, Alaska, was presented to the frontier city's namesake, Charles W. Fairbanks, in 1905 when he served as vice president under Theodore Roosevelt.

His great-grandson, Charles Fairbanks IV, learned last year that the uncirculated note's estimated value had skyrocketed above the estimate of $50,000 to $60,000 set in the mid-1990s.

The 66-year-old didn't feel comfortable displaying it in his Santa Barbara, Calif., home. And he didn't want to hide it in a safety deposit box.

So he decided to sell.

The Oct. 18 auction will be held in Dallas and online as part of the American Numismatic Association National Money Show.