Heritage Auctions Sells D.B. Cooper Ransom Note Fragment for $134,200 in Dallas

Heritage Auctions closed on October 9, 2026, with a 1969‑series $20 bill fragment from the infamous D.B. Cooper hijacking fetching $134,200 in Dallas.

The note, serial L32796069A, survived years of river sediment before it was recovered in 1980 and has been a prized item at currency auctions for decades.

Raiden Honaker, Director of U.S. Currency at Heritage Auctions, said the piece’s rarity and connection to the only unsolved airline hijacking drove bidders to a record price.

The 1971 hijacking began when Dan Cooper claimed a bomb on a Northwest Orient Airlines flight, released 36 passengers for $200,000 in unrecorded $20 bills, and vanished with the money.

In February 1980, eight‑year‑old Brian Ingram found three bundles of the ransom money on the Columbia River, sparking a decade‑long FBI search that yielded no trace of Cooper.

The FBI formally closed its active investigation in July 2016 but remains open to new evidence, and the auction’s $8,727,555 total for U.S. paper money highlights the market’s appetite for historic currency.

Collectors now turn to the Dallas sale, betting that any future discoveries could finally crack the case, while the FBI continues to scrutinize serial numbers submitted by the public.