US Banknotes

Your talking about the Red Print Bills. Seen them for sale on a well known auction website with a starting bid of $3.99.

I can tell you this, you need a up-to-date coin & bill booklet to see what they go for. The main problem here is the seller can tell you anything he/she thinks but in reality you have to know;

1: How many were printed that year.

2: Have the "Bills" your looking at been graded? Grading a bill by a certified grading company will cost more than $4.00 to grade the bill & if there were millions printed that year & your looking to buy one, well your may just have a $2.00 Bill that may take years to reach $4.00.

3: If the seller has documented proof that the bill your looking at will be or is worth more than the asking price plus remember, the seller has listing fees so maybe he found them in a dresser that was purchased & all the bills were tucked under one of the drawers!

4: Most of us, including me brows through auctions & get hit with that old I gotta buy this one. Impulse buying accounts for more than 1/2 of sales.

5: Always do your homework. Make a copy of the item your looking at, go to a dealer & show them. Cut off any parts that identify the auction site, you just want the dealer to look at the bill. All you want to know if it's worth buying as an investment or buying because you feel the need to own it.

6: Condition is everything. Make sure that they are in mint condition, if not it may effect the value of the bill & even your great grandchildren will wonder why you saved them?

Sometimes I ask if the seller will make them one lot so I can buy 10-20 or what ever they have for sale.

I'm not getting paid so I can't spend days looking up everything but rule of thumb is year, how many printed, how many still in circulation & what the going rate has been. We are in a soft market right now. Most people would pay more in a better economy & like I said, sellers on auction sites pay on an average 10% plus gas to mail if they don't print their own postage so take that into consideration too.

Star notes usually have a better return since they were used to meet demand while the errors were corrected so they didn't have to completely stop the printing presses! Errors are corrected & the money keeps printing....

Last, over 50% who read this will still buy these notes while the other 50% will either do more homework or look for real good investments.

I purchased 100 bills for face value because they are in mint condition & in order of print from the Dept. of Printing & Engraving. Mine will go into a glass covered frame of 16 bills: 4-high & 4-across. If anything they will look cool but that's me.

The value is determined by the series (date) and condition.

The value of a 1953 threepenny bit depends on its condition. In circulated condition, a 1953 threepenny bit is worth around 0.40, while one in uncirculated condition can be worth up to 2.50. The value of a 1953 threepenny bit can also depend on its mint mark, with coins bearing the 'S' mint mark being worth more than those with 'H' mint marks.

• Circulated condition: 0.40
• Uncirculated condition: 2.50
• 'S' Mint Mark: More Valuable than 'H' Mint Mark

There were no federally-issued $5 bills dated 1912. However at that time private banks were allowed to issue bills under government auspices. Please post a new question with more information that might help to ID the bill, such as the issuing bank and/or the images on the bill.

Actually, it does have a series - 1950, or sometimes "1950 plain".

Series dates and letters on US bills are peculiar. The date doesn't indicate when the bill was printed, but instead indicates when that particular printing run was started, hence the term "series date" instead of "printing date".

To complicate things more, the first set of bills for a given series date has no letter. A letter is added only when there is a more minor change that doesn't warrant a full new series. That is, the letter "A" refers to the second set within that date, "B" is the third, and so on.

If that isn't confusing enough, the criteria that determine when a new series starts have changed over the years. For many decades series dates would be changed only when a bill was redesigned. The series letter would be incremented if either a new Secretary of the Treasury or new U.S. Treasurer was appointed. That practice led to the odd situation of 1935-series $1 bills being printed as late as 1965, with series letters extending up to H.

In 1974 the Treasury decided that a new series date would be used if a new Secretary of the Treasury was appointed or there was a substantial design change. The series letter would be changed only if a new Treasurer took office. As a result, series dates now change much more often and series letters rarely go beyond B.

Of course, even this policy has its exceptions. For example, the current gray and purple $5 design was introduced without a corresponding date change.

No, nor has a genuine million dollar bill ever been printed in any year.

A U.S. $50 bill has a thickness of approximately 0.11 millimeters (0.0043 inches). This thickness is similar to that of other U.S. currency, which typically ranges between 0.10 and 0.12 millimeters. The uniform thickness helps facilitate handling and sorting in banking and vending machines.

It can't be shredded by the US Mint because the Mint only deals with coins. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing handles bills.

The Treasury has special provisions for disposing of damaged currency depending on the type of damage. The bills have to be submitted for inspection by Treasury officials.

On the other hand a regular bank doesn't have the same level of expertise. The reason they're not allowed to redeem a bill that's ripped in half is that it would be far too easy for someone to tear a bill into two equal pieces and redeem each one for the full amount. To prevent that kind of fraud, banks are required to have at least 2/3 of a damaged bill including at least one complete serial number.

FR 229 is actually a reference number from a currency catalog, and is not printed on the note, itself.

There's more information at the Related Question.

To clear things up, your bill wasn't minted and it's not from Chicago.

"Minting" refers to coins. The US Mint doesn't produce paper money; that job is handled by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. They're separate parts of the Treasury Department.

The bill was printed in Washington. Chicago indicates the Federal Reserve District that requested and distributed the bill. When any of the 12 Fed districts puts new bills into circulation the BEP prints an order with that district's ID numbers and letters, and before 1990, its seal.

The first official U.S. one dollar note was issued in 1863.

All dollar bills have signatures printed on them; one is the Secretary of the Treasury, and the other is the U.S. Treasurer. An uncirculated series 1974 might sell for a few dollars, but it's not especially valuable.

August 15, 1971 by President Richard Nixon. It was supposed to be a temporary suspension that just never got reinstated. It was suspended because other countries suspected the US of printing more money than we had Gold reserves. The idea was that other countries could back their currencies with dollars instead of gold since the dollar was backed by gold. Once the gold standard was suspended all currencies became fiat currencies. If the US economy collapses and the dollar hyper inflates the economy of the world will also collapse. And most currency will become worthless. See End of the Road: How Money Became Worthless for more information.

If by "bar," you're referring to the security strip that can be seen when the bill is held up to light, then the answer is no. They weren't added to money until 1990, in bills $5 and up.

It's actually from Washington, DC. Minneapolis is the location of the Federal Reserve Bank that requested and distributed the bill (as part of a much larger order, of course).

Please see the Related Question for more information.

The letter K refers to the Dallas branch of the Federal Reserve. Those letters (A through L) each correspond with a specific bank and district.

2009 isn't old enough to be worth anything above face value.

If it's in crisp, clean, uncirculated condition, it could be worth a couple dollars above face. However, if it's worn and used, it's still worth $5.

US Notes were a form of paper money issued until the early 1970s. They were distinguished by the use of red ink instead of green. Please see the Related Question for more information.

It's inside the Federal Reserve Seal, located on the left side of the bill's front, very much like the seal on a $1 bill. The issuing district is shown in small type surrounding the large district ID letter.

The term "issuing district" does NOT mean where the bill was printed, simply which Federal Reserve District requested and distributed it. All 1976 $2 bills (in fact, all US bills up till 1991) were printed at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington.

Please check your bill again and post a new, separate question. The last $10 bills with a red seal were large-size notes printed in the 1923 series, and no US bills of any denomination are dated 1952.

The US didn't print any $10 bills dated 1925. Please check your bill and post a new, separate question.

They didn't make in 2001. The last year they made them was 1963. If you're talking about the ones you see on tv or in coin catalogs , they are either cardboard "copies" layered in silver , which are worthless , or the more reputable companies make "copies" out of .999 pure silver about a 1/4 inch thick and about the height and width of a dollar bill , and worth little more than its weight in silver . Keep in mind when buying a replica of United States currency the word "COPY" has to be stamped on the piece by law to make it legal to sell , but they tried to hide it