![FLORIDA. William Hilliard, Tallahassee Post Office. 6-1/4 Cents. Tallahassee. [1837 era]. Young woman...](http://www.stacksarchive.com/gallery/SL0505b/42/SL0505b4224t2.jpg "FLORIDA. William Hilliard, Tallahassee Post Office. 6-1/4 Cents. Tallahassee. [1837 era]. Young woman...") FLORIDA. William Hilliard, Tallahassee Post Office. 6-1/4 Cents. Tallahassee. [1837 era]. Young woman with rake hands speak to seated men, framed in a square. Flanking, '6-1/4/CENTS'. Identical end panels. 'Good to the bearer for SIX 1/4 CENTS at the Post Office [Gothic] in Tallahassee, payable in postage or Current Bank Notes'. Imprint of 'New England Bank Note Co. Cassidy 364. Freeman 47; Rarity 7. A very rare and desirable series of notes on Florida. Comparatively, these got some real ''ink'' in the Freeman Sale catalogue. They certainly were more than worthy for their history and rarity. They meant much to the late Mr. Freeman and John Ford recognized their importance as well. Catalogued as ''Very Good'' in the Freeman Sale, today's standards for an obsolete note yield Fine or better as accurate. The staining mentioned then, means little today.
Ex Harley L. Freeman Collection (RARCOA, May 13-15, 1977, lot 867)
William Hilliard signed and issued three series of scrip notes on the Post Office. The Western Reserve Collection Sale had the issuer, but the earlier series. Without searching 100 auction catalogues, it would seem logical that the last time any significant group of this issuer was seen at auction was the 1989 Memphis Sale held by the NASCA division of R.M. Smythe. In that sale was the F.S. Werner Collection of Florida obsoletes. The two most advanced collections of Florida notes bought heavily at the sale or subsequently purchased as many notes as possible. Freddie Werner bought many notes at the Freeman Sale himself as represented by the pedigrees in the 1989 Memphis Sale. A similar note, also ex Freeman (lot 865) brought $319.00 at the Smythe Sale. Fifteen years later, increasing collector competition will dictate many multiples of that. The demand for Florida obsolete notes makes a Rarity 6 note seem nearly Rarity 8 with price structure to match.
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