1934 $100 and 1934 $50 bills

The guy at the bank knows I'm a coin collector so he offered these two bills to me. I really don't collect much in the way of currency so thought I'd post them here. The teller at the bank wanted $165 for both of them, so I bought them cause I thought they were neat and also as an act of good-will for $15.

So do I have anything of value here?

Thanks for any insight!

* The horizontal crease on the $100 wasn't visible to me until the scan, so it must be very light.

 

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Is that ethical? The teller selling you notes from the bank at greater than face? Hmmm...

Regardless of that, I think they were well worth picking up.

I love the $50, light green seal and a nice SN too. The lighter green notes are slightly scarcer than the darker green seals from this series. 8,675,940 printed (not sure how many of those were light/dark green). Book value in your grade is basically $55-$65ish.

As for the $100 note 3,328,800 printed -- book value approx. $130.

Fun finds and not bad at all what you paid in the notes' condition. Just can't get the idea of tellers selling notes in the bank for greater than face.

 

i worked at a bank for many years and if i ever sold a customer money like that, i would be fired on the spot. i do think it is unethical to sell notes like that. if a customer offered to get me lunch or something like that i could see but to actually ask for extra money. just doesnt sound right to me. regardless those are nice pickups. gotta love the chicago notes :thumb:

 

I thought that was sketchy...

I know a lot of roll searchers bring chocolate or cookies type gifts to tellers from time to time as thanks, but selling above face in the bank is a no-no. Thanks for confirming that urban.

I should have known you'd sniff out a Chicago district note thread.

 

I completely agree. Accepting a box of donuts on Friday mornings or a box of chocolates, etc.. once in a while as a thank you would be acceptable. To accept extra money, is grounds for firing.

Cool notes!

 

Well atleast it look,s like you maid a good deal for yourself! regardless

 

werd!

 

He brought them in from home. His fellow tellers actually made the deal for him as they'd heard about the notes he had. Not sure about doing personal dealings while working, but they weren't the banks notes if that makes a difference. Really hadn't thought about it though, but now that you mention it I suppose it could be a bit strange.

Besides that, thanks for the education on them. I love learning new things So how do you know they are Chicago notes?

 

They say CHICAGO right there on the Federal Reserve District seal, encircling the "G" which also indicates their district, which is also reflected in the "G" in the serial number.

I would be skeptical that the teller didn't find those notes at the bank, buy them himself, take them home then return with them when he had a buyer, you, at the bank. But who knows... you got some fun notes to learn about.

 

For conpewter:

A different series here but many of the same elements are explained decoding a one dollar bill

and the Federal Reserve District map (Wikipedia.org)

 

Well i feel like a dork I was trying to figure out if 1934A vs just 1934 told you that along with the K, could just read everything on the note....

Will look into those docs, thank you.

 

No worries. Glad to be of help.

 

conpewter .. thanks for this post. I like that $50 a lot for the colors in it.

I also have one of those $100 bills. Since I inherited it & have been cataloging all the coins & had yet to even get to the couple of paper money items to research -- this thread told me a lot.

Now that krispy taught me how to read a note .. is the Series Date and/or the Note Number position important? More or less valuable?

 

The lime green seal on the fifty is an indication it was printed early in the first Roosevelt administration - it's the ink that was in use at the end of the Hoover administration, too.

Later Roosevelt notes have the seal color of the hundred, and even later notes have a sort of forest-green color.

 

Kelli: I'm glad this thread was of some help to you as well. Here is some further info regarding notes, using your $100 as example and some help with your questions.

Yes, the Series Date has an important function. In general it signals a design or security feature change applied to the note, but most commonly it is due to a change in the signatories, that of Treasurer and Secretary Treasurer. When one leaves or is terminated from their appointment to that office, is promoted from Secretary Treasurer to Treasurer and so on. This is when the Series is changed, new plates are prepared and begin being printed and eventually introduced into circulation according to need-- but not exclusively printed on nor distributed in the year of the Series. Often notes are issued for many many years for a Series date.

Other notable changes around this Series era was the removal of terms of payment from prior series, often seen in that little block of copy or in more bold type on the face, indicating 'payment in gold' or a lack thereof this statement, which was the case between Fr-2152 to Fr-2156. (See below)

The backs of these Series of notes had no changes that I am immediately aware of unless other more technical printing issues arose or any "mule" notes were created. A mule being something which plate position numbers come in handy for identifying.

Plate position numbers are significant for use during printing but also indicate where the note was positioned on the large sheets of notes when printed together.

Mule notes can be scarce and do often carry a numismatic premium. TPGs like PMG and PCGS Currency will note 'Mule' details on their holders.

Some Series of notes were printed in absolutely huge print runs (or printages) and others, by comparison, printed very few. Couple a small print run with a small issuance for a single district add decades of use, destruction of worn notes, generally pulling notes from circulation, collectors collecting notes and a small printage can be a hard note for a collector to acquire, hence driving up the numismatic value of the note. As condition deteriorates a note, so can it's value deteriorate, though with a scarce note (or error, fancy SN, et al.) the value may be offset. Condition/grade of paper money *significantly* affects value. Learning to grade paper is crucial to understanding valuations.

There were five different $100 denomination notes bearing Series 1934 and 1934A through 1934D:

Fr-2152G Series 1934 Julian | Morgenthau (Light green and dark green ink for this Series)
Printage: 7,075,000

Fr-2153G Series 1934A Julian | Morgenthau
Printage: 3,328,800

Fr-2154G Series 1934B Julian | Vinson
Printage: 396,000

Fr-2155G Series 1934C Julian | Snyder
Printage: 612,000

Fr-2156G Series 1934D Clark | Snyder
Printage: 78,000

To further indicate what changes were for we have guidebooks such as those by Friedberg and Hessler with catalog numbers for each Series of US currency. Schwartz-Lindquist's books are excellent too. That is what the Fr-number (Friedberg) given above helps us identify notes and their related data or alterations. The "G" behind the Fr# indicates the Chicago district. Each Federal Reserve bank covers a region of the US and is assigned a number from 1-12 and a letter from A-L that corresponds to the number/letter: G-7 for Chicago FRNs.

With each new Series, not every district had notes printed, so there are some Series which do not have an Fr# for that district/Series. Overall a given Series may have dramatically more/less notes printed for a given Series compared to the previous or following Series issued. You will even see replacement notes for those districts, but not all within a Series have these replacement or star (*) notes. Serial numbers followed by a star "*" are what you will see. They would have a Fr# followed by a star in the guidebooks, i.e. Fr-2156G*.

I hope that avalanche of information didn't scare you away from paper money and for even more detailed data on paper, I suggest any or all of the guide books below.

Some excellent guidebooks for US Paper Money:

A Guide Book of United States Paper Money (Official Red Books) by Arthur L. and Ira S. Friedberg [2nd Edition]

The Comprehensive Catalog of U.S. Paper Money: All United States Federal Paper Money Since 1812 (Comprehensive Catalog of U S Paper Money) by Gene Hessler

Standard Guide to Small-Size U.S. Paper Money - 1928-Date John Schwartz & Scott Lindquist [9th Edition]

 

Two excellent CoinTalk threads listing useful Currency Websites and Informational Resources for Paper Money Collectors.

​

And off-forum web site run by CT member: Numbers; a very detailed resource with Series data, printages, block information, etc. US Paper Money.info


Also, my profile page has many links I have gathered from the internet which offer videos on paper money creation, BEP tours and related Paper Money information, just go through a few pages of my Visitor Messages to find the links there.

 

Awesome krispy .. thanks so much!

Well .. mine appears to be more 'common' in that I now know, thanks to you, this bill is a:


Chicago - Series of 1934 {no A/B or any other lettering}

Note Number Position - A

Plate Serial Number - A 1

and on the reverse the Plate Serial number is 83. I say its 83 although the plate serial number is located 1/2 way up the bill on the right side rather than bottom right corner as the exampler reflects.

So I would think mine was pretty common given the great info you provided Thanks a million! Or at least a hundred. LoL

I should also add that its pretty much the same condition as conpewter posted. I would have to look at it under bright light to see if there are more than 2 folds & normal wear.

 

You're welcome Kelli. It may be common, but they have come a long way and many many years down the road there may be fewer of them around. Despite how common the note is, to me, it is great thing and worth caring for and collecting. I would find a mylar currency sleeve for the note and keep it someplace safe with your collection.

 

Yes, I will definitely been keeping her. And will find a local store for the mylar sleeves .. I've just had them in individual ziploc baggies. Off to start researching the 1973 red-inked $5 bill now

 

I am assuming you meant Series 1953 or Series 1963 red seal $5s. There is no Series 1973. Series 1974, 1977 and 1977A yes, but they are green seals.