US Banknotes

Many of the markings are on all U.S. currency, such as the denomination, serial number, series (date), and Federal Reserve seal. Then things specific to the $2 are the portrait of President Thomas Jefferson on the front, and the image on the back is John Trumbull's painting "Declaration of Independence."

50 dollars

Despite the word HAWAII on it, your bill was actually printed in Washington for use in Hawaii during WWII. Please see the question "What is the value of a 1935 US 1 dollar silver certificate with HAWAII on it?" for more information.

The eye on the U. S. dollar bill is called The Eye of Providence and is often interpreted to mean the eye of God watching over humanity. It appears on the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States. In 1935 both sides of the Great Seal were added to the reverse side of the one dollar bill.

Prior to 1964, the USA was "on the silver standard." The government controlled the price of silver, and silver certificates were bills that could be exchanged for a specific amount of the metal. The government was allowed to print only as many silver certificates as there was silver in the Treasury to redeem them, which helped to control the money supply. Silver certificates in fact were little more than a receipt or deed for a certain number of ounces of silver. In fact it was possible to exchange a silver certificate for its denominated value in silver metal.

During the 19th century silver certificates were at one point or another issued in every denomination from $1 to $1000. In the 20th century that range was limited to $1, $5, and $10.

In the 1960s the demand for silver increased sharply and the government was forced to let the price be determined by market forces. The value shot up from the controlled price of $1.29/oz to over $40 before settling back down. That volatility meant it was impossible for the Treasury to maintain a fixed connection between the value of silver certificates in circulation and the amount of metal held by the Treasury. Speculators were "gaming" those price fluctuations by repeatedly exchanging bills for silver or silver for bills, then skimming off the difference. The Treasury found itself in the position of in effect subsidizing that speculation; in 1968 they halted redemption and declared the bills to be fiat currency, the same as Federal Reserve Notes.

Many late-date silver certificates were saved by collectors, and are still so common in collections that they are not worth much more than face value despite being 50+ years old.

Those are neat errors, but they are no extremely rare. As you can imagine, the paper gets fed through the printing press backwards frequently, especially with a watermark. I would expect it to be worth around $150. The real problem is that the note is already worth $100 due to the face value. It is expensive to collect because of that.

As of 11/2010, retail values are approximately $5-$9 in circulated condition and $30 or so uncirculated.

A 1953 C US $5 bill will have red printing and the words United States Note across the top, indicating that it was issued directly by the government instead of by the Federal Reserve System. US Notes were discontinued in the 1960s as a cost-saving measure.

The US didn't print any bills dated 1954. Please check again and post a new, separate question.

In the same condition, 1953-series $5 silver certificates are worth roughly the same amount regardless of their series letters - $8 to $10 for circulated bills, $18 to $20 for uncirculated ones.

To three significant figures, the dimensions of all current US bills are 156 mm long × 66.3 mm wide × 0.11 mm thick.

The blue seal indicates it's a silver certificate. Values depend on what letter, if any, is next to the date:

No letter: Circulated, $10 to $20. Uncirculated, about $45.

"A" or "B": Circulated, $5 to $10. Uncirculated, about $40.

"C": Circulated, $20 to $125. Uncirculated, about $450.

"D": Circulated, $20 to $55. Uncirculated, about $300.

"E": Circulated, $200 to $500. Uncirculated, about $1500.

Up till 1974 the standard practice was to change series dates only when a bill underwent a major redesign. Thus it's seemingly odd that 1957 $1 bills carry essentially the same design as bills from the 1935 series. The reason happened behind the scenes:

Rather than being printed one at a time, all US bills are printed in groups on large sheets of paper before being cut into individual bills. Until 1957 the presses used by Bureau of Engraving and Printing could only hold sheets large enough for a group of 18 bills. That year the BEP started phasing in new, more-efficient presses that could produce 32 bills at a time. To keep production runs distinct during the transition period, the 1957 series was used for all $1 bills printed on the new presses while bills produced on the old presses continued to carry a 1935 series date. That unusual situation, which saw simultaneous production of series dated 22 years apart, continued until 1963.

1963 isn't a rare date for US $1 bills. As of 04/2011 a circulated bill retails for $1.25 to $1.50, while an uncirculated one is about $2.00.

The 1963 series was the first issue of that denomination as Federal Reserve Notes, and huge numbers were printed to replace older silver certificates.

Paper money has an average circulation lifespan of around 7 years.

A us noTe with blue ink is backed by silver

Depending on how many you have and how worn they are you may want to sell them instead of simply having a bank take them at face value.

Because $100 was a significant amount of money long ago, a lot of older $100 bills never saw a lot of circulation use. Even today they're pretty common among collectors. Worn 1934 $100s are generally only worth face value but if they're in much better shape (clean, few or no folds, etc.) they can retail for as much as $140-$150, and uncirculated ones can go even higher.

A dealer will probably pay close to face value for one or two of them but a larger group could bring more due to economies of scale. You might want to look for a local currency dealer or appraiser to see if you could do better than a dollar-for-dollar exchange at a bank.

The 100 dollar bill is the highest in circulation.

Check that series number again. The US did not print any $1 silver certificates (or any other $1 bill) with a 1927 date.

Andrew Jackson is the only other individual to appear on Federally-issued $10,000 bills.

The green seal indicates your bill is a Federal Reserve Note. Please see the Related Question for more information.