US Banknotes

Silver certificates issued from 1928 to 1957 are easy to identify. They have distinctive blue seals and serial numbers, and the words "Silver Certificate" are across the top of the bill's front.

Older bills may or may not say "Silver Certificate", but will have some reference to "Payable in silver", "Redeemable in Silver Coin", or similar phrasing.

The US didn't print any bills dated 1927. Please check again and post a new, separate question.

it cost morethan 20,000 dollars because its rare and coin collectors looking for this 20 dollar bill may be it cost more

Please check your bill again and post a new, separate question. 1928 red-seal $1 bills don't have series letters.

The Federal Reserve bank is responsible for controlling all paper currency in the US. Bills that are damaged, worn out, or otherwise unusable have to be accounted for so they can either be replaced or taken off the books. It's somewhat like a store that needs to keep track not only of the stock it sells, but also what was lost or damaged so that everything balances out.

Of course no such accounting system is 100% accurate - for example the Fed certainly can't account for a single $1 bill that gets caught in a someone's washing machine - but by being the sole agency officially responsible for destroying older currency the Fed can keep itself "on the money".

The US didn't print any bills dated 1930. Please check again and post a new question.

John Adams (the second president) has never been depicted on the face of a 20th or 21st-century US bill. However, he does appear on the back of the current $2 bill as one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

John Quincy Adams (the sixth president and son of John Adams) was shown on a $500 United States Note issued in 1869.

The US didn't print any $500 bills with that date. Please check again and post a new question.

The US didn't print any bills dated 1939. Please check again and post a new, separate question.

Except for certain wartime bills, all silver certificates issued from 1928 to 1957 had blue seals.

Please see the question "What is the value of a 1957 B US 1 dollar silver certificate?" for more information.

Yes, there is such thing as a US ten thousand dollar bill. They were first printed in 1863; the last ones were printed in 1945 but carried a 1934 date.

They were only issued in small quantities because $10,000 was a huge amount of money at the time, potentially several years' income for an average person. Printing of all bills greater than $100 was discontinued in 1945 due to low demand, and in 1969 President Nixon halted distribution of existing high-value bills in an effort to thwart organized crime.

Inflation has led to occasional calls for printing new higher-value bills such as $500 and possibly a new $200 denomination, but it's very unlikely anything larger than $100 will be issued due to the availability of electronic payments and concern about use of large bills by terrorists.

To explain things, bills aren't produced by the US Mint, because the Mint only makes coins. Nor were they produced by each Federal Reserve district, because all bills are printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Until 1991 the BEP only had one printing plant in Washington DC; today there's a second one in Fort Worth. The BEP prints bills for each Federal Reserve district, which then distributes those bills through the commercial banking system in its territory.

That said, so-called "Barr" notes have an undeserved reputation for rarity because Joseph Barr served as Treasury Secretary for only about a month at the end of the Johnson administration. However, notes bearing his signature were printed in large quantities for several months before new ones were prepared for Nixon's administration.

As a result Barr notes are common among collectors. Even half a century later the fair market value of a single uncirculated Barr note is at most $2.50. However a complete set from all districts may go a bit higher - perhaps $3.50 or $4.00 per bill.

It's misleading to look at prices on public auction sites such as eBay. Many sellers are under the mistaken impression that these bills are rare - or are trying to play off others' lack of knowledge - and are attempting to charge highly inflated prices.

Alexander Hamilton, first US Secretary of the Treasury, is on the ten dollar bill.

The US didn't print any $2 bills dated 1924. Please check your bill and post a new question.

Federally-issued $1000 banknotes were printed from 1862 to 1945, although all bills from 1934 to 1945 carried the same 1934 series date. Printing was suspended due to low demand; at that time $1000 could purchase a reasonably well-equipped sedan or be a down-payment on a house.

It was still possible to request them from a bank up till 1969. That year President Nixon suspended distribution of all bills larger than $100 in an effort to reduce money-laundering and other criminal activities. Large bills were never formally withdrawn and are technically still legal to spend, but they're worth more to collectors.

The last printing of $1000 bills was in 1945, although they all carried a 1934 A series date.

Circulation of larger bills was halted by President Richard Nixon in 1969 to combat organized crime. They were never formally recalled, though, so technically you can still spend one. It wouldn't make a lot of sense to do that because most are worth more than $1000 to collectors.

President Abe Lincoln

There were no $1 silver certificates dated 1880. Please check your coin or bill (which is it?) again and look at the related questions for more information.

Also note that nearly all US coins and bills carry that motto so it's not something that helps to ID a particular item.

All 1950-series US $20 bills were issued as Federal Reserve Notes, so they all have green seals.

Please see the Related Question for more information.

The last printing was in 1945. However these bills were issued as part of the 1934 series and they carried the series date 1934 A.

The US 500 dollar bill is no longer in circulation. The last bills were printed in 1945, although all were dated 1934. The bills never circulated much because their purchasing power was very high at the time, equivalent to a few thousand dollars today. However they did very occasionally show up in circulation into the early 1960s.

They've never been officially withdrawn from circulation but a presidential order of July 1969 discontinued their distribution so today it's essentially impossible to find one except in collections. In any case, it wouldn't make sense to try to spend one - aside from the questions it would raise, they're possibly worth much more to a collector. The most common ones (1934-A Federal Reserve Notes) sell for a hundred dollars or so above face value even when worn, and other series can be worth upwards of $13,000 as of 05/2010.

Red ink indicates your bill is a United States Note, but without knowing its date and series letter it's not possible to give a value.

The motto In God We Trust wasn't added to bills until the late 1950s and early 1960s so it's perfectly normal for it to be missing on any older bills.