Friday, July 1, 2011

Paper Money

U S Currency
Paper Denominations


I think it was Willy Nelson who sang the song “You Are Always on My Mind” … Someone should publish a song called “Money Is Always on My Mind”, after all, money has become an absolute necessity to survive in modern industrialized societies.

So having cleared that up, how much do we really know about the currency produced and used in the United States?  For starters, if you have a “Silver Certificate” as opposed to a “Federal Reserve Note”, hold on to it; It’s probably worth more than its face value to a ‘collector’. 

Silver Certificates are a type of paper money printed from 1878 to 1964 in the United States as part of the government’s circulation of currency.  Silver certificates were initially redeemable in the same face value of silver dollar coins and sometime later in raw silver bullion. In 1968 they became redeemable only in Federal Reserve Notes and are therefore deemed by the government at least, as obsolete, but they are still valid legal tender.

Silver certificates are not made anymore, but some of them have a premium value to collectors.  For example, if your One Dollar silver certificate has the date 1928, it is worth about $10 or $12.  If dated 1928 with the letter "C" after the date, it is worth about $50. The series date 1928D is worth about $20 to a collector; and with those with the series date 1928E is valued at about $150. Most of the 1934 and 1935 series $1 silver certificates are worth face value only, but they can bring a small premium in ‘new’ condition. So if you have a lot of the 1928E series, you could convert them to a substantial amount of cash.

I suggest you also watch for $2.00, $5.00, $10.00, and $20.00 notes; they’re worth even more.  I have had in my procession several One and Two Dollar Silver Certifies but I have only seen one $10.00 note in Hazard, Kentucky of all places.  I have no clue what it was worth, but I only had $50.00 cash with me at the time, but the young lady who possessed it refused the Fifty Bucks I offered. 

I have yet to see a $5.00 or a $20.00 vintage Silver Certificate, but then I’ve never seen, nor do I expect to see, a real $100,000 bill boldly displaying Woodrow Wilson’s image.

In 1929, Wilson's image appeared on the $100,000 bill. The $100,000.00 notes were used only for official transactions between Federal Reserve Banks and were not circulated among the general public.
This note was a ‘gold certificate’ and was used from 1882 to 1933 in the United States as a form of paper currency. Each certificate gave its holder title to its corresponding amount of gold coin. Therefore, this type of paper currency was intended to represent actual gold coinage. In 1933 the practice of redeeming these notes for gold coins was ended by the U.S. government and until 1964 it was actually illegal to possess these notes. But in 1964 these restrictions were lifted.





Salmon Portland Chase was another U S politician and jurist who served as the U.S. Senator from Ohio as well as the 23rd Governor of Ohio; he was U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Abraham Lincoln; and he was the sixth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He graces the 10,000.00 Dollar Bill.  
       
The first U.S. federal currency, the ‘greenback’ demand note, was printed from 1861 to 1862, during Chase's tenure as Secretary of the Treasury.  It was called green back because the back of the note was highlighted in green ink as opposed to being left blank which was typically used by the Confederate Government.  His image was on the front side.



James Madison, Jr. was the fourth President of the United States. He is regarded as the “Father of the Constitution” and the author of the Bill of Rights. He has been considered the chief architect of the most important political experiment in human history.

Madison’s Image appears on the $5,000.00 Bill. There is a large-sized $5,000 Federal Reserve Note on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. The $5,000 bill was printed as a gold certificate in 1928, and a Federal Reserve note in 1928 and 1934.




The 1928 series $1000 bill featured Grover Cleveland on the obverse (front) and the words "One Thousand Dollars" on the reverse. It was printed as a small-size Federal Reserve Note in 1928 and 1934; prior to that it was a small-size Gold Certificate in 1928 and 1934.  As of May 30, 2009 (2009 -05-30)[update], there are 165,372 $1,000 bills known to be in private hands.  An earlier note (1918 series) displayed the image of Alexander Hamilton.





The $500 bill displays the image of William McKinley (our 25th president) on the obverse or front with the words "Five Hundred Dollars" on the reverse. There was also an image on the reverse that looked like a ‘watermelon’ therefore this note was often called the watermelon note.   It was released as a small-size Federal Reserve Note in 1928 and 1934; it was also issued as a small-size Gold Certificate in 1928. In earlier years it bore the image of John Adams, President Lincoln, and Chief Justice John Marshall.

There is little or no need to start looking / watching for either of the above references large denomination bills mixed in with your change at Wal-Mart or else where, since they have been out of circulation (last printed in 1945) for several years; but in the off chance that you do, keep in mind that they too are probably worth more than their face value to a collector.  


In descending order, the next highest monetary denomination is the $100.00 bill with Ben Franklin’s smiling face; then there is former President Ulysses S Grant’s nifty fifty.  I am un-able to keep or hold on to either of these lately. Some of us are friends with Andy Jackson’s Twenty, Alex Hamilton’s Ten, and Abe Lincoln’s Five; I think it’s safe to say that all of us are best friends with Tom Jefferson’s Two and George Washington’s One Dollar Bill.


              















Sources …

Posted by Tony G Fugate on 7/01/2011

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