Del Monte note, a misprinted $20, sells for $396K via Heritage

It's a simple mistake that's not supposed to happen since the United States Mint has strict standards, but, well, it happened.

And it's a bill that's worth a lot more than you might think as it sold for a ton Friday night via Heritage Auctions in Dallas.

What you see above is the Del Monte note -- and while you might think that collecting during the pandemic has been crazy this sale is absolutely bananas ... it sold for $396,000. That's way more than it originally sold for back when it was previously discovered and put onto the market.

This type of error is known as an obstructed printing error -- in other words, the Del Monte produce sticker was on the sheet before parts of the $20 bill were printed and it was cut. Typically botched notes don't make it out of the U.S. Mint ... you can buy uncut sheets of bills and even shredded out-of-circulation bills in bags by the pound but mistakes like this one are rare.

And, well, currency sheets don't normally come with banana stickers attached.

The crazy part here? The bill was printed way back in 1996 -- here's more from the auction description.

"This highly unusual and colorful error note is commonly referred to by collectors in the numismatic fraternity as 'The Del Monte Note' simply because of the retained printed over 'Del Monte Ecuador' banana sticker obstruction. Most obstructions fall off shortly after printing, leaving behind a blank area of paper lacking the design, but errors with objects that stick to the note and enter circulation are very rare. A few objects seen on other obstruction errors include a band-aid, paper fragments, scotch tape, and wood shavings. United States paper money is essentially printed in three stages: the first printing is the back of the note, the second printing provides the face devices, and the final printing includes both seals and the serial numbers. When this note was printed at the Fort Worth Western Currency Facility, it went through the first and second printings normally before the Del Monte sticker found its way onto the surface. The sticker's placement is ideal, as it covers part of the second printing details and is overlaid by part of the Treasury Seal and the right serial number from the third printing."

So could it have been intentionally created? Here's what Heritage thought -- and more on how it was found.

"Most would conjecture that this error note was no accident and probably the result of some very bored or creative BEP employee," read the auction description. "Its presence in the marketplace however is not dubious, as it passed through the regular channels of the Federal Reserve before it was released into circulation. In the summer of 2004, a college student in Ohio received it as part of an ATM withdrawal and shortly thereafter posted it on eBay where it sold to the highest of 12 bids. The note was a bargain at around $10,000 on eBay as news of the note had barely hit the collecting community. In subsequent weeks, it was the cover story in both Bank Note Reporter and Numismatic News. Then in 2006, we offered the piece in our FUN Auction, where it topped $25,000. Since then it has earned a spot on the cover of, US Error Note Encyclopedia second edition by Stephen M. Sullivan."

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