My mother-in-law bought 3 US Postal Service Savings Bonds in 1947 ($10, $20, and $50 bonds). We came across them in going through her and her husband's estate and have been unable to find a value for them. The Post Office says the government passed a bill in the 1980's declaring the US Gov't no longer will redeem them, so our best bet is to see if there is value among the collecting society. We have been unable to find any info there - so do any of you have any words of wisdom for us? Thanks!
I can't find much on them. I would suggest searching eBay completed listings. If there are none like yours listed now, keep checking back. It's likely that eventually one or more will turn up.
I found this on the Treasury's web site: Postal Savings Bonds were issued in lieu of postal savings deposits or certificates in denominations of $20, $100, and $500. The issuance of Postal Savings Bonds was discontinued on July 1, 1935. U.S. Savings Bonds replaced Postal Savings Bonds. Bond owners, their survivors, or their representatives can redeem Adjusted Service Bonds or Postal Savings Bonds by completing the back of the certificate and submitting to one of the addresses below. Customer Services Branch 3 Definitives Section Bureau of the Public Debt P.O. Box 426 Parkersburg, WV 26106-0426 If you use a courier, please use: Customer Services Branch 3 Definitives Section Bureau of the Public Debt 200 Third St. Parkersburg, WV 26106-5312 If you submit a bond for redemption and we need more information or documentation, we will contact you. As with many government agencies, they don't seem to have a public phone number or email address.
This is great David! The Post Office sent me a statement saying the Gov't passed a bill in the mid 80's declaring that they no longer would honor the debt from unredeemed postal savings bonds!
I hope it works out for you but there seems to be a difference in terminology or information. The Treasury site says the Postal Bonds were discontinued in 1935 while your Mother-in-Law seems to have bought them in 1947. Also the denominations - $20, $100 and $500 per the Treasury; $10, $20 and $50 per the ones you have - don't match. Send them in anyway, they'll either pay them or return them. I had Postal Savings account certificates that were cashed out in 1956; are you sure you have Bonds and not some other type of certificate?
Is this what you have?? This is a Postal Savings Certificate. http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/DrDon/20020104a.asp Bad news, the post office was right: It is only worth what you can get on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/Postal-Savings-...5|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50
As I remember, those Savings Certificates were what I had (53 years ago - Wow!). The quoted law seems to say that they're no longer valid. That doesn't necessarily apply to the OP's Bonds, which are a different animal altogether. I think they should be sent in to the address I gave before. It seems strange that the individual states are required to hold unclaimed property almost forever but the fed apparently doesn't have the same responsibility.
Before the OP does anything with the bonds, I recommend posting a picture of at least one of them so we know for certain what is being talked about. The 1947 issue date suggests it is the Postal Savings Certificate shown by Taurus. These are collected and you can get an idea of prices from Ebay. If they really are Postal Savings Bonds, they will probably have more value as a collectible than redeeming them. Although still redeemable by the registered owner or heirs, they ceased earning interest years ago. I have collected United States government debt instruments for 15+ years and have yet to encounter a Postal Savings Bond. These are truly scarce while the Postal Savings Certificates are relatively common.
Similarly the War Bonds from WWII are still cashable(if you are the original holder only though), but the interest on them ceased in the 1980's I believe. I have three of them from WWII from a relative, if I could cash them, they would be worth about $330 now - only problem they are non-transferable. So they have a collectible value, but not as much as they would if they could be cashed.
taurus shows what I have Mine were issued from Atlanta on Mar. 6 1947 and begin accruing interest Apr. 1, 1947. It seems strange that since it clearly states on the from of the certificate that it is a "certificate of deposit" in the face amount and will accrue "interest at the rate of two percent per annum, according to the terms on the reverse side" - when nothing on the reverse side mentions anything about the Gov't having the right to terminate the program and keeping the investment! According to my calculations, the Gov't legally ripped off a little old lady for $270.00! Thanks for all of your help!
Scottishmoney: WWII War Bonds are redeemable by heirs of the registered owner. Small size Series E War Bonds are common and often sell for near their face depending on denomination. Large size Series E War Bonds carry a little more premium. Defense Bonds have a slghtly higher premium. All types of Series F and G WWII bonds are scarce and will carry a more substantial premium ($300-500.00). This is true for the $25, $50 and $100 bonds. $10.00 Series E are scarce and should fetch over $100.00. These were only issued to soldiers. The larger denominations of Series E ($500.00 and $1000.00) rarely carry a premium over their face because they do not have value to anyone other then the registered owners (or heirs). The scarcest of all is the $200.00 small size Series E War Bond. These were not issued until after President Roosevelt died in 1945. He is pictured on them and they were done as a memorial to him. There was only a short run of war bond printing at the end of 1945 when the war bond legend was removed.
