Keepers?

Hi Guys,
I'm a new guy here so maybe this may be a bit out of line, but some or you guys are starting to sound like some of the "kids" on the CCF site, I don't go there much any more because of all the "what's it worth" questions, they don't really seem to be interested in currency collecting, only what some wrinkled up note is worth that they got in change.

Maybe I don't understand what currency collecting is all about, I thought it was something like coin collecting, building a collection from the beginning of a series to the current date etc. but from what some of you are posting it seems to be more about collecting the type of money you fold up and put in your pocket.

Or if it's not worth a certain amount over face you may as well spend it. When I was putting together my FRN collection I would have been happy to have a 1995 in that condition. I know it's not worth much more that 2 bucks, if that, but it's a nice enough hole filler for the guy that needs it because he's building a collection, and better than the average one you will find in change.

Hope I'm wrong about this as I'm looking for a group that I can learn from and share info with that is interested in currency collecting, not just collecting currency of high value. Also would like to be able to buy and trade for some notes I still need for my collection.
Regards
Bill Collector

 

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There will always be the questions of "whats it worth".Whether it be a new collector learning and getting educated on values or someone that got a $1 in change that happens to be a 1988A Atlanta star web note or other valuable note that wants the money and an awesome note one of us can add to our collection.That in part is why we are having this discussion and able to ask these questions correct??

Currency collecting is about what you enjoy collecting and if that happens to be a folded up bill my neighbor puts in his pocket...i want it!:welcome:

 

It's exactly like coin collecting...and different collectors have different levels of interest and different budgets. A casual collector with a limited budget (or a beginner) may only be able to collect from circulation while a more experienced collector might have more defined interests and a higher requirement for quality.

 

Hi bonniview,
Thanks for the welcome.
I understand what your saying, but on the other site it was just getting out of hand. I was very easy to see that theses "kids" were not interested in currency collecting or building a collection of anything, only what they could sell it for and who could they sell it to.

It got to be a waste of time reading all the stuff, there was just way to much of it.
Bill Collector

 

I could see how that would be annoying. From my experience...there are a lot of "newbie" type questions here but I haven't gotten the feeling that there are many members here trying to turn a quick buck from their circulation finds.

 

I found this at a casino tonight. It is a $1 1995 L-X Fort Worth 295 error note. I'm not going to name names but thankfully the OP decided to ignore the two members on this thread who advocated just spending the note without giving it a second thought. For all we know the OP's L-W note could be a FW 295 error note as well. The OP may well have struck gold as a FW 295 error L-W note in CU condition is worth some serious dollars. Even if the OP's note is not a FW 295 error note, it is still most definately keeper.

 

Heh you definitely know your varieties. but how is a fw 295 an error note? btw i checked and mines is Fw 249. Wondering if that may be something else since i had no idea about this "fw 295" error before. Starting to wonder what else there is to look out for in Frn's? Btw i ask this because my main collecting theme is to collect unique united states currency and coins so any varieties or special notes would happily go to my collection.

 

Excellent find!

To those who are not familiar with the 295 error note.

There are two printing facilities, one in Fort Worth, Texas (FW) and the other in Washington DC. Back plates used in the Fort Worth facility are engraved with larger back plate numbers, when compared to the DC facility. Sometimes you'll hear the terms macro and micro to refer to large and small plate numbers.

What's unusual about this error note, is that a back plate used at FW was accidentally engraved with a micro back plate number - 295 in this case. This shouldn't have happened, as micro back plates are only used in DC.

Here's a link with some helpful photos: http://snorkack.nfshost.com/fw295/

 

Without knowing your currency collecting interests, there is no right or wrong answer.

If you collect Large-Size notes........................................................................these are not keepers.
If you collect Obsoletes..................................................................................these are not keepers.
If you collect Confederate notes......................................................................these are not keepers.
If you collect Federal Reserve Bank notes..........................................................these are not keepers.
If you collect Silver Certificates........................................................................these are not keepers.
If you collect Legal Tenders (red seals).............................................................these are not keepers.
If you collect Nationals (large or small)...............................................................these are not keepers.
If you collect Gold Certificates..........................................................................these are not keepers.
If you collect Colonials.....................................................................................these are not keepers.
If you collect Interest Bearing notes...................................................................these are not keepers.
If you collect Demand notes..............................................................................these are not keepers.
If you collect Fractional Currency.......................................................................these are not keepers.
If you collect Star notes...................................................................................these are not keepers.
If you collect Fancy serial numbers.....................................................................these are not keepers.
If you collect Emergency (WWII) notes...............................................................these are not keepers.
If you collect modern-era, circulation finds.......................keep the '95 L-W, the second is not considered low.

 

Welcome to Coin Talk (paper money section)!

As with any collectibles, some of the items (due to demand and rarity) will have a higher value attached to it. An error, depending on how dramatic it is will get a premium over a common note, the same as with coins.

Even though one would like to be a purist and collect for the sake of collecting, avoiding the issue of "added value" is a mistake. Supposing you were to leave your collection of rarities to your kinfolk once you pass and they just took it to a bank and cashed them in without any thought of the "added value" just so they could pay for an oil change when in essence they could have sold them on the market and potentially bought a fleet of new cars.

I've had customers that wanted certain rare and expensive items for their collection but did not want to pay the high price for them, stating "I'm just a collector. I don't care what the "value" is". Well, sorry but if I know it's worth $500 in the market, why would I sell it for $10 to someone who needs it to fill in a spot in their collection?

I recently sold my entire paper money collection. Face value was maybe a few hundred dollars but I sold it for several thousands of dollars.

Newbie collectors want to hit a home run and that's why there are so many threads asking the value of coins that to them look like something of value. Eventually, they'll give up and either collect for the love of collecting or go on to something else when they realize why some items have high value. It's because they are rare!

There are probably thousands of threads in all the coin forums asking "is this a doubled die?". Just give an answer and move on to the next thread. It's been happening for generations and will continue to happen for many more. Nothing you can do about it.

 

I am not sure if you are referring to me or not when you mention "newbie wanting to hit a home run so i ask" Because if so that is not the case here. If i found a say a freaking double denomination note my first thoughts would be wow my second thoughts would be now will i keep it or sell it? Keep it because it be part of my main collection theme, sell it only if it goes for over a hundred thousand dollars. True no joke if it doesnt go above that and i dont really need the money and fits into my collection theme then I will keep it. I just ask questions here about these things so i dont throw something of possible worth back into circulation so it can tarnish tear wear or whatever. The thought makes me cringe.

 

Is it only on L-W block for the back plate 295 error?

 

Nope. I can't find the link at the momemt, but when
I do I'll post it here.

 

http://www.fstctycurr.com/295_info.html

 

I was referring to the op's comments about members' obsession with the values of items rather than the collecting for the joy of it. That's all. I was just making general comments not picking on any one person in particular.