Aubrey Bebee, an ANA Life Member, collected coins, paper money and numismatic books for most of his life. Born in Hunting, Arkansas, he attended Bryant & Stratton Business College before meeting his wife, Adeline, in 1930. Together, they tackled the numismatic world. They opened their Chicago coin shop in 1941 and relocated to Omaha in 1952. In 1955, Aubrey became a founding member of PNG.

In 1941, Aubrey began assembling his world-class collection of U.S. paper money. Comprised of only the highest quality notes, his collection contains many spectacular rarities – including a 1934 Series $10,000 Federal Reserve note. While collectors today consider paper money collections on equal footing with other numismatic interests, that wasn’t the case in 1941. Information was scarce, and those who collected notes were unendearingly called “ragpickers.” However, Aubrey Bebee was one a trailblazer – turning paper money collecting into a major component of American numismatics. 

The assemblage created by Aubrey and Adeline Bebee is among the finest ever assembled, and they benevolently donated the entire collection to the American Numismatic Association in 1987. The Bebee’s enormous generosity grants ANA Money Museum visitors – both in person and online – an opportunity to explore the beauty and diversity of America’s paper money. Consisting of more than 800 individual notes – Colonial currencies that ushered in the widespread use of paper notes, full sheets of bills not yet divided for circulation, singular rarities unavailable to even the highest bidders, and error notes that humorously sport unintended mistakes – the Bebee collection showcases the very best of American paper money.