US Banknotes

The banner across the top of your bill identifies it as a United States Note. These bills were printed with red ink to distinguish them from silver certificates (blue) and Federal Reserve Notes (green).

US Notes were issued directly by the federal government rather than through the Federal Reserve System. The two kinds of currency served the same purpose so production of US Notes was suspended in 1971 to save on printing and distribution costs.

Because it is a United States Note. Its worth a modest premium over face in average circulated condition, about $7 or $8 or so retail and up to $10-20 if nice and crisp.

US currency is mostly color coded. (There are some exceptions such as some of the WWII overprint notes and some of the early large-sized currency)

Green, which you see all the time today is a Federal Reserve Note

Blue means the note was a silver certificate and (up until the 1960s) you could redeem your note for silver dollars at the treasury

Red means the note was a United States Note

Yellow means that the note was a gold certificate and (up until 1933) you could redeem your note for gold at the treasury

Brown means that the note is a National Bank Note

The differences between the Federal Reserve, National Bank Note and United States notes are the issuing authority was either the Fed, private banks or the US treasury itself.

In most cases a red seal designates a bill as a United States Note. US Notes were issued directly by the Federal Government, alongside silver and gold certificates, and eventually Federal Reserve Notes issued by the central bank. US Notes and Federal Reserve Notes are "unbacked" notes; that is, they're accepted for payment because the vast majority of citizens are willing to accept them as representing a specific amount of money due to the stability, faith, and credit of the US Treasury. This contrasts with gold and silver certificates that were issued only in amounts that represented specific quantities of those metals on deposit with the government.

The US went off the gold standard during the Great Depression. The price of gold was allowed to rise and was eventually deregulated, so gold certificates were discontinued. The same thing happened with silver in the 1960s so silver certificates were also discontinued. At that point U.S. Notes and FRN's were the only forms of currency issued and were effectively the same. The government then decided to combine all currency production and distribution under the central bank to eliminate duplication of effort. Because many more FRNs were in circulation than US Notes, the latter were discontinued in 1966.

You might be able to find a buyer on eBay or a similar site, but it may not be worth the effort if the bills show any significant amount of wear. As of 06/2013, a worn '53A or '53B $2 bill would retail for roughly $2.50. But if you're lucky enough to have some nice ones with only minimal wear they might bring around $5.50 retail.

In most countries that use a currency that has a Cent denomination there is no "100 Cent" coin. Cents are normally used as fractional denominations such as 5 Cents, 10 Cents, 20 Cents, 50 Cents.

1 US Dollar is equal to 100 Cents

1 South African Rand is equal to 100 Cents.

Interestingly enough, when the US Dollar first came into existence it was equal to 200 Cents, before being changed to 100 Cents.

The price of a 1969 50 dollar bill as of 2013 is between $50 and $100. The actual value is based on the rarity of the bill and its overall, physical condition.

There is no such thing as a "24K silver certificate" instead what you have most likely is a genuine US silver certificate that has been layered with a tiny amount of 24K gold.

These bills are merely novelties and are not seriously collected by currency collectors (instead collectors view these bills as damaged). I'd say it might be worth about $2-3 as a curiosity.

Ulysses S. Grant is on the $50 dollar bill. This bill weighs about 1 gram, has an identifying watermark, and is printed on cotton and linen. It was first printed in 1861.

Two things. First, the U.S. has never printed a $1 million dollar bill, ever. Second, no genuine U.S. currency is printed in China.

Check that bill again. There are no $1 silver certificates dated 1955.

1966, but they were reintroduced ten years later. They're still printed today, but in much smaller numbers than other denominations.

There is no mint mark on currency because paper money isn't printed at the U.S. Mint. It's printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, either in Washington DC or Fort Worth, TX. The Fort Worth facility opened in 1991, so anything before that was printed in DC. For modern bills, to determine where they were printed, look near the edge for a small letter and number, such as FW E 228 or G 78. These numbers indicate the plate position of the bill during printing. If it has the FW, it means Fort Worth.

Now a days there are security features on the 100 dollar bills to help you detect if the bill is counterfeit or not. One of the features is a watermark. If you hold the bill up to the light you will see a faint image of Benjamin Franklin to the right of the portrait.

Condition is everything when it comes to bills.

If your bill is wrinkled, torn or has a large crease, it is likely to just be worth face value. On the other hand crisp, uncirculated bills do have a modest premium over face value ranging from $30-40 or so.

No. Security strips weren't introduced until 1991.

That's called a star note. The star at the end of the serial number indicates that the original bill was damaged during printing and was then replaced.

It depends on how dramatic the error is. For minor errors, they might add next to no value, but for dramatic off center errors they might be worth much much more. If all of the bill is still readable, its likely to not increase the value a whole lot but if part of the bill is missing, the values increase. Have it checked out by a coin dealer if you think it might be valuable and he should be able to estimate a value if he sees it in person.

Treasury bills are a low-risk investment. Like any good investment, the investor receives more money than was initially spent. Treasury bills offer meager profit compared to other investments, but are very low-risk. They also mature (pay out) quickly, so the investor's money is not locked away for too long.

To find the date on a red seal two-dollar bill, look at the front of the bill, specifically on the right side, near the portrait of Thomas Jefferson. The date is printed in small text, typically below the series designation, which indicates the year the bill was issued. Red seal two-dollar bills were primarily issued in 1928, 1953, and 1963. If you see a red seal and a date from those years, you have identified its issuance year.

A person can exchange their old dollar bills at their local baking establishment. They may also exchange the bills for cash through a collector or dealer.

$100 bills were printed regularly throughout the decade, but because US bills carry a series date rather than a printing date it's very difficult to tell the exact year when a specific bill was printed. The 1928A series continued until 1934 when a new series was introduced. The 1934 series was printed until 1950.

There were no ten dollar bills issued in the year 1935. If one is presented with one, it will be counterfeit and therefore has little to no value at all.

The general nickname is "greenbacks" because green ink is used for most of the image on each denomination's reverse side.

In common speech, most individual denominations are simply referred to by their value - a one, a five, a ten, etc. Nicknames for specific denominations aren't commonly used, with one exception - the $100 bill is often called a "Benjamin" because it carries a picture of statesman, inventor, and Founding Father Benjamin Franklin.

These other nicknames exist but most are very old-fashioned and are rarely used:

$2: deuce

$5: fin

$10: sawbuck (from a very old design with the Roman numeral X, resembling a crossbuck)

$100: C-note (again, from a Roman numeral)

It's still worth exactly $50.