Strange 1976 $2 Star Note - Please Help!

I found 4 more 1976 $2 star notes in straps today. Two of them are fairly normal (I'll post pics), but one of them is really strangely cut. Anybody have an idea why this looks this way and if it's worth anything? Thanks!

 

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It was probably cut from an uncut sheet that was sold by the BEP.

 

Looks like someone tried to trim it back. Does it measure up to other notes?

 

No uncut sheets from that FRB.

Look here: http://www.uspapermoney.info/groups/f1976_b.txt

 

So is my note worthless?

 

Not worthless, just $2.
It's a star note, but it has been damaged.
Not too much value in deuces. They are not rare, just heavily hoarded, making them seem rare.
Don't give up, though. There are some out there that have value. Keep the faith.

Edit: Look for the deuces from series prior to 1976, that's where you'll find keepers.

 

Thanks for the info Rick. I've been searching $2s for a while and I've never found anything older than 1976.

 

Go to your local bank and ask them for Christmas bills. Most banks order fresh denominations from the Fed's because people like to give them as presents. I'm a sucker for these things and because they're all in order of their serial numbers, I keep them around. But I believe 1976 $2.00 does have a premium, something like $5 to $6 ea with star notes closer to $8 to $10.

 

I can't believe people are leaning towards saying to spend it. Keep it or sell it to me at face, please.

 

It's damaged. Spend it.

 

It's almost surely from an uncut sheet. The BEP had many sheets of star notes left over when they quit printing 1976 $2's, and they sold them to collectors over the course of about ten years starting in 1981. We don't have information on exactly which star serials were in these sheets vs. which were issued to circulation as replacement notes; but whenever you see a 1976 $2 star with a lousy cutting job, it's likely to be from one of the sheets.

Only after the BEP sold out of those leftover star sheets did they print any 1976 $2 non-star uncut sheets. Those sheets, the ones printed specifically for collector sales, are what are listed in the link rickmp posted.

The ragged edges don't help the note's value any, but still, a $2 star with that little circulation wear will be worth a good bit more than face value to somebody. Definitely not a spender....

 

Did a 3 year old cut that?

 

Thats some exceptional information you have there. I always love to hear what you have to say on things. Still, I can't believe people are saying to spend it...

-tbud

 

It's because you don't realize yet that such things are not worth the same amount to everyone and no one is ever going to agree on the value of everything. Everyone bidding in an auction has a different bid but not everyone out there thinks a given thing is worth bidding for. In this case it's a damaged note to the many who are posting here, that is not worth more that two bucks and isn't appealing to some collectors in its mishandled and damaged state. What's fine for you and Numbers just doesn't pass for all others' collections and collecting tastes, and I will say you'd be hard pressed to get more than two dollars for that note from an informed collector. Numbers is an informed collector of statistical information, you are a collector of notes from circulation, for those reasons such a note may appeal to you two, but this two is not a two for every other two collectors out there.

 

Right, because $100 is just too much to set aside.......

 

I know you disagree with me on just about every post I make that has a contradictory perspective to the fun you are having sorting circulation finds and your general zeal for questionable error notes on these forums but there's no reason to be insolent.

Lacking an objective reply fails to inform anyone and just because you find it to be a nominal cost or novelty find still doesn't mean it carries any numismatic premium -- in fact we often see such notes thought to be an error or rarity when the only error is the one an uninformed people are making about something and convincing other novices that there is more value to something than there really is.

 

True - yet I think it's safe and not insolent to suggest that the OP of this thread found this note strap searching, and he didn't pay over face for it. I'll also point out the fact that he found 3 other stars, making an indication that he is a star collector and not in it to make a million bucks. I at one point was at your level of buying everything and never even wanting something in my collection that wasn't absolutely GEM. Things have hanged as I have found that for me, it is MUCH more interesting to be able to acquire my own notes and I'm much more proud of the fact that I pulled something out of circulation. What about the history side, too? Believe it or not - some are in it for the history factors. There's no history under someone setting aside a brand new strap of $1's 50 years ago, but IMO, there is history behind a nice looking 1976 $2 Cleveland star note surviving out in the wild for so many odd years. It's Cleveland too, which is a scarcer district for most peoples collections. These are just my opinions on it though. I'd be more than happy to post some of my higher end notes that I paid anywhere from 2-50x face, but I'm no where near or ever will be as proud of the 2006 $1 D* I found yesterday. Still, theres no reason for name calling. I think we're all a little bit more mature than that, don't you think so?

 

It is only that which you make of it and to expect more for something than it's worth due to conditions we use to factor values is refusing to see a thing from all sides, hence my use of insolence above.

Also, it is not safe for you to assume I only buy what I need for my collection. I will pull older notes, fancy SNs and stars if found in circulation or if I get a bug to try strap searching. But when building a certain type of collection or seeking a certain note (and in a desired grade) that you are never going to find in circulation then you need to buy them and understand the values.

The things I pull from circulation are far and few between as you appear to understand that many notes seem more scarce in circulation than others, but those are not ordinarily pieces I am pulling for my collection .

Anyone can collect anything and make a collection of it, even if they want to collect damaged items exclusively but they still need to understand the markets view of values. They need to learn that such a collector is investing more sentiment in said notes than a market value. So these novelties are not going to classify in th ranks of other graded notes' valuations and this is why I discourage misleading novice collectors that everything they find has some value beyond face when damage, dubious printings and sentimental ideas are being applied to a notes worth.

 

Okay and where did I suggest that this bill has numismatic collecting value? I said keep it, not post it on eBay with a starting bid of $1,000. This is so stupid. I'm not going to waste my time arguing over if the OP should keep $2. I mean c'mon, it's $2! It's not $100, not $500, not $1000, it's a measily $2 bucks. Sure, it could buy you tomorrows coffee (well actually, not even that) but a cup of coffee versus apiece of history isn't even a match, IMHO. Go ahead and do what they say. Spend it. That'll bring up the odds of ME finding it for myself so I may enjoy and appreciate the history and hobby factors.

-tbud

 

I'm not trying to pinpoint you and your specific comments tbud. No one said its worth moon money but all they OP seems to care about is value not the history the grade and the reasons why the note isn't worth more than two dollars. However the suggestions to not spend it are not being well supported with reasoning that the note will not be worth more just because you hold in to it. You can refuse to discuss the topic because that's your right and I can lead a horse to water but I can't make him drink it because that's just a horses way of going about his life and he wouldn't understand a life time of lecture points to help him quench his thirst just because I cared to assist him .