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

If you are in an area with a lot more commerce, for instance the CA state capital, I can predict that you are not going to see a lot of older stuff circulating, one thing you have to factor is there are others out there doing the same thing you are. In contrast I live in an area with older residents, a small community really, and stuff tends to come out of the woodwork. I have local competition for stuff like halves, and Ike Dollars - but practically none for older bills. So then with the coins I have had to up the ante and give little gifts to tellers, gift cards etc, and they set stuff aside for me instead of others.

 

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Totally makes sense. If you even read some of my previous replies in this thread, I have made similar remarkes about location just as you just did. I mean I literally don't even see any big heads anymore (no I am not suggesting they are rare or I would like to collect them lol). The only big heads I've seen recently are the '06 big head $5's which are common (except Minneapolis district, I am on the lookout for one). So I am sure you can understand why I might want to collect these small heads. They seem rare to me. Those were 2 redesigns ago. My sister over in a small small town up in Maine (literally amoung the amish) would gather the old style bills and send them to me at face. The oldest ones I got from there were that of the late '60s.

 

I have to start befriending some tellers... Any suggestions?

 

I like saving dollars from 1999 and earlier.

 

Let them know exactly what it is you do. Kiss butt. It pays off. Call them by their names and always tell them to have a good one lol. Thats at least how I get my whole bank of tellers =D.

 

Now those are common, from what I've come across. Even the other day I found 2 brand new Series 1999 SF $1's in one of my stacks. 1993 is what I do. 1995 also seems to be too common. 1993 is that Series that I don't come across too many frequent. But on those '95s, I always check for Webs. As do I on the '88As and the '93s. Still have yet to get one...

 

I am honest with them and tell them that I save old money. You'd be surprised, every once in awhile you will come across a teller that is sort of interested in the money they see, and want to know more about it. I know quite a few tellers, I have accounts in a lot of different banks - for the purpose of saying I have an account(even if it is only a minimal sum). A lot of the time most of the tellers really don't know a lot about older coins, and well, some might not wanna know. But a good majority of them are out to make customers happy, you only come across the old curmudgeon once in a blue moon - mine came last week while asking for nickel rolls.

I buy $10 gift cards, say McD, and hand them out to tellers that have saved lots of stuff for me. I also find that some of them have some interests in coins, one was asking about British sixpence coins for weddings, so I dug out a handful of old silver ones and brought them in for her so she can give them out to her daughters. Another teller likes Chuck E. Cheese tokens, well I come across quite a few of those from coin machine reject slots, so she got all those.

Tellers like them make the "impossible" possible. Officially they cannot order boxes of coin for customers, but somehow, every other week, I get a call that my boxes are ready for pickup. Gees, I have my banks on speed dial on my cellphone - their calls are the ones I don't wanna miss - and of course they show up on my caller ID.