US Banknotes

There's never been a US "million dollar" bill. They're novelty items that you can buy in a gift shop for a few dollars.

Please see the question "What is the value of a 1953 C US 2 dollar bill?" for more information.

The red seal indicates that it's a United States Note, a form of currency issued until the late 1960s. All 1953 US $2 bills were printed as US Notes.

First off, you have to identify the the bill as a "silver certificate" (blue treasury seal) or a "united states note" (red treasury seal) and then determine its condition. it is more likely a silver certificate which was the primary circulating $1 notes of series 1928. You will also need to check for a letter after the series (A,B,C,D, or E). Series 1928, 1928A, and 1928B were printed in the hundreds of millions to billions of notes and were the most common. The 1928C, 1928D, and 1928E are much scarcer and much more valuable. The united states notes of the $1 denomination were printed and released primarily in 1 major area where they would not cause much confusion. They were mainly issued in Puerto Rico in the late 1940s. Unless the note was put away as a keepsake or just forgotten somewhere, it is most likely well circulated and has a value with a small premium over face value. However even well worn specimens of 1928C, 1928D, and 1928E have a high collector premium attached to them. The same with any $1 united states note. Now, if the serial number begins with a "star" and not a letter, the value for even worn specimens skyrockets above a non-star note. A $1 united states note with a star is extremely scarce and worth many thousands of dollars, whereas a worn 1928A silver certificate is worth only 5 or 10 dollars. Good luck - I hope its red and a star! Hope this helps.

1950-E is the most valuable $20 bill in the 1950 series. As of 09/2012 values are in the range $50 to $65 for a bill in circulated condition. An uncirculated one can bring $90 or more.

No Federal Reserve Notes or any other related forms of US paper money have ever carried an expiration date. They can be spent at face value no matter how old they are. It might not be a good idea to do that, though, because many old bills are worth more than face value to a collector or dealer.

Since 1914, gold certificates have been the only US bills officially removed from circulation. That action was taken in 1933 when the US went off the gold standard due to the Depression.

The blue seal indicates that it's a silver certificate. Please see the question "What is the value of a 1953 US 5 dollar silver certificate?"for more information about its value.

Silver certificates were issued up till the early 1960s. The last ones were $1 bills printed as part of the 1957 series so they'll have that year followed by a small "B" to indicate when they were actually issued. At that time it was possible to exchange them for $1 in silver metal or coins, but when the price of silver skyrocketed the government stopped the practice. The bills are technically still legal tender at face value but are worth somewhat more to collectors.

The $100 bill is the largest currently-circulating US banknote.

However the Treasury never formally withdrew any older, higher-denomination bills so technically if you had a $10,000 bill you could still legally spend it! Of course you'd have a lot of trouble finding a store willing to take it in payments and in any case it would almost certainly be worth a lot more than $10,000 as a collector's item.

Printing of $10000 bills was suspended by the Treasury due to low use. The president is rarely involved in decisions about what denominations should or should not be produced.

B is the highest series letter on a 1957 $1 silver certificate, so you may be looking at a plate indicator or some other marking.

In any case 1957 $1 SC's are not rare; in average condition they generally retail in the $1.25 to $2.00 range regardless of series letter.

While the US is unlikely to stop printing $1 bills in the near future there's a very slowly increasing realization in Congress that a considerable amount could be saved by doing away with $1 bills in favor of coins.

About 50 other countries have already done so, and claims that their citizens would never accept the new coins proved to be unfounded. However those other countries' coinage policies are determined by their Treasury Departments or Finance Ministries, while coinage changes in US require Congressional approval. That allows politics to muddy the waters significantly, especially because Crane Paper (the single supplier of all paper for $1 bills) lobbies relentlessly to maintain their profit margins.

At some point the inefficiencies of the $1 bill will outweigh the politics of the situation, just like the incredible waste of using English measurements in an otherwise metric world will eventually force the US to convert. That time will not come soon though, unless current attitudes shift more than they have.

Please check again and post a new, separate question. The US didn't print any $1 bills dated 1929.

President Woodrow Wilson.

Only about 42,000 $100,000 bills were ever printed. They were never intended for circulation, and were used to move large amounts of money between government departments in the days before electronic funds transfers. Most were destroyed when they became obsolete, but there is one on display at the Smithsonian in Washington.

If it's cut in half you'd need to present both pieces to a bank for replacement.

Normally you can replace a partial bill only if (a) at least 2/3 of the bill is intact and (b) one of the 2 serial numbers is shown in full. That's to prevent someone from tearing bills in half and separately redeeming each half for a full bill.

Please check your bill again. The banner across its top and the red seal indicate it's a United States Note, a form of paper money issued directly by the Federal government. US Notes were discontinued in the 1960s. $2 Federal Reserve Notes were first printed in 1976.

There's more information at the question "What is the value of a 1953 C US 2 dollar bill?"

This is not a rare date for silver certificates. As of 9-5-2011 it is worth $1.25 to $1.50 in circulated condition. In uncirculated condition it is worth $3 or more. This silver certificate should have a blue seal.

What color is the seal: yellow or blue?

Could be worth something, depending on its condition and variety (signature combinations, variants, etc).

Send a scan, I appraise for free: support@papermoneysite.us and will buy notes too.

A "star note" of any denomination looks just like an ordinary bill of the same series, except that the beginning or ending letter in the serial number is replaced by a star to indicate that the bill is a replacement for one that was damaged during printing.

Bills are printed in bulk so it's impractical for the Treasury to reprint replacement bills with the same serial numbers as those that were damaged. Instead, the damaged bills are destroyed and an equal number of replacements are printed with a new set of serial numbers. One letter is replaced with a star to indicate that the entire run consists of replacement notes.

Banknote collectors consider "enhanced" bills to be altered currency with little or no numismatic interest. Fifty years on, there may be collectors of Kennedy memorabilia who would be interested in one but it's doubtful that they would pay very much for it.

You didn't provide a specific date but 1969 is the only series in the last 50 years to have a "B" letter.

Please see the question "What is the value of a 1969 B US 20 dollar bill?" for more information.

Approximately $335,520

$10