'Grand WaterMelon' Cash

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Kelly Crow, That's a Lot of Watermelon: Note Fetches $3 Million. Wall Street Journal, Jan 15, 2014.
online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB20001424052702304049704579320771556221060

Quote:

"A $1,000 Treasury note printed in 1890 and prized for its rarity and watermelon-shape 'zeros' [hence nicknamed 'Grand Watermelon' notes] has sold for $3.3 million at an Orlando, Fla., auction—the most anyone has ever paid at auction for a piece of US currency. * * * The note was sold Friday [Jan 10, 2014], but the auction confirmed news of the record breaker on Tuesday [Jan 14]. * * * only a couple dozen still exist and nearly all now belong to museums such as the National Numismatic Collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

"The federal government began issuing paper money around the time of the Civil War, and $1,000 notes remained relatively common until after World War II, when the government settled on a $100 bill cap

"The "Grand Watermelon" from 1890 depicts General George Gordon Meade, who defeated Confederate forces at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863, on one side. The reverse side is decorated with large numbers declaring the amount of the denomination itself, its bulbous, striated "zeros" reminiscent of watermelons.

"The last time this particular note came up for sale in 1970, it sold for $11,000, said Heritage, the Dallas-based auction house that brokered the sale.

Note:
(a) George Meade
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Meade
(1815-1872; best known for defeating Confederate General Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863)
(b) Treasury Note (disambiguation)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasury_Note_(disambiguation)

Quote:

"Most commonly it refers to Treasury Note, debt obligations currently issued by the Treasury which mature in 1 to 10 years and pay coupons every six months.

"It also refers to the following instruments which are no longer issued:
* * *
• Treasury (Coin) Note, paper money issued in 1890 and 1891 under authority of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act redeemable in silver or gold"

(c) grand (n): "'thousand dollars,' 1915, American English underworld slang, from grand (adj)"
Online Etymology Dictionary, undated.
www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=grand
(d) In print but not online was a photo of the back of the Grand Melon (1000). Search images.google.com with the term will return both sides of the treasury note.