Where is that fine line in collecting older style pre-1996 regular FRN's?

We all know that from Series 1996-1999, designs for all the bills (excluding $1's and $2's) changed adding new and improved counterfiet methods. We'll all see that every once and a while 1995 $5 or $10. But where is the line to say "Hey, thats really old, I am going to hang onto that for a while". Such as a 1969A $10. Nothing unusual about at all, except the fact that its over 40 years old and it has an older design. Or how about a 1977A $10?? Your looking at 1950s, '60s, '70s, '80s, and early to mid '90s. Where is the fine line to pull it out of circulation and save it for a while? These $10's I am referring to are F+.

 

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I generally save anything prior to 1969 if it is in decent shape - today I picked up a 1950-D $5 and $10 from the Chicago district that are VFish at my bank for face value. I will save them until something else better comes along. I have spent Series 1950 and newer notes when better ones come along. I save all Series 1934, and especially Series 1928s with the "gold clause". And yes, I do find them at my banks, in fact the $5 and $10 came when the bank teller called me and wanted to know if I wanted them. Yup, there is a reason they get those gift cards. :yes:

 

Wow thank you for being the first to reply. I'm already on top of that. My bank even goes through bills for stars, errors, etc for me. They also set aside all older FRN's for me to look at. The oldest bills I have ever recieved from them were series 1974 $100's and a 1977 $50 (all obviously circulated). At the time, I collect any bills I come across that are 1995 and earlier. Its weird how so many different people tell me so many different things. One guy will say "oh save all 1995 and earlier". Another guy will say "oh no they have to be at least a century old to be worth anything extra!" And then you'll come along and say 'in between what those guys said". I did however forget to mention one thing in my original post. I am very young. I am planning on keeping my collecting a long long time.

 

Unless they are star notes or in pristine condition - they are saved as "emergency money". Which for me means they might just get blown at a coin show for the "I cannot possibly live without it" type purchase that I wouldn't spend modern money on.

 

I have my teller save all pre-1960's bills for me, basically no matter what condition they're in. I have received a bunch of 1928 $100's, $50's, and $20's, as well as series 1934. Most of the time I keep all of those, but I have spent some others on Barber coins or something that I absolutely needed to have at the time. As for other notes, I would check a price guide to become familiar with which series and dates are uncommon and worth more.

 

Yesterday, I acquired this one from an ATM:

To my gusto, any pre-1900 note.

 

I have been doing some reading up on US FRNs for a few weeks now. And what I take from them is this.
A "fine line" can be any where you want to choose within the FRNs printing history. For some folks it may be 1977 some others 1934 and yet others 1928.

It would seem to me that any FRN that is not current is prime for collecting. Who's to say that 50 years from now a Series 2009 note with a nice SN may be a hot topic.
For me I am interested in 1928 thru 1950 Series and hope to start a collection soon. My girlfriend is from New York and maybe I will collect from that reserve Bank. It's an idea anyway and thats what I am thinking of for now. From prices I have been looking up I can see that it may get expensive pretty quick but I am in no hurry.

I know this does not answer you "fine line" question but again, that line may begin in any specific date range for a vast number of people.
Just my 10 bucks worth.
JAF

 

I'd bet that you live in a smaller town. It seems to be that smaller towns more isolated always contain older bills. My sister was way out in some small amish town out in mid Maine and I would buy all old styles from her for face. Oddly enough, she got some what a lot of them. I'm pretty sure it makes sense because smaller towns have less travelers, therefore less circulation. Also old people seem to inhabit the older towns, and they don't want to pull anything old money that they remember using their whole lives.

 

I finally made up my mind. The fine line for me is Series 1995. This is the last series of the older style notes. I am young. I am planning on keeping this collection for a very long time anyhow. I have decided to collect what I wanna collect, and not mind what other people think about it. Ty for the info though!
Travis...

 

If you decide to start collecting them, try for the smaller fed reserve banks such as Minneapolis Kansas City or Dallas as they seem to generally increase in value faster than New York, Boston, or Philly.

 

I know... I love Minniapolis notes... They seem so rare to me I can't even seem to be able to find just a REGULAR Minniapolis of anything. Whats weird about that is, they cover the most ground of any Federal Reserve Bank. I guess the ground they cover just isn't populated lol. I like Dallas too. I love all the Western banks from St. Louis-San Francisco .

 

I don't think I've ever received a note from Minneapolis since I've started collecting currency. They are very rare to me as well.

 

I got one $10 dollar bill Series 2006 in a stack of brand new $10's I was going through (I also found a bunch of consec GG $10 *'s) and I am deciding on keeping it or spending it. It was the lowest printing of all the Series 2006 $10's. Still a lot though; 19.2 mil I think... Still its in CHCU and it might carry some premiums one day. What do you think?

 

If you can afford to hang onto it, then I would keep it. You never know if it will rise in price in a few years.

 

The one notable exception would be the 2003 dated $2's, if you do $2's like I do - Minneapolis is the one for that date, the following 2003-A they issued in more districts but in 2003 only Minne got them.

 

Are we talking about circulation finds, or currency collecting ? Finding a particular district in circulation can have it's challenges, but if you're buying/purchasing notes, then it's been my experience to find all the districts fairly plentiful. To me, the fine line is condition first, and then date. We all see lots of VG, Fine, VF, XF, and even AU notes in circulation, but who is going to hang on to a 1999 San Francisco $1 Star note in fine or very fine condition when book value is only $5 in CH-CU, and in reality, you can buy the note in CH-CU for 2 or 3 bucks ? Collect and keep the nicest examples you can afford. Set goals and "want" lists, buy guides, subscribe to currency magazines, go to shows & auctions, develop relationships with dealers and other collectors, learn to grade and educate yourself by reading books and information on the internet. The smarter and better informed collector has a huge edge, and ultimately has more fun collecting.

 

I am speaking of circ finds. I am wanting to know what is the earliest series of older style $5's, $10's, $20's, etc... My bank holds onto all the small heads for me. Not too many just a couple here and there everyonce and a while.

 

I have received bills as old as the 1928 series from my bank.

 

The oldest so far for me is a '28-A, but Series 1934's are still reasonably common. I even turn them down if they are well worn - the Fed can have them. I live in an area that has a higher percentage of retired folks, even people in their 90's that still drive around town. And occasionally they dig up stuff from home and take it to the bank.

 

The oldest thing I got from circulation, Series 1969A $10 in VF. Thats it for me. I even have an ENTIRE friendly bank of tellers who go through all bills for me (stars, low sn's, old style bills, etc). The bank has so little people using the tellers that those people love to see me walk in and switch out bills. They set aside everything for me. They even let me stand their at the teller counter and go through stacks with them. Still nothing from pre-'70s ('69A was printed in '70s)... I must be doing something wrong lol.