Royal Prussian 4% Consolidated State Bond, 1882

Direct auction records for the exact 500-Mark denomination of this specific 1882 issue are sparse, so this valuation is market-informed by identical 1882 issues in alternate denominations (200, 1,000, and 5,000 Mark variants). In the scripophily market, standard government debt documents of the same series price interchangeably regardless of face value, provided the condition and aesthetic display remain equal. Specialty retail dealers like George H. LaBarre consistently price the 1,000 and 5,000 Mark variants at a $44 to $46 retail ceiling. However, fair market value must reflect the wholesale and secondary auction markets. Major German specialty auction houses (like Gutowski) typically hammer comparable late-19th-century Prussian bonds in the $22 to $28 range, while raw, peer-to-peer sales on European platforms often clear below $10 due to high market saturation from archival deaccessions.